Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain entered the final presidential debate in need of a game-changer. What he received instead was a game-ending performance from Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.
Uncommitted voters named Barack Obama as the winner of the third and final presidential debate by a large margin, according to a CBS News/Knowledge Networks poll.
Obama was also named by uncommitted voters in this poll to have defeated John McCain in the first two presidential debates.
Immediately after the debate, CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of 638 debate watchers assembled by Knowledge Networks who were "uncommitted voters" - either undecided about who to vote for or who could still change their minds. Fifty-three percent said Obama won the debate, 22 percent said McCain won and another 25 percent thought it was a tie.
(Source:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/16/politics/2008debates/main4525289.shtml)
In addition, Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democratic candidate Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best.
(Source:http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/15/debate.poll/index.html)
Those polls represent the views of the American viewing public as expressed subsequent to the debate. Now, for the analysis:
John McCain, Republican Candidate for President
It became clear early in the debate that John McCain had not learned any lessons regarding the public's unfavorable view of his negative campaign. He came out looking angry on every issue from taxes to budgets. His ham-handed plea for repudiation from Obama regarding John Lewis' comments about his campaign made McCain look whiny and disingenuous - especially considering that plea was followed by an immediate turn to Bill Ayers. As was the case during the first two debates, the focus group reactions took serious nose dives every time McCain turned nasty.
McCain was thoroughly demolished on the issue of health care. He sat angrily as Obama took apart his health care proposal - then failed to convince anyone of its validity when he had the chance to speak. He had no answer for the fact that the U.S Chamber of Commerce has blasted his proposal time and time again. He did not dispute Obama's assertion that he wants to tax employer-sponsored health insurance as income, removing the tax exemptions currently granted to the 177 million Americans covered through their workplaces. McCain looked bewildered and sounded incoherent - and he was soundly defeated on one of the central issues of the campaign as it relates to working-class families and their economic statuses.
The most damaging moment of the debate for McCain, however, was his response on the life/health exception where late-term abortions are concerned. His emphasizing of "health of the mother" and his mocking of that stipulation as a consideration that is stretched by extremist abortion-rights groups made him look ugly and out of the mainstream compared to the views of most Americans. More than that, he single-handedly trashed any chance he had to pick up any so-called "Hillary voters" with his insensitivity and indifference regarding an issue that is extremely salient to Senator Clinton's supporters. McCain was going to lose the female vote in November to begin with. By virtue of last night's blunder on this issue, he just made sure he will lose it by a very wide margin.
Barack Obama, Democratic Party Candidate for President
Barack Obama was in an envious position as the clear front-runner coming into this debate. McCain had every intention of trying to penetrate Obama's unshakable personality and calm, cool, and articulate demeanor. Instead of getting into a gutter brawl with McCain, Obama instead showed the poise and steadiness that continues to present him as the presidential contrast to McCain's intemperate personality.
For every McCain attack on raising taxes, Obama countered with the reality that 95% of American workers would get tax cuts under his plan. His multi-faceted energy plan continues to score huge points with voters from all ends of the political spectrum, just as it scored with focus group participants last night. His focus on early childhood education and his willingness to consider charter schools scored big with the American viewing public.
It was his articulation regarding his health care plan, however, that helped Obama finish off McCain in this debate. Obama laid out his plan in unbelievable detail - and he did so in terms that voters of all education levels can easily comprehend and identify with. He carefully and methodically tore apart McCain's plan while extolling the benefits of his vision. The focus group's line didn't just sky-rocket to the top of the chart - it stayed there during Obama's entire explanation. The moment McCain presented his insufficient justification for his plan, the focus group line took a sharp nose dive. That moment of the debate solidified one incontrovertible fact related to this election: The country trusts Obama and believes in his vision for the economy and health care. Because the economy and everything related to it is the sole narrative heading into Election Day, that means Obama is on a firm track to victory while McCain remains second fiddle in the eyes of the American people.
Now, to the Report Card:
John McCain
McCain had one last chance to convince the American voting public that he was the right candidate to be the next President of the United States. His angry, nasty attitude and condescending remarks regarding "the health of the mother" on the abortion issue lost him points with women voters. His inability to detail a coherent plan that will solve the health care public policy problem did not account him well to working-class and small-business voters. His whining over John Lewis while weakly engaging Obama on Ayers made him look both whiny and disingenuous. Some Right-wing commentators, including Bill Bennett, thought this was McCain's best debate performance. However, like the schizophrenic post-debate reaction from the 1980 Presidential Debate between Reagan and Carter (Carter's people insisted "we won...we won", when in fact the American viewing public thought Reagan won by a 2-to-1 margin), the reaction from the Right and that of the American people are two distinctly different visions. I am on the side of the people. McCain did nothing to convince anyone except the hard Right that he has anything to bring to the table as president. Ayers and ACORN may score you points with Sean Hannity and the rest of the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party, but they will not convince undecided and Independent voters to break for you.
Grade: D
Barack Obama
Obama was Obama: calm, cool, articulate, intelligent on the issues, and eminently presidential. The more the American people see of this man, the more they believe that he is the right man for to be the next President of the United States. His economic, energy, and health care plans continue to receive rave reviews from working Americans. His unshakable character and cool wall of confidence are impenetrable. His words, plans, and ground game are suffocating McCain's campaign. McCain has been unable to persuade America that Obama is bad for the country - and every day he looks angry about that reality means another Red state moves toward Obama. Barring some catastrophic event dramatically shifting public opinion away from him in the next 19 days, it is my conclusion that Barack Obama will be the next President of The United States.
Grade: A
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