SECOND DEBATE, McSAME RESULT
The second Presidential debate came the same week as did some of the most negative campaign ads and stump speeches from Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama. It also came after Congress passed and inflated bailout bill that swelled to over 800 billion once it was padded with earmark projects. That set the stage for yet another highly anticipated debate, where most people expected fireworks.
I didn’t, and there weren’t any. Bottom line, Sen. Obama wins again.
Sen. McCain went astray on the third question. When asked how the bailout plan will help average Americans, Sen. McCain began talking about Washington excess, Wall Street greed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how Sen. Obama received campaign contributions from both. He also said that the African American gentleman, named Oliver Clark, who asked the question had probably never heard of either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before the bailout. I don’t know which was worse, Sen. McCain ignoring the question and giving a stock answer or his presumptive condescension about the man’s knowledge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Sen. Obama was solid on the same question, explaining that the credit freeze would not allow small businesses to borrow capital to cover payrolls which could be put companies out of business and cost jobs. He went further to explain we need government regulation for a 21st century world. In a global economy our current lack of regulation in our financial markets is antiquated and we’re paying the price.
Sen. McCain continued to hammer away at his favorite subject, pork barrel spending. The problem is that isn’t resonating with voters. It is also a glaring contradiction considering Sen. McCain wants to take credit for suspending his campaign and coming back to Washington to get a bailout deal. However, the deal that passed cost tax payers more than 100 billion additional dollars because of pork barrel projects. He hasn’t said a word about it and voted for it!
Sen. Obama received huge favorable responses when he compared our need to develop new sources of energy to the computer boom. That connects in a very tangible way with all Americans because we all know how much different our lives are thanks to Silicon Valley and computers. If the same venture capital, brain power and man power were directed at eliminating our dependence on foreign oil, that’s a goal we all can envision.
Sen. McCain chastised Sen. Obama for broadcasting his plans to go into Afghanistan to kill Osama Bin Laden if we had good intelligence. Sen. McCain tried to paint Sen. Obama as “green” and lacking the proper posture as President. Sen. Obama pushed right back reminding Sen. McCain of his “joke” to “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb, Iran”. Sen. McCain looked visibly deflated and aggravated, neither of which he can afford.
The biggest gaff to me was Sen. McCain referring to Sen. Obama as “that one”. That is as close to “those people”, “your kind” or any other potentially explosive comment. It further showed his disdain for Sen. Obama and made him look petty. The most interesting thing to me was after the debate on Fox News, the McCain Campaign was taking credit for the remark as if it was a great moment and a new sound bite they intended to use. Conversely on CNN all of the pundits, Republicans included, thought it could be a problem. To me it was another sign of the cultural divide in our country. Only in a time where Sarah Palin could be a serious Vice Presidential candidate and a chant “drill baby drill” is perceived as a substantive statement in light of the war and our financial crisis could the same people react positively to calling your political opponent “that one”. Add to that, Sen. McCain ignoring Sen. Obama’s extended hand after the debate and allowing his wife Cindy to shake hands further demonstrated a pettiness voters don’t like.
Sen. Obama’s lead in the polls continues to widen as independents go his way. If Sen. McCain loses the race for the White House, when it’s all said and done, I wonder in these final days of campaigning, if he will not have lost something much more important.
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.
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