Before we get to "The Great Debate," here's the latest on what President Barack Obama and the White House have been up to this day. First off, Vice President Joe Biden was down in Florida talking to Seniors and using words like "Vouchercare" and stringing words together like this:
“The average senior would have to pay $460 a year more in taxes for their Social Security. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s … while these guys are … hemorrhaging tax cuts for the super wealthy.”
A letter from the President regarding terrorism, magically turning four bills into laws, two Presidential Memorandums and a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister were also highlighted today. Here's the money quote from the readout of the conversation between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu:
President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke today as part of their regular consultations, and to follow up on Secretary Clinton’s meeting with the Prime Minister. The two leaders discussed a range of security issues, and the President reaffirmed his and our country’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security. The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Prime Minister welcomed President Obama’s commitment before the United Nations General Assembly to do what we must to achieve that goal.
First Lady Michelle Obama is front and center in the campaign, unlike her GOP counterpart. Today, the FLOTUS gave a rousing and educational speech at the University of Northern Iowa. Here's the
complete transcript with a snippet below:
Next week, Barack and I, we'll be married for 20 years. (Applause.) So let me share something. See, now, back when we first met -- ladies, listen up -- (laughter) -- Barack had everything going for him. He was handsome -- still is, I think. (Applause.) He was charming, talented, and very, very smart. But that is not why I married him.
So, fellas, listen up. (Laughter.) What truly made me fall in love with Barack was his character. No, truly, it was his decency, it was his honesty, it was his compassion, his conviction. I loved that Barack was so committed to serving others that he turned down high-paying jobs and instead he started his career fighting to get folks back to work in struggling communities.
And I loved that Barack was so devoted to his family, especially to the women in his life. I saw the respect that he had for his mother. That meant so much to me. I saw how proud he was that she was able to put herself through school and still support him and his sister as a single mom.
Meanwhile, the POTUS was busy with briefings this morning, bill signings, debate prep in the afternoon and three fund-raisers in the evening according to the AP. The President told his audiences that we are "not as divided as the pundits make it seem." This, of course, works as a direct contrast to Mitt Romney's "47% Solution."
THE GREAT DEBATE
Next Wednesday, October 3, is the first debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Romney. There are three presidential debates scheduled and one for the vice-presidential candidates. Two of the presidential debates are on the topic of domestic policy, while the third deals with foreign policy. Jim Lehrer of PBS will moderate this first debate, on the topic of domestic policy, in Denver on Wednesday. As you can see in the video below, Lehrer moderated one of the Obama/McCain debates in 2008. He wants the debaters to engage each other as much as possible. He'll throw out a "lead question" and give each candidate two minutes to respond. Then, there will be cross-talk. This will force Mitt Romney to think on his feet. Lehrer announced that the general topics for the debate would include at least three questions about the economy, as well as questions on health care, the role of government and governing.
Mitt Romney surrogates are downplaying their candidate's ability to debate even though Romney's had 19 warmup sessions with Gingrich, Santorum and the rest of the Hitler Youth. He's also reportedly spent 48 hours running through five practice debates. Still, it's not necessary to explain to you that President Obama's got this, is it? Just in case:
Each debate lasts 90 minutes, and with all the responses and rebuttals, you can expect between eight and sixteen "lead questions" from the moderator. Formats in the past have included sit downs, stand up at a podium and town hall-styles. Here are some observations from President Obama's performance against Senator McCain.
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE (2008)
The first presidential debate in 2008 was moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS, and it dealt with foreign policy and national security. Given the recent collapse of the economy, Lehrer included economic policy because of the "global financial crisis." This was your standard podium-facing-the-cameras debate, although Lehrer did encourage cross-talk between the debaters.
Lehrer asked a total of twelve lead questions, and given the then-recent economic collapse, it was no surprise that the first question -- in fact the first three -- dealt with proposed agreements to prop up the big investment banks. Earmarks and Tax Cuts were the subject of two more questions, and foreign policy was dealt with through basic questions about Russia (then involved in the Georgia crisis), terrorism, the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Pakistan and nuclear Iran. If you substitute questions about the Arab Spring and the European Recession in lieu of the American Recession, and a question dealing with China instead of Russia, these could be the same issues faced by the President in the 2012 debate. Here is that full debate as presented by CSPAN:
THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE (2008)
The second presidential debate of that cycle was moderated by Tom Brokaw of NBC, and it was a Town Hall format, with some of the questions submitted by 80 "uncommitted voters" who showed up to watch. This debate, of course, included John McCain's "Admiral Stockdale Moment" as he wandered around the stage, occasionally getting lost. If McCain's plan was to force us to watch him walking around the set instead of listening to Obama, mission accomplished. The other infuriating aspect of this debate was a moderator problem. Brokaw chided the candidates for going over time about five times, always waiting until Senator Obama finished speaking before bringing out the ruler. (Brokaw is replaced by Candy Crowley this year; that's good because Brokaw was that bad.).
