McCain’s Debate Performance
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCainEarlier this evening, I posted what I wanted to hear John McCain discuss tonight. Now that the debate is over, I wanted to comment on how well he addressed my concerns. For those of you who want my full debate reaction, it’s forthcoming.
McCain’s economic plan: I wanted specifics. I got a reiteration of the $300 billion mortgage buyback plan which I don’t support at all. I was disappointed in that regard. Although I was glad McCain finally hit Obama on spending, even saying that Barack Obama’s answer to everything is to spend more. Unfortunately, McCain stuck to the ludicrous assertion that he can balance the budget in four years. If he’s going to make that claim, I need details but didn’t get them.
McCain did well on taxes. While “Joe the plumber” was an odd addition to the debate, McCain came off very strong regarding small businesses and taxes. I came away believing McCain won’t try to tax us out of our economic doldrums and think he raised real concerns about Obama’s plan, which seems very off-base during an economic downturn. Full disclosure: my wife owns a small business, so those taxes are a concern and I simply trust McCain more to protect our interests.
On healthcare, McCain whiffed again. I don’t have a problem with the tax credit, but even when you add in his regulatory changes, it’s just too little. It won’t work. I don’t like Obama’s plan but McCain gave me no reason to think he has a more workable solution.
I don’t believe McCain discussed the makeup of his cabinet, which was a shame. He did discuss Supreme Court nominees but, unlike some, Supreme Court nominees don’t drive my vote. Vice Presidents, on the other hand, do influence my vote and McCain’s defense of Sarah Palin was about as good as he could do given the material. But she is still a poor choice, no matter how McCain spins it.
I wanted to avoid anything outside policy. But Bill Ayers entered the conversation. As did Rep. Lewis. As did the hateful shouts at McCain/Palin rallies. That wasted a lot of my time and McCain seemed to try to extend it. He could have been making a case for himself but he spent the time dredging up issues that just aren’t important enough for a 90 minute debate.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Alan,
I’m sorry, but no matter how sincerely you attempt to categorize yourself as a centrist, I just can’t believe that you can rationalize McCain’s positions as anything that comes close to being reasonable and believable. I think Barrack Obama put it best when he said to McCain, and I paraphrase, the way you put Ayers at the front and center of your focus says more about your campaign than it does about me. How can you argue with that basic, essential point in this election process? To me it just sums up all that the Republicans have stood for, the very thing that has put us in this mess that we’re in. And now I see how John McCain can so easily assume that role with his blatant lies about Obama paling around with terrorists and how he supports illegal voter fraud policies of the ACORN group. Yea, more swiftboat adds, that’s what we need!
For instance, how can you say McCain came away strong on taxes and small business policies. Obama simply rebuked those criticisms by stating that small business will be exempt from the increased tax on wealthy individuals that he proposed. Stated and done! And how many times can he say that he will lower taxes on 95% of the population only to hear McCain say how he’s gonna raise everybody’s taxes.
It’s as if you’ve imagined all the lies from the past 8 years concerning the economy, the two wars we’re involved in, and the horrendous foreign diplomacy we’ve demonstrated, were all the results of the Democrats, and now you just don’t trust anything any one of them has to say. My friend, I just don’t get it.