The First Presidential Debate

Barack Obama was extremely erudite in articulating his positions. That elitist egghead! Why was John McCain blinking so much? At about 9:45pm onward, it looked like he was very cranky and just wanted to go to sleep. He was probably missing a Matlock marathon or something. I finally realize why McCain doesn't want to talk with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; it's because McCain can't pronounce his name.

Anyway, let's be serious for a change.

I thought they had an interesting discussion on the economy and both did an effective job explaining their stances, even as Jim Lehrer (who did a good enough job) was needling them to answer his questions specifically that they were answering in a roundabout way. It came down to McCain making a good case for tax cuts, reduced spending, and less government regulation, while Obama gave an equally effective case for closing corporate loopholes, taxing the very wealthy, and advocating a role for the government in regulating the economy.

On the initial discussion about the war in Iraq, McCain did a more effective job explaining why we should stay than Obama did about why we should go. But McCain made a tactical mistake by returning to the subject. During a rambled response, he mentioned that the mother of a fallen soldier asked McCain to win the war. Obama rebutted by mentioning that the mother of another fallen soldier told him to make sure no other mother has to feel the pain that she must endure. Obama's response was more poignant than McCain's.

Obama understood the issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan to a far greater degree than did McCain. McCain believes that Iraq is the central front of the war on terror, even using bin Laden's words as evidence. Do we want bin Laden to dictate how we should fight the war? Is he going to give us an honest assessment or try to dupe us into a distraction? This was McCain's lowest point. I don't believe we should add more troops to the war in Afghanistan or go into Pakistan, but Obama made a good case for it. He advocated going after bin Laden and other high al Qaeda operatives even if they are in Pakistan. Most people would agree with that. McCain was in favor of continuing the same failed policy towards Pakistan, sending enormous aid without condition, which invariably goes into the pockets of the ISI and then to our enemies.

McCain looked lost on how to handle Iran. It was bizarre how he claimed that if Obama meets with Ahmadinejad, Obama is somehow legitimizing Ahmadinejad's positions. It was an absurd argument. I've talked to plenty of anti-Semites, that doesn't mean I'm legitimizing anti-Semitism. I'm Jewish. I'm trying to promote understanding through dialogue.

The line of the night went to Obama. He did not believe McCain could show restraint when it comes to war because he has called for the extinction of North Korea and sang a song about bombing Iran. Then McCain answered back by listing all of the military conflicts he has supported, which I found strange.

Overall, McCain was well informed. He made a tactical error by continuously claiming that Obama didn't understand the issues. Whether or not you agree with Obama, you have to admit he knew what he was talking about. McCain appeared to belittle Obama by constantly calling him naive. Obama was helped by low expections due to lingering questions about his experience. He showed that he understood the issues. All in all, the debate won't have much impact on which way people vote, but it was an informative discussion.