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Round 2: no decision

After surprising start, candidates mostly plow familiar ground

Rocky Mountain News

Published October 8, 2008 at 12:36 a.m.

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Was it just us, or did the second presidential debate seem to slow to a crawl about halfway through and become a surprisingly tedious slog to the finish?

Don't misunderstand: Both candidates were sharp and articulate. They attacked with gusto when given the chance. But even so, there was a feeling of anticlimax by the time the event was over.

Part of the problem, certainly, is that there really isn't much more to discover about these two men after months and months of listening to them campaign. In addition, there was Tom Brokaw's unfortunate choice of questions: For example, did we really have to hear the candidates uncork nearly the identical spiels on several foreign policy issues that they'd offered in their first debate not two weeks ago, such as whether the United States should attack al-Qaida enclaves in Pakistan?

John McCain did have us wide-eyed at the outset with what was surely the news of the night: his pledge "to order the secretary of the Treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those payments and stay in their homes."

Shortly after this announcement, the Arizona senator's campaign released a slightly fleshed out version of what it called the McCain Resurgence Plan, pegging the total cost at about $300 billion. Some or much of that total, the campaign suggested, might come from the stabilization programs recently authorized by Congress.

"Is it expensive?" McCain asked. "Yes."

No kidding. And it's frankly too big of an idea with too few details for anyone to assess properly on the fly. But call us skeptical for the time being. Surely there are limits to the outlays that Uncle Sam can be expected to make in this crisis.

To be sure, McCain was more effective than in the first debate - and more effective than Barack Obama, in our view - at making his case on the economy, including the dangers of raising taxes during a recession. He also scored points when blaming Democrats for their role in refusing to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "Fannie and Freddie were the match, the catalyst, for this forest fire," he said.

On the other hand, if you think that the time has come to target the wealthy for reasons of fairness and that "deregulation" is an ominous word, then Obama is clearly your man.

Each candidate unleashed a series of haymakers aimed at the other's health-care plans while casting his own in the best possible light. Trouble is, the health care market is so complex that most voters are in no position to know which claims are accurate - whether, for example, McCain's plan would lead to the "unraveling of employer based health care system," as Obama maintains.

Predictably, Brokaw sought to condense their views into a simplistic description of health care as a privilege, right or responsibility. Obama chose right; McCain responsibility. Those choices may please their political bases, but they're a hopelessly vague guidepost for any reform to come.

We'd be surprised if the second debate moves the polling needle much. It was too full of responses the politically aware public already knows. But that offers a clue to the architects of the third and final debate: Expand the topics and give the candidates some new ground to plow.

Comments

  • October 8, 2008

    8:02 a.m.

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    sunshinestate writes:

    My wife and I long ago decided against watching these highly scripted 'debates'.The future of the country is too important to be decided by wearing the wrong color clothes or making a gesture deemed 'bad'.We will not allow any 'debate' episode to affect our decision.
    I feel the Field & Stream magazine McCain/Obama interview will prove most decisive in affecting the 'outdoor' vote- a key GOP constituency since 1980 and now one up for grabs,a story way under the 'radar screen'. Obama clearly won the F&S 'debate'.

  • October 8, 2008

    8:19 a.m.

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    FlyfishDude52 writes:

    With our choice between the two yahoos that presumed to act presidential while lying between their teeth, we are in serious trouble in the USA. I've been a republican most of my life though many times have voted across party lines for the individual that would best serve the position. This time I want to vote NO. Neither candidate stands for anything that will help this country. Worse than that either one will bring us to our knees and I think we are near that compromising position as this is written.

    This is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction after listening to the most poorly "scripted" rhetoric I've heard in my life. obama is, pure and simple, a few clicks to the left of being a socialist which I cannot and will not tolerate. mccain is too old and a few clicks to the left of center meaning that neither guy represent any form of conservativism. Can't everyone out there see that the only thing that will pull us up by the boot straps is being ultra-conservative for a while 'til this fiasco bail-out sorts itself out. I wish we the people would rise up and say to all who voted for this debacle get out, you're thieving reprobates. Yes voters, get rid of all of them. Now.

