McCain was on the offensive for most of the night, attacking Obama on not only his policies but also his affiliations, and thus made the debate more exciting. He tried to contrast the fundamental ideology between him and Obama by noting Obama's tax and healthcare plans as a promotion of big government, while portraying himself as a supporter of the people. McCain suggested that instead of having the government spread the wealth, he believed that it should put its trust in the people.
McCain landed many punches by mentioning the amount of spending that Obama promised while noting that the
However, one of the main highlights of the debate came when Obama criticized him for voting with Bush’s budgets 4 out of 5 times and McCain made a dramatic attempt to distance himself from the Bush Administration by telling Obama, “I am not President Bush, if you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago.”
Overall, McCain was more dynamic than he had been in the previous debates, but at the same time, he appeared as a belligerent old man while Obama confidently stood his ground in his defense. During the debate, Obama carefully and respectfully listened to McCain’s arguments and responded effectively to the criticisms, but McCain, on the other hand, seemed urgent to follow up every one of Obama’s comments with another attack. McCain made a last effort to change the direction of the campaign with his dramatic performance at this debate, but surely, it is not enough to change the tide of this election.
The debate can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvdfO0lq4rQ
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I think that this was McCain's last real good chance to close the growing gap in the polls between Obama and himself.
Although many people say that it may be too late for McCain to make a real surge in the polls, I think it is important to remember the 1976 election, where Jimmy Carter held a 33 point lead over Gerald Ford when the candidates were nominated by their respective parties. However, as the election day neared, the gap was nearly nothing, due largely in part to Ford's good performance in the first well televised presidential debate since 1960 (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/history.story/1976.html).
I think that McCain's dramatically different tactics in this debate came from his need to close the gap quickly. Apparently, his old strategies weren't working too effectively, as the gap still remained relatively large. I felt that, out of desperation, McCain changed his debating strategy to attacking Obama more than expressing his own ideas. In my opinion, this reflected poorly on the McCain campaign, as it made him seem like, as Atticus said "a belligerent old man." This was not the sort of debate that the McCain campaign was hoping for to close the gap in the polls late in the election. I believe that McCain will be unsuccessful in gaining supporters due to this debate, like Ford was able to do.
At this point this is Obama'a election to lose. He has a significant lead over McCain. No matter what attacks tactics McCain employs, Obama will gave to make a huge blunder in order to allow the race to tighten. In the debate Wednesday night, McCain definitly made an attempt at a game-changer. He was on the offense more than ever, and made attacks not only on Obama's political stances, but also on his character. I disagree with those that critisize McCain's statagy as "politics as usual" and "nasty." I think that the American people have every right to hear explanations about Obama's very questionable associations. However, since Obama managed to maintain his composure and respond to McCain's allegations, he did not blunder. This is still Obama's election to lose.
I was utterly amazed by McCain last night. I thought this was the best debate of the campaign for both candidates (esp. McCain). In other debates McCain seemed reserved and only rarely attacked Obama whereas Obama was always on the offensive. This time Obama came out blazin!! He made Obama debate harder than he has ever had to. Obama was able to handle the verbal assaults reasonably. I feel as though McCain gained a lot of previously lost ground by his strategy, but only time will tell if it was enough to close the gap between himself and Obama. I also agree with elon. Is strategy was not nasty all. He was formal and presented information that the public deservers to hear.
The last debate was probably the best debate compared to the first two I have seen. McCain was considerably more lively and attacked Obama left and right. McCain also had many good attacking points as well, bringing up Joe the Plumber, and especially his outburst of "I am not George Bush".
Although I believe that McCain won this debate, in appearance I think he lost. McCain’s attitude of constantly blaming and bullying Obama seemed too much after an hour had passed. Furthermore, the media’s setup of viewing the debate inhibited McCain’s ability to shine as well as he should have. Since both candidates’ faces were on the screen at the same time, it was simpler to compare the two. Obama, as usual, appeared calm and ready to face the harsh facts spoken from McCain’s mouth, yet McCain seemed almost sick as he looked on with glassy eyes and a weak smile.
