Second Presidential Debate Commentary by Chris Baron
October 8, 2008
Contributed by Chris Baron.
US Presidential debates are a special breed of debate. It is rare that genuine debate—a clash over issues of substance—actually takes place. More often, candidates come prepared to give their own pre-prepared speeches and find ways to deliver these points regardless of what the questions or opposing answers are. They debate with an eye toward how the media will dissect and repackage their answers.
While both candidates took shots at each other, both Obama and McCain sidestepped several of the tough questions asked in this town hall format. But several times, Obama made more efforts to directly answer questions, including the question about how the bailout would help the average American. On what I would regard as the most important question of the evening, what kinds of sacrifices the candidate is asking American citizens to make, neither candidate wanted to forcefully answer this question. This question has been asked in various forms in each of the three debates to date. The Obama camp has been more willing to take this on, with Biden saying foreign aid packages would need to be scaled back, and Obama in this debate saying that every American will need to think about how we use energy and that volunteer corps are an important way for young people to help their country. In contrast, McCain talked briefly about some wasteful spending in defense before returning to a prior question. This issue gets to the heart of presidential leadership and to how candidates deal with difficult challenges like the current economic climate.
Tone matters in presidential debates. McCain had an antagonistic tone that came across as defensive in places. At one point, he pointed at Obama and referred to him as “that one,” continuing a sense that McCain is not comfortable engaging his opponent. In contrast, Obama seemed much more comfortable and relaxed. At one point, Obama “broke the rules” to follow up with a response to McCain’s “talk softly and carry a big stick” point. Senator Obama cited the “Bomb Iran” and anniahliation of North Korea to characterize McCain as not speaking so softly. McCain’s rebuttal (“I was joking with an old veteran friend”) came across like many of the jokes he attempted in the debate—not particularly funny.
McCain did not fall on his face in this debate by any stretch, but in each area: tone, style, content, refutation, and even the “zingers”, Obama was firmly in control. This debate should be put into context: Barack Obama has the momentum. McCain wanted a clear victory. This was far from a win, let alone a win of the type McCain needs.
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