Urban Thought Collective

DEBATE NOTES: THE FIGHT THAT WASN’T

For the most anticipated and hyped Presidential debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, everyone wanted to see a knockout. When it was over, not only was there no knockout, but there was hardly a fight. During the 90 plus minute debate, the two men rarely looked at each other and both seemed more willing to have Q and A with moderator Jim Lehrer, who was earnest but ineffectual, rather than confront each other face to face.
Bottom line, advantage Obama.

Sen. McCain is trailing in the polls. The bump from the Republican Convention or “the Palin effect” has all but burst, particularly in the wake of her disastrous interview with Katie Couric. The McCain camp has positioned itself as “more experienced” than Obama. With 26 years in the Senate, McCain was supposed to be head and shoulders above Obama on foreign affairs and prove to the country Obama “isn’t ready”.

It didn’t happen.

Sen. Obama was steady, fluid and detailed on international issues, as was Sen. McCain. The problem is, McCain can’t afford a tie. He has to make up ground and he didn’t on his best subject. The polls after the debate indicate that most Americans feel Sen. Obama won. Good news for team Obama.

My disappointment was in the debate itself. The entire nation watched our financial markets have a meltdown this week. The crisis was accentuated by President Bush getting on television to deliver a speech that was so alarmist it would normally have provoked more chaos. The fact that so dire a speech was essentially ignored, illustrates clearly with a 20% approval rating, the staggering lack of influence The President has with America. Given the magnitude of this crisis, it was stunning that neither Obama nor McCain seemed to answer the questions on the 700 billion dollar bail out directly. Obama said he needed to wait to “see the language” in the deal. That is measured and thoughtful, but it doesn’t tell me what he thinks about the situation. What was worse to me was Sen. McCain’s answer which was to cut pork barrel earmarks and get spending under control in Washington.

WHAT?

It was as if McCain closed his eyes, put his hands behind his back and BEGGED Obama to knock him the hell out! What does using taxpayer dollars to bailout private companies have to do with Washington spending? If all Washington spending was under control would that have stopped AIG, Freddie and Fannie Mac from going belly up, Washington Mutual from falling, Lehman Brothers from going bankrupt or Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs for being bought out? Barack Obama has been bludgeoning John McCain on the economy for months. On the stump he’s been hammering the McCain quote “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”. Then McCain stood 10 feet away from him, throws up a beach ball, underhanded and Obama doesn’t even swing at it! McCain tried over and over like a parrot repeating “Sen. Obama just doesn’t understand” to try and sell his inexperience argument on foreign affairs about Obama. It didn’t work because we all could see and hear Obama responding directly and intelligently. Obama had the clear opportunity to hammer home his argument that McCain doesn’t understand the economy and completely whiffed.

It would have been more interesting if there was a split screen with edited clips of each man on the stump articulating their position and critique of the other than what we saw in person. It’s amazing out on the campaign how, in a matter of minutes, every time either Obama or McCain criticizes the other, they respond IMEDIATELY in email, television ads or the candidate himself on the stump. But on the same stage they looked like two grooms both with cold feet.

The only time there was direct confrontation was when Sen. Obama told Sen. McCain “you were wrong” about the war and “you were wrong” that American troops would be greeted as “liberators” in Iraq. It was one of his best moments and I hope to see more of that in the future debates.

The most significant policy distinction between McCain and Obama resulted with the highest favorable audience reaction of the night. Sen. Obama spoke about his position on Russia and then, the need to restore America’s image around the world. On CNN’s response dial, Democrats, Republicans and highest of all, Independents favorable reactions reached 80%. Sen. McCain wants to continue the position of sanctions and no negotiations with American enemies. Sen. Obama wants to have talks at an appropriate diplomatic level and include our Allies in the process. This is imperative to America regaining our moral high ground and influence as a super power.

Neither side had any major mistake. For the Obama camp, that means make minor adjustments, but stay the course, be steady and win. For the McCain camp no major gaff was a relief. Between suspending his campaign to return to Washington and then walking the halls of Congress with Joe Lieberman, Republicans knew this debate could have been a catastrophe. Sen. McCain’s solid performance gave them hope for damage control to remain within a 10 point margin.

Now they can all focus on Thursday’s Vice Presidential Debate.

The Republican side has been trying to negotiate less time for open discussion between the two candidates. I can’t imagine why.

Let me get my remote!

Darryl Bell is an actor and Chicago native, best known for his role in classic TV series “A Different World” and Spike Lee’s “School Daze.” His unique television commentary is exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.