Final Debate: Joe the Plumber Can't Save McCain Campaign From Going Down the Drain
McCain frittered away what was probably his final opportunity to sway undecided voters. Even though he was appropriately on the attack for much of the in debate, he once again proved to be ineffectual in making the case for his policies and/or in pointing out the shortcomings of Obama's. McCain started down the correct path a few times by pointing out how eloquently facile Obama is in giving the impression he is for, or at least open-minded about certain things (e.g. offshore drilling, nuclear energy, ban on partial birth abortions, etc.), but he never pushed it far enough to drive the point home. Had he done it earlier in the campaign, and done it successfully, he could have drawn much more attention to the subtle language tricks Obama uses to appear more mainstream on issues and deflect attention away from what his record would indicate are much more liberal tendencies. Obama will "look at" offshore drilling. He supports "safe" nuclear energy. He's for a ban on partial birth abortions if it includes an exclusion for the "health" of the mother. Of course, those code words carry with them all the wiggle room he needs to ultimately withdraw his feigned support/open-mindedness. McCain just couldn't communicate the point descriptively and forcefully enough to score much needed points. In the end, for McCain, this debate was at best a tie...and that's not good enough at this stage.
Very interesting blog comments. I’m still in agreement with you on this McCain thing. Darn it. (sounded like Palin there, didn’t I?) It seemed as though he kept going after Obama until he was nearly satisfied with his point. He was trying hard not to let him off the hook each time (more so than ever..I thought), so I kind of appreciated his attempts. A few times, though, he almost acted like a baby by repeatedly pushing back on talking points that didn’t quite matter.
It just drives me nuts watching these debates, I can hardly do it anymore. One candidate points out a very specific policy/vote with which they take issue hoping that “the American people” will really really understand what the other guy is saying. They’ll point blank say….here is what your policy states, and that’s not what the people want. And, in almost every instance, the other guy completely, 100% denies it. So, unless you are behind the scenes researching every single vote they’ve ever cast, or reading their plans on your own and making your own comparison,……how do you know who is telling the truth? I say that the American people do not know ANYTHING more when they are done with these debates than they knew before they started. That is just crazy to me. Deny….deny….deny.
And, to further push us over the edge, the debate finishes up, and right away they start saying who won the debate. Inevitably, the republicans say McCain won, and the D’s say that Obama won. Again, what can we learn from that? You can’t rely on the news media to even help you out….they are all so biased.
Bah humbug.
Tell me where I can actually read each candidate’s policy/plan …..one that was written by them and only them. And, where do you find their past voting history? I guess if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!
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You've got to go to their individual web sites for plan specifics and to the Senate web site for voting histories. I also like to use web sites such as www.realclearpolitics.com for unbiased assessments.
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