Final Debate – The Dems sweep it Four to Zero

The final debate of the 2008 presidential election season is over, and for probably the first election season in my life I watched them all. For those who want to skip ahead to the exciting conclusion, I'll say that Obama took this one as he did the previous two encounters with McCain. But this debate was certainly livelier than the last two. We heard not just the campaign talking points on policy, but also got into some of the more controversial areas that have been muddying the waters of the election. In addition, we got to meet a new character, introduced by John McCain, who may challenge Joe Six Pack in the quest to capture the public's fancy.

Sam.... The Plumber's Helper

In discussing the difference between their economic plans, McCain thought a folksy Palinesque touch would be nice. So he introduced us to "Joe The Plumber", as an example of the average American, whom McCain claims would be hurt by Obama's tax plan. As presented, Joe is a hard working guy, a plumber, who would like to buy the plumbing business where he works. And in this story, Joe feels he can't afford to buy the business, because it brings in over $250,000, and he'll have to pay more tax under Obama's plan. Unlike Joe Six-Pack, who is a purely fictitious character, Joe the plumber is a real person. His real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, and he lives in Ohio. And it appears he did actually speak to Senator Obama and ask about his tax plan. But as we discover more about Joe, or should I say Sam, the story and McCain's argument built around it fall to pieces. First off, Joe (I'll stick with that name for now) isn't a licensed plumber in the state of Ohio, or any other state for that matter. So not only would he not be technically qualified to own the business, he may not even be qualified to be working without a license, except as a plumbers assistant. Say it isn't so Joe, but you may have just messed things up for your boss. You know like fines for having an unlicensed employee. Oops, that may ruin your chance at buying that business.

But that's okay, because Joe doesn't have any real plans to buy the business. He says he might like to but has never seriously pursued it. Oh and the business that he said was bringing in $250,000 to $280,000 was actually reporting net income of around $100,000.For 2006, records show that Joe brought in $40,000. So under Obama's plan Joe would be doing just fine either way.

But doggone it, Joe doesn't really give a hoot about understanding Obama's tax plan. You see he's already known in the conservative talk show arena out Ohio way. In an interview today, Joe complained about Social Security and doesn't see why he should be forced to take it. He made a few other, less than astute, rapid-fire observations to the media. Based on what I heard from Joe, I don't think he's got to worry at all about buying that plumbing business. But he probably should be concerned about maintaining his job as Sam the plumber's assistant.

It appears McCain gave about as much thought to selecting Joe as his standard bearer, as he did to choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, or suspending his campaign.

Identity Crisis

In the first portion of the debate, McCain started out strong, seemed confident and delivered some his best shots at Obama, trying to pigeonhole him as a free spending liberal. He also probably delivered his best line of the evening, when he told Obama, " I'm not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have done it in 2004."

That was a good line, and it played well. But there are two problems with it. The first is it's just too late. Obama has been linking McCain to Bush since the primaries. The McCain staff should have come up with something to that effect months ago. The second problem (at least for McCain) is that Obama had a good comeback. He countered that it was easy to mistake McCain's policies for Bush because they were so similar. The Obama campaign has already put that McCain sound bite into a new ad.

Spreading The Wealth ?

In Obama's real discourse with Joe, the wanna-be plumber, Obama referred to spreading the wealth. McCain picked up on that phrase, used it in the debate and will no doubt continue to use it on the campaign trail. As in most things political, a simple phrase can mean most anything depending on how you "spin" it. McCain paints this as a sinister "rob the rich give to the poor" type of approach. As he himself is one of the rich, this is not surprising. But he tries to lower the bar and suggest that it means putting burdens on all hard working Americans and giving the benefits to those who are making little or no contribution to the economy.

Obama looks at spreading the wealth as evening the playing field for the middle class, and those who are trying to reach a middle class lifestyle. He sees the disparity between the benefits those at the top of the economic ladder receive versus those who are struggling to keep their footing on its lower rungs. He understands that the middle class (a term that McCain could not bring himself to utter in all 3 debates) are having a hard time keeping their heads above water, while the fat cats at the top biggest worry may be what little bit of recreational spending they need to cut back on, if any. And as we have seen with the blatant excesses of A.I.G. executives, some don't really care at all, as long as they can get it covered in company expense accounts, which ultimately get paid for by the stockholders, and now the taxpayers who are footing the bill for the government bailout.

But My Feelings Are Hurt !

The McCain-Palin campaign has continued to maintain a "guilt by association" fear and smear campaign against Senator Obama. This has been the main thrust of the McCain strategy for the past few weeks, a fact that Obama noted in the debate. Both McCain and more so Sarah Palin have questioned Obama's associations at their rallies, with Palin suggesting that Obama pals around with terrorists. It was absolutely amazing to me to hear John McCain dismiss these activities as the actions of some "fringe" element. And at the same time he's got the audacity to take offense when Congressman John Lewis called him out on it. If these fear and smear tactics are the actions of a "fringe" element, than it appears that the entire McCain-Palin campaign is part of that "fringe". Since the last debate, McCain and Palin may have toned down the rhetoric a notch at their rallies, but the campaign machine continues the slime with robo-calls, e-mails, and printed matter. The behavior is not only distasteful but also downright dangerous.

A Picture Is Worth A 1,000 Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In the debate, you had a chance to not only listen to the candidates but also to observe them, taking in their demeanor, not only as they spoke but also when they reacted to their opponent. Obama remained calm and reserved throughout. He absorbed all of McCain's best shots and was unfazed, at times smiling before he corrected McCain. Midway through the debate, McCain's confidence seemed to morph into a mix of anger and confusion. His facial contortions as well as staggering speech, gave the appearance at times of a man one step removed from having a total meltdown. An example was when McCain raised the issue of how much of a fine Joe the Plumber might receive, if he didn't participate in Obama's health plan. When Obama responded "ZERO"……McCain seemed mystified and replied " Zero ?" . Obama again repeated "ZERO !", and explained in more detail, while McCain looked totally bewildered. Now I don't know what was going on inside McCain's head, but what was being reflected in his expression, was not the image of a strong competent leader. There were several more unflattering moments like that in the course of the debate.

