The Final Debate

The presidential debate that happened this past Wednesday was a very interesting debate.  I really enjoyed this debate because the debate provided the viewers with new subjects, and the moderator did an excellent job of making the candidates answer the questions that were being asked.  The interesting thing about this debate is what seemed a last ditch effort by McCain to make Obama look bad.  He did this by attacking Obama at every possible opportunity, especially with his use of the word "eloquence" to try to undermine Senator Obama's choice of words.  This debate showed the same sides to both candidates and nobody surprisingly wowed me in this debate.  I really enjoyed them talking about education and to "Joe the Plumber".  They made him an instant overnight celebrity.  I even saw him on the Today Show the morning after.  The candidates still have a lot of questions to answer to the public and I would personally like to know more about the candidates health care plans, and I would like McCain to stay on his issues and stop taking attacks at McCain.

Hard Hitting Debate

Last nights debate was more heated and confrontational than the previous two debates. Both candidates resorted to personal attacks. McCain came out accusing Obama of having close ties with William Ayers and ACORN, which is under a voter fraud investigation. Obama responded by understating his relationship with Ayers and ACORN. However, McCain insisted that Obama was not disclosing the full extent of his ties to them. McCain also criticized Obama for going back on his pledge to take public funding and accept spending limits in the general election. Both accused each other of resorting to negative tactics during the campaign and allowing negative statements to be made by supporters unchallenged. Both candidates claimed to not tolerate when supporters make negative statements.

I was surprised that McCain confronted Obama directly about the accusations in McCain’s campaign ads. I think he was trying to put Obama on the defensive and catch him off guard. I don’t think that tactic worked. However, I think McCain was effective at portraying Obama as an untrustworthy person. McCain seemed more at ease during this debate. I think it was because of the close proximity between Obama and McCain. The two candidates had more of a conversation because they were so close together. McCain could not help but talk directly at Obama.