  • October 8, 2008

    12:29 p.m.

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    dilligaf writes:

    Here is a great idea of how a moderator can keep control of these debates. When the red light comes on to stop talking the microphones turn off. Who's with me?

  • October 8, 2008

    12:46 p.m.

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    akrmnbc writes:

    It seems simple to me. The debates and other forums have allowed Barack Obama to demonstrate clearly that he is a deeply informed, rigorous thinking man of great substance. Mr. Obama is perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Senate veteran McCain on any topic and providing analysis and decisions that are at least as solid, if not superior. In other words, he is not by any stretch of the imagination, a lightweight. So, we should put the lightweight issue to rest (for Obama, not Palin) and decide on which set of principles we need driving the country right now. Given the fundamental role of erroneous Republican thinking that got us into the Iraq Disaster and the Republican deregularatory ideology that allowed the current financial industry meltdown, it seems clear to me we need Obama and the Democrats at this time.

  • October 8, 2008

    1:37 p.m.

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    peterpi writes:

    Diligaf, trap doors would be more effective and elicit a faster learned response.

  • October 8, 2008

    2:06 p.m.

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    awakenedcitizen writes:

    I want the top of the class student, not the bottom of the class student who also does not get along with his classmates.

    I want a person who makes calm, thoughtful decisions; not one who makes impulsive, emotional decisions.

    I want an even-tempered person who can still stick to a plan when dealing with difficult people and attacks, whether domestic or foregin; not an angry, impatient, person who insults people.
    http://www.newsweek.com/id/158767

    I want a person who has been able to get a significant amount of legislation passed by working with both parties; rather than a maverick who has had less than a handfull of bills passed in 26 years because he has poor relationships with his colleagues.

  • October 8, 2008

    3:18 p.m.

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    ghoax writes:

    bored out of my mind watching, decided to study the dictionary instead. debate shebate...nothing but a new forum to parrot party talking points on both sides...still have to go for McCain as the lesser of two evils, the One is simply way clueless about how things work, and apparently has the idea that is 300 buck tax cut for the peasants is going to have us bowing in homage...get a clue fool, we need jobs, a strong dollar, a strong defense and less immigration...the economy does well when money is flowing from those who have it to those who WORK for it, the mere thought that government needs to do more and tax more to do it should have most of you dems running for cover, instead you stand out there with a bullseye on your forehead saying hit me...amazing.

    At least McCain has a basic working knowledge of how the big picture works, maybe he'll even come clean on the Federal Reserve Con job.

  • October 8, 2008

    3:30 p.m.

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    radagan writes:

    Yeah, this debate ran on to long. First half was good but got boring after that.
    - akrmnbc yes Obama can stand toe-to-toe in a debate. Yes we know he can talk and debate and give speeches. My concern is he's never actually ever done anything worth mentioning.

    McCain got it right record vs rhetoric, but seems like a lot of people are aboard the Obama rhetoric even though his own record differs from what his rhetoric is.

  • October 8, 2008

    4:39 p.m.

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    MrPeabody writes:

    Not true that "The One" hasn't done anything yet. He DID write two autobiographies. LOL Smells like a narcissist to me.

    No doubt this debate was a yawner. I can't believe that with people able to submit Q. over the net, that these lame Q. were the best that Brokaw could come up with.

    The next time McCain says, "my friends" I'm gonna scream. The closest we come to being his friend is that some among us will vote for him as the lesser of two bad choices.

  • October 8, 2008

    6:30 p.m.

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    macmahler writes:

    Obama has a modest plan for 15 billion a year on alternative energy and clean fuels (which would also create new jobs), and he also supports safely designed nuclear power. He wants to rebuild our position in the world by working with our allies instead of going it alone on everything.
    He is willing to use diplomacy but not take military options off the table. He wants to end the insane spending (10 billion a month) on the Iraq war and focus on the real problem in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He wants to get money into the hands of the middle class with a tax cut specifically for them.
    But above all, he can think on his feet, not just spout platitudes and generalities.

  • October 9, 2008

    12:08 a.m.

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    peterpi writes:

    MrPeabody, I had the same thought about McCain's "my friends" usage.