Third and Final Presidential Debate

Below is the footage from last night's third and final presidential debate. It was by far the best debate of the election. Barack Obama, while strong all throughout the debate, was particularly strong on his health care, pro-choice, tax policy, and education plans. John McCain provided the entertainment of the night, whether it be a grimace or two when Obama referenced Fox News' criticisms of the McCain campaign or when McCain introduced "Joe the Plumber" and then proceeded to mention Joe over 20 times throughout the evening and change the analogy.

The most interesting question of the night though was this: "Both of you run or have run negative campaign ads. Senator Obama, you have called him 'out of touch' and 'unfit to lead.' Senator McCain, you have called him a 'terrorist,' 'pals around with terrorists,' and 'liar.' My question to both of you is would you say what you said in your ads to each other's faces? Senator McCain, you are first." While neither one came out and called each other those exact phrases, John McCain discussed his "hurt feelings" while Obama said that he did not care if he would be attacked for the next three weeks and that the voters do not care about the candidates' hurt feelings; they care about the issues. Obama also told John McCain that the one instance McCain referenced, the Obama campaign had nothing to do with it and issued a statement saying it was inappropriate and the senator that made the comment apologized and redacted the statement, while people at Palin/McCain rallies scream "Terrorist!" and "Kill Him!" and neither Governor Sarah Palin nor Senator John McCain request the crowd to stop and tell them that their actions are inappropriate. In my opinion, there is absolutely no comparison to what McCain was griping about and the fact that his campaign does not denounce supporters' calls for Obama's assassination as totally inappropriate. Grow up, McCain, and lose like an adult.

Another interesting question was asked about the vice presidential candidates. The question was, "why do you think that your vice presidential candidate is better than your opponent's?" I don't think that John McCain answered with nearly as many "mavericks" as "Joe the Plumber" references.

By the way, apparently "Joe the Plumber" really does exist. And he's kind of a stingy guy when it comes to tax policy for the richest 5% of Americans. Take a look at both videos and see what you think. Enjoy!

Third Presidential Debate


"Joe the Plumber" speaks!

Delusional

I couldn't help but snicker reading this editorial in the Michigan Daily. In it, Alex Prasad laments the opportunities Palin missed at the vice-presidential debate:

For example, Biden, speaking of Vice President Dick Cheney, said, “The idea
(Cheney) doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of
the vice president of the United States, that's the executive branch.”

Palin easily could have retorted, “Actually Joe, Article I of the
Constitution discussed legislative power. Ya know, it’s disappointing that a
sitting senator doesn’t even know the Constitution he’s sworn to protect. The
American people need somebody who is intimately familiar with the
Constitution.”

Seriously? Do you really think Sarah Palin is "intimately familiar with the Constitution"? Do you think someone who can't even remember what publications she reads knows which article of the constitution refers to what? Does it seem like Palin would say anything in that above statement besides "Actually Joe" and "Ya know"? Prasad continues:

The moderator, Gwen Ifill, asked Biden if Americans have the stomach for all
the intervention he has proposed over the years, citing his calls for
intervention in Bosnia, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan. Biden responded, “I think the
American public has the stomach for success. My recommendations on Bosnia …
saved tens of thousands of lives … (and) the end result was it worked.”

[....Palin] should have answered as follows: “Ya know, let’s talk about
success senator. Certainly, I can’t match your long record in the realm of
foreign policy. But, I don’t think the American people — those Main Streeters —
just want experience. They want good Main Street judgment. You cite Bosnia as a success, yet 13 years after the initial conflict, we still have 10,000 troops
there. You were one of the few opposed the first Gulf War, saying thousands of
U.S. soldiers would die. In fact, only 293 did in an overwhelming victory. Your
maverick opposition was irresponsible.

In addition to the fact that Palin again probably does not know these things, I fail to see how these points will help her win the debate. How can you criticize Biden for supporting something that resulted in 10,000 troops staying in Bosnia for 13 years when McCain wants troops to stay in Iraq for 100 years?* If our victory in the first Gulf War was so overwhelming, why was it necessary to go to war with Iraq again just 12 years later? And you're really going to criticize someone who is not John McCain for being an irresponsible maverick? Yeah, that's a good idea.

Despite the hopes of the Obama campaign and many liberals, electoral defeat
may just be the thing that reignites the conservative base. Democrats better
hope that Republicans don’t find the second coming of Ronald Reagan by 2012, or
conservatives will again unite behind a presidential candidate.

Wow. Are conservatives really that relentlessly optimistic/out of touch with reality? Maybe I'm wrong here, maybe I'm the one being overly optimistic, but it seems to me that we're in the middle of a paradigm shift. The pendulum is swinging leftward. Americans are tired of the excesses of conservatism and the Bush administration: deregulation, wars without provocation, living without a safety net, ignoring our civil liberties, corruption, etc. This is not to say that liberals cannot be guilty of their own excesses; indeed, Americans upset with Great Society, Vietnam, the Chicago protests, race riots, and the Iranian hostage crisis deserted Johnson, Humphrey, and Carter and turned to Nixon and then Reagan. We've been living in a conservative age ever since. Until now.

