A decisive victory for Obama in the second debate
A.H. Jaffor Ullah
The second presidential debate just took place hours ago this evening (October 7, 2008) in the campus of
I read in several news articles that Senator McCain is an expert town hall debater; therefore, he will have an advantage over Senator Obama whose debating style is more suited to formal form of debate in which the moderator asks questions. But guess what? According to a CNN poll taken right after the debate from folks who have watched the showdown between the two presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama came out victorious.
The CNN had assembled a handful of political analysts and the consensus was that Senator Obama had won the debate. This agrees well with the debate viewers. Obama was poised and looked presidential throughout the debate, whereas, McCain was jittery and to some extent agitated. Did he look like a wise politician? Not at all. McCain badly needed a knockout tonight, which did not happen. And he knew that already; therefore, he left the debate hall in a hurry. Obama however stayed on and shook hands with as many people as he could. This has gone not unnoticed.
The ninety-minute debate was moderated by NBC news' onetime anchorperson, Tom Brokaw, who is a seasoned newsperson. He fired the questions which came via e-mails but some of the attendees directly asked question to the candidates. The pathetic state of the sick economy had dominated the debate tonight. The first question asked was – as the president, what is the first thing each would do to help the Americans cope with economic crisis? Obama said that the middleclass badly needed some kind of rescue package. McCain thought help is needed in the energy sector to make it more affordable. McCain for the first time announced that the government should buy out the bid loans and help to stabilize the home values. These actions would restore the economy.
The two candidates spar over taxes, though. Obama mentioned that his opponent's tax policy favors the rich folks especially those who makes over $ 250,000 per year. The second question was – "What is there in the bailout package that will actually help Americans? McCain said that the cronies of Obama made out the bad loans. He mentioned by name the loan giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. McCain's solution is that the government should buy out the bad (non-performing) loans and rewrite the loans so that distressed homeowners may payback the loan slowly. Obama gave a broad answer while stating that if $ 700 billion bailout package was not passed, credit would be frozen, which would have affected most Americans. He squarely blamed deregulation of the financial market in the last 8 years as the main culprit that allowed subprime lending to millions of people. He also said that two years ago he wrote to treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, about the danger of subprime lending. He said, "We have to change the culture in
A cynical voter who was present in the debate hall asked, "How can we trust you with our money when both parties created this crisis?" In his reply Obama said that the nation's debt is about $ 10 trillion; therefore, there has to be net spending cut. McCain said that he has a clear record of bipartisanship and he wanted to eliminate wasteful earmarks. McCain was in a attack mode tonight in contrast to Obama's calm demeanor.
The two candidates spar over healthcare, energy policy, entitlements, foreign policy issues such as Iran's acquiring of nuclear bombs, how to deal with Pakistani government vis-à-vis combating al-Qaeda, Taliban and searching for Osama bin Laden.
An intelligent member of the audience asked whether the $ 700 billion rescue package would affect
There were quite a few other questions that were asked to Obama and McCain. There were no foul-ups and no blunder but there were two styles, which were remarkably different. McCain knew that he was the underdog; thus, he was more aggressive and he made no bones about attacking Obama. On the other hand, Obama came with strength knowing that he had favorable poll rating. He looked very poise and calm and calculated. No wonder in the poll taken right after the debate more folks thought he looked more dignified and presidential.
In summary, tonight's debate would help Barack Obama's candidacy. Many political pundits thought McCain had to show that he had stuff in him and he should have come out victorious to turn the tide in his favor. With polls as it is now, going forward it would be very difficult for McCain to slowdown the Juggernaut of Obama campaign. Many knowledgeable folks in the media are beginning to think that McCain is heading for a decisive loss in the election. All the signs are there for a Republican defeat. We just have to wait for three more weeks for the final poll results when millions of Americans would cast their votes to elect the 44th president of this great nation.
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A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from
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