Perhaps the campaign has tired McCain, but I commend him for his energetic debate and his attempt to beat Obama in the polls.
I think McCain's attacks were legit and somewhat effective. However, I think that they could have been more effective had he spread them out over the course of the long campaign. Constantly attacking Obama really did make him look like a "bad guy". In fact, it might have helped Obama slightly by making him appear to be an everyday citizen who was being attacked by the government (McCain). Obama's ability to stay cool and counter with sweet talk definitely made him appear more presidential to voters who don't see the long term consequences to his plans. Because he has sweet talked and brainwashed the American people for so long, it really is Obama's election to lose now.
I'm not surprised at all by the approach John McCain took in this this, the final presidential debate. Due to the fact he is trailing Obama by a significant amount in the polls, it makes sense for him to be on the attack to try to put Obama on his heels concerning the most pertinent issues in this election: healthcare, taxes and a fix for the economy.
That being said, I think McCain was only partially successful in his attempt to disrupt Obama's quest for the White House. McCain's high point was his dramatic attempt to distance himself from the administration of George Bush. This approach effectively refuted many of the comments we hear from Obama about McCain being "4 more years of the same." However, too often in the debate McCain appeared desperate and frustrated in his attempts to ambush Obama.
After watching the final debate, it was clear that it was certainly the most engaging of the three. Both candidates were liveliest in the setup of the debate and Americans were finally given a chance to see their true characteristics. McCain was clearly on the attack, as Obama sat calmly beside. What i thought was particularly interesting was the question that was asked about campaigning in the election. John McCain seemed to dwell on this issue rather than the actual issues in the debate. He demanded an apology from Barack Obama and it made him appear almost childish. But, in defense of John McCain, this was his most sucessful debate. He really went head to head with Obama on all the issues and i think that this was the type of debate that Americans have been waiting for. We were able to see the true colors of both the candidates and perhaps a debate like this could have swayed undecided voters unlike the last two.
Upon watching this last debate I saw that McCain seemed almost emotional, as if this was his last chance to make a change for the better. While many saw McCain relentlessly attack Obama, I saw a passion there in him. McCain seemed deeply moved as he defended himself and attacked Obama time and time again. The perfect example is noted by Atticus pertaining to the fact that McCain is not George Bush.
Many don't think to put this debate in perspective. It is the last time both candidates will have that vast of an audience in which to speck to before the elections on November fourth. Obama seemed to stay very cool, collected, and confident. McCain on the other hand showed a passion and vigor that some my say was unnatural, but that just may have been the look of a man who was trying to achieve something for one last time. While the attacks made on Obama kept coming and could be considered immoral, McCain was getting his point across in the best way he knew how. Now that the election draws nearer we can only watch and see what happens. The candidates no longer have their soap box upon which to preach.
I disagree with the notion that McCain looked like a "belligerent old man," as Atticus puts it. I believe that though he was on the offensive for a majority of the debate, his arguments were well structured and seemed more substantive than malicious. there clearly is tension between the two candidates on a variety of issues, however; McCain did very well this time around by refuting many of Obama's points. This was McCain best showing. He demonstrated that he is not just a "belligerent old man," but a man who passionately stands by what he believes in. McCain finally addressed many specifics about Obama's campaign and set forth his ideology much more effectively than in the previous two debates.
I also agree with Elon inn saying that this is Obama's election to lose. even though McCain did his best this time around and was very effective, in my opinion, he still has not covered enough ground to stop Obama. The Senator from Illinois, at this point, must do something very ill advised in order to lose this election. he is the popular candidate and the "new face" that is associated with his campaign of change. Obama needs to mess up badly if he is to lose the election.
I was impressed that McCain managed to define the average American as plumber making 250,000 dollars a year. He successfully controlled the dialogue of the debate in his attempt to go on the attack and put Obama on the defensive. However, Obama cooly parried each of McCain's attacks. Obama appearded calm and collected (dare I say presidential?) while McCain appeared belligerent, grumpy, and old. Debates are about impressions. Pundits may argue over who scored the most political points but the winner of the debate is the one who appears more presidential and by this criteria Obama has won all three debates.
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