Tie Goes To Obama

Charles Krauthammer said last night on FOX that the outcome of the debate reminded him of a newspaper article following a Harvard/Yale football game which proclaimed that "Harvard Beat Yale 29-29".

Unfortunately, I agree with Krauthammer. McCain needed to clearly indicate to the American public that Obama's economic plan is as dangerous as his foreign policy views. He didn't, as Henry clearly mentioned. Dick Morris, whom I believe is all over the issue of the bailout and the desires of average Americans to resolve this mess properly, writes the following:

But the economy is front and center these days. And on the economy, McCain lost.

He entered the debate after “suspending” his campaign and announcing that he would not attend the debate. The nation wondered why: Was it a stunt, or the start of a carefully thought-out plan to go to the core of this emergency and emerge with a victory and a deal?

By attending the debate, McCain had an obligation to explain himself and to show what he has achieved in suspending his campaign. He struck out totally in this key area.

And he sounded just like Obama in calling for a bipartisan approach. He did far too little to differentiate his position from Obama’s. He did nothing to hammer home the fact that he’s not going to use tax money but rather insurance and loans to finance the rescue package.

We’re left wondering why McCain acted as he did - and suspecting him of just being impulsive, desperate and quirky.

So the taller, younger, better-looking, more articulate man won last night. Obama showed a level of concern for the average American that McCain - who undoubtedly feels that concern - failed to project.

McCain, for his part, did nothing to differentiate himself from Obama on the rescue. And, while he was effective in speaking about reductions in spending, McCain failed to project a concern for “Main Street.”

Nor did he do nearly enough to pin the “big taxer” label on Obama. The Democrat did a far better job of attacking the Republican tax cuts for what he calls the “rich.”

We political aficionados can pick out details of the debate and fairly accurately declare a techinical winner, which may have very well been McCain. But the reality is that in the arena of "Joe Public" perception, not much has changed as a result of this debate. As Morris and Henry mentioned, McCain blew a real opportunity to talk common sense to Americans about the economy. Is he waiting for the next debate on the economy to expose Obama's real intentions of emptying our wallets? If so, his sense of timing is pretty bad because if there was ever a time to focus on the economy it's RIGHT NOW, not in one or two weeks when Obama's camp and the MSM will be able to spin the bailout bill to their heart's content. Americans want clear explanations and answers, not political-speak.

It's said that communication is mostly body language rather than verbal. In this respect, Obama connected better with the public. Obama clearly has this God-given ability that McCain sometimes lacks. "Sometimes", because McCain has this skill in him but failed to use it when he needed it most last night. The times he did use it, near the end when he talked about his love for veterans, his facial and body expressions truly reflected his words. He failed to do this in his concern for Americans' economic siuation, which I believe he does hold deep in his heart but kept it bottled up.

On foreign policy, sure McCain cleaned up. He was supposed to. Obama was visibly flustered on several occasions and appeared impatient and edgy. Imagine if McCain had made Obama dance and squirm in his underwear during the economic part of the debate, while at the same time showing true concern for the people. Let's face it: the economy, not foreign policy, rules the day.

Is there time? Sure. But McCain missed a clear opportunity last night which may very well come back to haunt him, and us.

Posted by Robert M at September 27, 2008 11:15 AM

Comments

Posted by: Dveg at September 27, 2008 12:02 PM

Posted by: Gusano at September 27, 2008 03:33 PM

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Posted by: ElenaM at September 28, 2008 01:38 PM