The Finish Line Is Almost In Sight

McCain may have had his best debate showing, but still failed to offer any significant economic plan for change that would be meaningful to the middle class. ( sorry John, but I had to use that term)  His health plan is flawed, favoring the young and healthy, and not really addressing the needs of those who don't have insurance and can't get it at a reasonable cost. Obama's plan is much more inclusive, and offers more options.

The night after the debate, both candidates were in attendance at the Alfred E. Smith fundraiser for catholic charities. McCain and Obama both spoke, and poked fun at themselves and their respective opponent. The comedic relief is welcome, and would have been even more enjoyable, if it weren't for the nastiness that still pervades the McCain campaign. It's still a few weeks to Election Day and a lot can happen. To expect both campaigns to take the high road and just focus on the real differences on issues that exists between the two candidates is probably too much to hope for. I will be glad when the election is over. Eight years of Bush and Cheney has been more than enough. The country is desperately in need of major change. I am hoping the Obama-Biden ticket will not only win, but win big, creating an atmosphere where positive change can begin and flourish quickly.

I'm Little Phineas and I approve this message.

Round-3 – Presidential Debate 2 – Prelude to Sleeze-Arama

The second Presidential debate was largely unmemorable. There was not much of substance voiced from either side that we hadn't heard before. The format of the debate was described as a "Town Hall" style. Questions were fielded from the audience and the Internet, but all were pre-screened by moderator Tom Brokaw, so there weren't any real surprises with the questions. And unfortunately, the audience questions were not answered that well, if at all, by either McCain or Obama. In most cases, the questions were touched on lightly before the candidates launched into campaign talking points. McCain has been a big proponent of the Town Hall format so one would suspect that he would have had an advantage in this format. But as it played out on the TV screen, McCain looked stiff and confused much of the time as he wandered around the debate area. Obama looked more relaxed and in tune with his environment.

That One ? Huh ?

McCain's performance does qualify him for a grumpy old man award. He seemed to be in a testy mood ( probably from reading recent polls) and that came through in the debate. He was edgy with Tom Brokaw, and his contempt for Obama was visible, even at one point referring to him as "that one". Could that be a sign of depersonalization?  When you turn your opponent into an object, then it's easier to justify your sleezy attacks.

Condescension or more ?

McCain also appeared condescending to the audience. For example, in answering a question submitted by Oliver Clark, a young African American man, McCain suggested to Mr. Clark "He had probably not heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to this recent crisis". Well Mr. Clark did know about both of these institutions. And on his Facebook site he indicates he has a Bachelors degree in Political Science, and a Masters degree in law. Was Mr. Clark's youth and/or race a factor in McCain's assumption ? Think on that one for a bit.

Thanks but no thanks !

Oh yeah McCain blurted out he had a new plan to save America housing, by buying up bad mortgages and re-writing them. This announcement even seemed to surprise those in his campaign, who have been scrambling to figure out what the details are. In the latest revision, American Taxpayers get to foot the bill for rewriting these bad loans, as stated on the McCain site . "and the taxpayers' contribution would be, in some cases the difference between the values of those two loans, something which would be the necessity for taxpayer contribution."

That bill, by the way, he estimates at 300 Billion $$$$ , on top of the 700 Billion $$$ bailout that was just approved.

And for his second straight debate he forgot to mention the "middle class". OOPS !

Health Care

But in the middle of discussing health care, McCain did mention hair transplants ! Hair transplants ? I guess that must be very important, right up there with face lifts and botox treatments.

One major difference that emerged between the two candidates was how they viewed health care in general. McCain said it was a "Responsibility" without clarifying who was responsible for it. Obama said health care was a "Right". I'm with Obama on this point.

Where's the exit ?

Throughout the debate, Obama was more in control, answered the questions somewhat better, and outlined his program in a much better way than McCain. At the end of the debate, Obama stayed around and talked to the crowd. McCain grabbed Cindy and made a bolt for the door.

How Sleezy can you get ?

The economy continues to go from one bad day to another. And so does McCains campaign. On the campaign trail today, McCain addressed his audience as "My Fellow Prisoners".  Was that just an erratic slip, or is he sending out some subliminal guilt-trip message to capture votes ? McCain is losing ground badly to Obama, with the country focused intently on the economy. So now he's turning up the sleeze factor. It's time for the Guilt By Association game. So far Bill Ayers has been raised again as an issue. I'm sure Rev. Wright will also be re-visited. And let's not forget Barack Obama's middle name. Does most of America care ? I doubt it. Those that are stupid enough to buy into the smear tactics, are probably already deeply entrenched in the McCain camp, so I don't think there's much to gain. But it will continue. Let's see what happens in next week's final debate. Will McCain have the nerve to say some of this garbage to Obama face to face ? He's desperate; so maybe he will . If so, I eagerly anticipate  Obama's reply. McCain insinuates we don't know who the real Obama is. Well  in the past few weeks we've been finding out who the real McCain is; an erratic, testy old man who will stoop to anything in his attempt to win this election.

Troopergate – Verdict coming Friday-Oct 10th

The Republican-McCain attempt to block the release of the Troopergate investigation has failed ! The Alaska Supreme court today rejected the appeal. The Legislature's investigation report is scheduled to be released this Friday Oct 10^th.  Will Palin's "Moose be cooked"? Stay tuned.

I'm Little Phineas and I approve this message.