*NOTE: McCain does not want to see American troops fighting in Iraq for a century like the Obama campaign might want you to think. McCain wants the U.S. to establish a peacetime presence there as in Germany or South Korea or Bosnia. Permanent bases in Iraq are still a bad idea, though.

Second Presiential Debate

Here is the CSPAN footage from the second presidential debate. The moderator was Tom Brokaw and the style was that of a Town Hall debate. All in all, both candidates did far better than the previous presidential debate, with Barack Obama making great improvements and doing an excellent job of differentiating between his and McCain's policies. McCain, on the other hand, often times sounded condescending and quick to levy false accusations. Both candidates, however, were constantly harassed by Tom Brokaw about the time constraints.

For the New York Times' interactive webpage on the debate, please click here.

To view the debate, please watch below.

SNL Says it All

SNL says it all when it comes to this election season's Vice Presidential candidates.

To see the newest skit, check this out from this past Saturday.


For the real deal, you can view the entire debate as well as the Associated Press' Fact Check by clicking here.

Vice Presidential Debate, AP Fact Check

On Thursday, October 2, 2008, the first and only vice presidential candidate debate was held. Below is the article from the Associated Press fact-checking statements made by the candidates. You can also watch the full footage of the debate, courtesy of CSPAN.

Some facts adrift in veep debate

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Republican Sarah Palin criticized a version of a Barack Obama health care plan that doesn't exist and Democrat Joe Biden clung to a misleading charge about Republicans and big oil when the two clashed in the vice presidential debate Thursday.

Some examples of facts cast adrift in the debate:

PALIN: Said of Democratic presidential candidate Obama: "94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction."

THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.

___

BIDEN: Complained about "economic policies of the last eight years" that led to "excessive deregulation."

THE FACTS: Biden voted for 1999 deregulation that liberal groups are blaming for part of the financial crisis today. The law allowed Wall Street investment banks to create the kind of mortgage-related securities at the core of the problem now. The law was widely backed by Republicans as well as by Democratic President Clinton, who argues it has stopped the crisis today from being worse.

___

PALIN: Criticized Obama's "plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program" for health care, and added: "I don't think it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the Feds."

THE FACTS: Wrong on several counts. Obama's plan does not provide for universal coverage, only mandates insurance for children and doesn't turn the system over to the government. Most people would still get private insurance through their work. Obama proposes that the government subsidize the cost of health coverage for millions who have trouble affording it and he'd set up an exchange to negotiate prices and benefits with private insurers — with one option being a government-run plan.

___

BIDEN: Warned that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's $5,000 tax credit to help families buy health coverage "will go straight to the insurance company."

THE FACTS: That's not surprising — the money is meant to pay for health insurance. The Obama campaign tried to capitalize on the candidates' health care exchange by issuing an ad Friday contending that the Republicans can't explain "the McCain health tax."

___

PALIN: "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell."

THE FACTS: Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska led an effort in 2005 to tighten regulation on the mortgage underwriters — McCain joined as a co-sponsor a year later. The legislation was never taken up by the full Senate, then under Republican control.

___

BIDEN: Said McCain supports tax breaks for oil companies, and "wants to give them another $4 billion tax cut."

THE FACTS: Biden is repeating a favorite saw of the Obama campaign, and it's misleading. McCain supports a cut in income taxes for all corporations, and doesn't single out any one industry for that benefit.

___

PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.

THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.

___

BIDEN: "As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry — deregulate it and let the free market move — like he did for the banking industry."

THE FACTS: Biden and Obama have been perpetuating this distortion of what McCain wrote in an article for the American Academy of Actuaries. McCain, laying out his health plan, only referred to deregulation when saying people should be allowed to buy health insurance across state lines. In that context, he wrote: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

___

PALIN: Said Alaska is "building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets."

THE FACTS: Not quite. Construction is at least six years away. So far the state has only awarded a license to Trans Canada Corp., that comes with $500 million in seed money in exchange for commitments toward a lengthy and costly process to getting a federal certificate. At an August news conference after the state Legislature approved the license, Palin said, "It's not a done deal."

___

PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."

BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes."

THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others.

___

PALIN: Said a McCain-Palin administration "will support Israel," including "building our embassy ... in Jerusalem."

THE FACTS: Moving the U.S. Embassy from its present location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a perennial promise of presidential candidates courting the Jewish-American vote. In fact, moving the embassy is actually required by U.S. law. But successive administrations of both parties, including George W. Bush's, have made the same pledge only to find that the realities of Middle East peacemaking have forced them to invoke a waiver to delay it. Jerusalem is claimed as a capital by both Israelis and the Palestinians and Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. The city's status is one of the key issues of disagreement in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.