Brokaw's debate had by far the most questions (16), as he used some out-of-left-field suggestions from the audience and the internet. Again there were three questons about the economic collapse and another about the federal debt. An interesting question was what the candidate's first three priority areas would be once he assumed office. Other domestic policy questions dealt with healthcare, climate change, green jobs and fixing Medicare and Social Security. Foreign Policy questions dealt with Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, a nuclear Iran, and whether the candidate would attack a foreign country to stop a massacre. Here is the entire debate as captured by CSPAN:
THE THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE (2008)
The third presidential debate was moderated by Bob Schieffer and it focused solely on domestic policy. Schieffer, like Lehrer, strongly encouraged the candidates to interact, even prompting them to ask questions of each other. He asked John McCain point-blank if Sarah Palin was ready to assume the presidency, and, having to be fair and balanced, asked Barack Obama about Joe Biden. Another question dealt with the nastiness of the campaign. The other six questions dealt with meaty issues such as education, climate change, the right to choose, healthcare, energy and balancing the budget. Here is that entire debate as taped by CSPAN:
LESSONS FROM THE 2008 DEBATES
Senator Obama seemed to appreciate the enormity of the situation as he made his opening statement during his first presidential debate. He soon hit his stride, though, and seemed to treat the experience as a teachable moment. As a former professor, he had one of the biggest classes, possibly the biggest class in history to teach.
Back in 2008, I was sitting on the edge of my seat hoping for no gaffes. Looking back, I wish I'd spent more time listening to the future President's arguments and plans. One lesson from those debates is that Barack Obama will bring up the big issues and tell you exactly what he wants to do with them. He listed as his second biggest priority -- this was after the economy went off the cliff -- as fixing healthcare. Here's another example:
OBAMA:[I]f the United States has Al Qaida, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out. Now, I think that's the right strategy; I think that's the right policy.
Another great lesson to learn from that series of debates was how Senator Obama handled a massive, game-changing policy announcement from his opponent
first mentioned in the debate. With Mitt Romney trailing in the polls, I would expect him to do something similar to what McCain pulls out of his hat in this 2008 debate. Here's how it went down:
MCCAIN: How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs.
LEHRER: Spending freeze?
MCCAIN: I think we ought to seriously consider with the exceptions the caring of veterans national defense and several other vital issues.
LEHRER: Would you go for that?
OBAMA: The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel. There are some programs that are very important that are under funded. I want to increase early childhood education and the notion that we should freeze that when there may be, for example, this Medicare subsidy doesn't make sense.
Let me tell you another place to look for some savings. We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when they have a $79 billion surplus. It seems to me that if we're going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad, that we have to look at bringing that war to a close.
Did you see what Senator Obama did? Faced with a shoot-from-the-hip maverick's crazy idea blurted out for the first time in front of millions of people, Obama responded with the perfect analogy (hatchet/scalpel) and then the perfect example of what
not to cut (early childhood education). Finally, he provided another example where other savings could be found (end Iraq War). He came up with that in about 30 seconds.
The final lesson I wanted to share from the Obama/McCain debates was that the junior Senator from Illinois has been planning this stuff for a long time. Even before Mitt Romney became Exhibit "A" of why Trickle-down economics doesn't work, Barack Obama had him in mind:
OBAMA: Now, John [McCain] mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he's absolutely right. Here's the problem: There are so many loopholes that have been written into the tax code, oftentimes with support of Senator McCain, that we actually see our businesses pay effectively one of the lowest tax rates in the world.
So my attitude is, we've got to grow the economy from the bottom up. What I've called for is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, 95 percent.
THE REAL GREAT DEBATE
One thing is certain in the debates. The Real Great Debate will between Mitt Romney and himself. Whatever position Romney takes in the debate he will be a default flip-flopper. Or a liar. He is that boxed in. As JoanMar suggested, the real fun would be to watch Mitt debate Mitt:
Link to Transcripts and Documents.
Donate to re-elect Obama/Biden through ActBlue:
ObamaNightlyNews for Obama/Biden 2012.
Buy Obama/Biden gear at the Obama 2012 Store.
Volunteer at Obama For America to help register voters and participate in GOTV events. And check with your state Democratic Party office to find volunteer opportunities.
Share two sites that help voters in each state:
Gotta Register generates a voter registration form for your state; Gotta Vote explains how to vote early, how to find your polling place, and what to bring when voting in each state. Voters can also download convenient checklists with all of that information and sign up for voting-related reminders.
Obama Nightly News posts every night at 9:00 ET / 6:00 PT
|