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My friend called me Friday night right after the John McCain-Barack Obama debate to ask what I thought. I called it a tie and she hung up disappointed. Apparently, a lot of other media members also called the debate a tie. I had a little time to reflect and I’ve changed my mind.
It is easy to fall into the trap where you score the debate based on whether the participants were tripped up answering a question or committed a gaffe. When neither happens, you call it a tie. I’ve since decided such a scoring system serves no one. The debate should be rated on substance, not low expectations. On that, Obama was the clear winner.
Forget about the fact McCain never looked at Obama when addressing him. Forget McCain broke the single debate record for blinking, formerly held by Richard M. Nixon. McCain lost because some of his answers lacked substance.
For instance, take healthcare. McCain proposes to give you $5,000 to buy health insurance on your own. What he didn’t tell you is he plans to tax health benefits provided by your employer. His plan would leave millions of Americans without health insurance, just as they are today. Worse, McCain lies about Obama’s plan. He claims Obama is proposing the federal government run our health system and choose doctors for you. This is not true.
Obama’s plan is modeled on the healthcare system enjoyed by federal employees. Since I was a federal employee, I can tell you the system provides choice and good coverage. If you pick the right plan, you choose your own doctors. Obama’s plan doesn’t cover everyone, but it’s a far better plan than you would get under McCain.
On the economy it was difficult to figure out where each stood on the bailout plan because it still was being negotiated while the debate was going on. This much we know: During his 26 years in Congress, McCain rarely found a regulation he could support. It is McCain’s belief in an unfettered financial market that helped get us into this jam. Just a short while ago, he was bragging the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Now, he claims this crisis is the worst since we went to war against Germany and Japan. His self-professed lack of interest in economics speaks for itself. Being against earmarks doesn’t constitute an economic policy. Obama is just more credible on economics, and that’s why he won the debate on this point as well.
On taxes, McCain claims business in the United States is taxed at 35 percent, among the highest in the world. He cited Ireland’s business tax of 11 percent as a reason why businesses would move out of the country and presumably to Ireland. This would probably be news to the Irish. Ireland doesn’t come to mind when discussing business capitals of the world. Obama correctly pointed out when you consider the loopholes in the tax code, our tax rate is among the lowest on business, not the highest.
McCain’s strong suit is supposed to be his experience in foreign policy, but he was not impressive here, either. He insisted you should not meet with the enemy without preconditions, but one of his advisers, Dr. Henry Kissinger, recently suggested we do just that with Iranian leaders. When Obama pointed this out, McCain kept insisting Kissinger would never say such a thing. But Kissinger did so in a very public statement, meaning McCain is either not informed or just disregards the truth when it suits him.
McCain deserves some credit for fighting Donald Rumsfeld’s dismissal and a surge in troop strength in Iraq. However, while he insists setting a timetable to get out would lead to catastrophe, his position has been repudiated not only by the Iraqi government, but the Bush administration. McCain has no definition of victory and admits the situation in Iraq is fragile. It adds up to an open-ended commitment of money and American troops, neither of which is practical given the state of our economy or the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Both candidates were disappointing on the question of the recent dust-up between Russia and Georgia. Both seem willing to ignore the provocation of Georgia in the incident and to commit us to war with Russia over Georgia, which is insane.
Obama has been criticized for being too cool, but I’d rather have super-cool in the White House than someone who makes hair-trigger decisions such as picking a totally inexperienced vice presidential nominee, trying to fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission without having the authority and refusing to recognize the realities in Iraq because he is re-fighting old wars.
McCain kept saying during the debate Obama didn’t understand. What John McCain showed during the debate is he is the one who doesn’t understand. Round One to Obama on points.
