The third and final debate is over and Joe the Plumber is now a household name. More seriously though tonight's debate was the best of them all in actually getting the candidate's off the stump and having to address the serious problems that are nation faces. So who won?
In my honest opinion, in this debate, I believe John McCain won. Before you call me a partisan, let me say my analysis is based on political technical standards. What I mean by that is I watched this debate wearing two different hats. One being a conservative looking at the ideas put forward by the candidates and the other being a student in political science who looks at the tactics and styles both candidates use in tackling questions.
So here is my technical non-partisan opinion. I believe John McCain won. He answered the questions from his heart. He stayed away from the stump. He put his policies as well as Barack Obama's in terms that are very real to everyday Americans using none other than Joe the Plumber. John McCain challenged Barack Obama on key issues that Barack sometimes would try to reverse the question or just avoid it all together. One of those issues that was brought up was negativity on the trail. Barack Obama tried to say John McCain was the bad guy but like I said in a past post, Barack is more negative than McCain but it just doesn't seem that way because the Obama campaign flip-flopped and rejected public financing. This allows them to be even more negative than McCain and also run positive ads. Painting McCain as the bad guy when in fact it is Barack Obama who is more negative. Another issue that I think John McCain did well today is help break the notion that George Bush and him are in lock step. His quote attacking Barack Obama saying if you wanted to run against George Bush, you should of ran four years ago was great. However, I will say the reason why Barack Obama acted the way he did was he was playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Its a strategy with him being so far ahead in the polls. However, as a sports fan, complacency and playing not to lose usually causes the game to tighten up. After this debate I see John McCain gaining a few points in the polls. Nothing substantial but at least I think he will chip slightly at the large Obama lead. This debate wasn't a game changer by any means but I think John McCain will come out with at least some advantage and that is why I give Senator McCain the victory nod today. However, one could argue that Barack Obama won because he achieved his goal of not losing but I think to win you actually have to win. I also want to congratulate Bob Schieffer of CBS News. I think he did a great job at moderating today's debate. He forced the candidates to actually answer the question, and getting them to interact. I believe it by far was the most informative and interesting exchange.
I definitely enjoyed hearing about Joe the Plumber, and I didn't realize until I read about it on Yahoo news that he was an actual person. No kidding.
I agree about Obama being very negative but I think McCain was pretty negative too. And actually, though I am not a political science major and perhaps cannot give such an informed point of view, I feel that Obama's speech was a lot more clear, focused, and relevant, and that he actually won this debate. That's totally my opinion though. And I'm not sure who I'm voting for, so I would hope that I am partisan in that respect?
Thanks for your comments! Joe the plumber will no doubt play a big role in the rest of the election and in fact he did media interviews after the debate. Sometimes it helps that I write my posts from a political science point of view but sometimes the best analysis comes from someone not involved with politics at all. When we watch a debate, speech, or any other political event we are all looking for different things. I am sure what I looked and listened for somewhat varied from what you did and that explains how we disagree. I thought Senator Obama had more rhetoric and Senator McCain had more substance but that is just my opinion and people can take it for what its worth. I would be stupid to think I have all the answers or I'm right all the time. I enjoy hearing comments about my posts and I hope you subscribe to my blog and continue to give me your point of view in the future. Thanks for reading and responding!
I agree that what John McCain did was very good. He opened quite strongly, and also made some strong comebacks to Obama's words (for example, when he said he was not George Bush). However, after the third question McCain seemed to die down. The question where they were asked if they would back up their campains seemed to get at McCain for some reason, and the rest of the debate he went back to the usual McCain we've seen during the entire campaign. I think this could hurt him even more, because his objective was to show that the America needs a president that will fight for us, and that he was willing to fight. The first half of the debate he did this surprisingly well. However, he seemed to fall behind Obama's overwhelming confidence and poise, and never found a way to get back out and show he was willing to fight. This might come accross as him giving in somewhat, which is the last thing he wants. However, a debate hasn't really swayed a vote since the first debate between Kennedy and Nixon, and I doubt it will now.
I will say John McCain won the first 40 minutes of he debate hands down. However, yes a little bit later on he seemed to lose some of what he had in the first part and things tightened up. I disagree with you though on McCain won't benefit from this. I think he will gain a few points and at least maybe get some of those "leaning McCain" voters who may have lost some faith in the last few days back to the McCain side.
..between Sen. Obama and Joe the Plumber?
I thought it was interesting to hear the exchange without any spin or editing.
TTFN,
Blackout
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