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The Final Presidential Debate, 2008

Submitted by anne on Thu, 2008-10-16 16:32.

Yesterday was a long day for me and by the time I got home, I was too tired to watch the debates with anything resembling a working brain. So, I took some time today, to watch. And this time, I made some notes as it ran. Some relate to specific points in the debate. I'm linking to the transcript at the LA Times, so you can see the original words in context.

My first thought was how often McCain talked about Americans being angry---he seems to focus on anger a lot. I wonder how much of that is him projecting his own issues with anger onto the people he meets?

At first, I thought Obama wasn't taking notes and wondered if it was a tactic to emphasize McCain's need for notes and his use of notes---kind of a subconscious pointer to McCain's age. But, I think I saw a pad and pen for Senator Obama as well...and maybe saw him writing once or twice??? Are both candidates left-handed? Or did I imagine that?

A couple of times, McCain stopped, backed up, added a phrase or sentence and moved forward. It gave him the sound of someone working in memorized little speeches instead of working from his own mental processes.

I like how Senator Obama appeared more flexible, bringing McCain's own words "scalpel" and "hatchet" into his responses---and bringing up the scalpel again later on. Let me quote a couple spots:

McCain says: (trimmed to just this part)

OK, what -- what would I cut? I would have, first of all, across-the-board spending freeze, OK? Some people say that's a hatchet. That's a hatchet, and then I would get out a scalpel, OK?

Senator Obama responds:

And, in fact, an across-the-board spending freeze is a hatchet, and we do need a scalpel, because there are some programs that don't work at all. There are some programs that are underfunded. And I want to make sure that we are focused on those programs that work.

Later on, Obama says: (trimmed to just this part)

And if we have an across-the-board spending freeze, we're not going to be able to do it. That's an example of, I think, the kind of use of the scalpel that we want to make sure that we're funding some of those programs.

That brings me to another comment. Why does McCain keep mentioning autism and Sarah Palin? Why does he say:

She'll be my partner. She understands reform. And, by the way, she also understands special-needs families. She understands that autism is on the rise, that we've got to find out what's causing it, and we've got to reach out to these families, and help them, and give them the help they need as they raise these very special needs children.

She understands that better than almost any American that I know. I'm proud of her.

And then later:

And I just said to you earlier, town hall meeting after town hall meeting, parents come with kids, children -- precious children who have autism. Sarah Palin knows about that better than most. And we'll find and we'll spend the money, research, to find the cause of autism. And we'll care for these young children. And all Americans will open their wallets and their hearts to do so.

Does he think Trig Palin has autism? I'm not all that informed on politicians and their families, but how can anyone not know Trig has Down's Syndrome, especially after all the "is Trig really Piper's baby?" rumors?

I'm going to back up to a point I liked:

Now with respect to a couple of things Senator McCain said, the notion that I voted for a tax increase for people making $42,000 a year has been disputed by everybody who has looked at this claim that Senator McCain keeps on making.

Even FOX News disputes it, and that doesn't happen very often when it comes to accusations about me.

I think McCain got schooled on that point.

Am I the only one who was reminded of a lizard, every time McCain's tongue darted out to lick his lips? I wish I knew how to edit the footage to just cuts of all the times he licked his lips that way. ::shudder::

As the debate progressed, I felt like McCain got more and more sarcastic towards Senator Obama. I also felt it betrayed a sense of "I'm losing" on McCain's part.

Hey, Joe, you're rich, congratulations, ...
Now, Joe, you're rich, congratulations, ...

Oh, this part really bugged me:

That's big government at its best. Now, 95 percent of the people in America will receive more money under my plan because they will receive not only their present benefits, which may be taxed, which will be taxed, but then you add $5,000 onto it, except for those people who have the gold-plated Cadillac insurance policies that have to do with cosmetic surgery and transplants and all of those kinds of things.

He lumped people with life-threatening situations which require transplants in with people who have cosmetic surgery. Now, I understand that sometimes cosmetic surgery is truly necessary and important---like in the case of burn victims, or mastectomy patients.

And to say these people have "gold-plated Cadillac insurance policies" is just... Is he really disparaging these people who need coverage beyond "major medical" and a yearly check-up----people like me, who are on maintenance medications just to function daily, who see their doctor every three months, just to keep on top of things? And I'm not really in the worst shape.

I just read of a young girl here in the Valley who was given mere months to live, at age 15, due to the brain tumors she had. Her parents fought and encouraged her to fight and they removed the tumors, but didn't give her much time---maybe 3 years. Well, it's been 3 years and she's still fighting, but now her parents may lose their home due to all the medical bills which have piled up.

I don't think anyone who needs more than "just the basic care" thinks of themselves as having a "gold-plated Cadillac insurance policy"---especially if they've ever had to fight to get something covered!

Now, he mentions before that statement giving $5000 to you for insurance, but didn't he also say:

MCCAIN: Nobody likes taxes. Let's not raise anybody's taxes. OK?

There's no money left, McCain. It's gone. The country is in debt unto the nth generation. Where's this money gonna come from? You got a printing press in your basement, working to devalue the dollar some more?

One thing I'm going to go research because of this debate is Obama's plans for education. He said something that really caught my attention:

And that's why I've proposed a $4,000 tuition credit, every student, every year, in exchange for some form of community service, whether it's military service, whether it's Peace Corps, whether it's working in a community.

Now, those who know me, know a couple things about me. One, I finished my degree with a toddler and a husband. I did that with student loans. Loans which are now costing me about $220 a month. You also know that I'm not a fan of the Department of Education. I think it should be shut down and left for the states to handle---you want competitive schools, let the states build their school systems and create a real competition! Only with competition do we all win.

But this proposal could be a good idea. I'll have to read up on it and see how it's supposed to work, to make my decision.

That's all the comments I have for now on this debate. Except for clothing.... Is it odd to anyone else that the "blue" candidate wore a red tie and the "red" candidate wore a blue tie? And that their wives wore the opposite colors?

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