A few things stand out to me about last night's debate one of which is McCain's plan to have his Treasury Secretary stabilize home values by buying up all of the bad mortgages. This program was discussed on FoxNews last night by Brit Hume whose source calculated that it would amount to another $350 billion bailout rescue (to use McCain's term). And that is on top of the $700 billion recently passed by Congress not including AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. This idea was something new from McCain (as many talking heads pointed out last night). Nina Easton (of Fortune Magazine) said last night that this new program would basically sink the free-market, conservative approach towards the mortgage industry...basically calling it a socialization of the mortgage industry. Very surprising from McCain. His intention was that this approach should stabilize the housing market.
On the subject of a nuclear armed Iran I was really struck at how similar The Obama's approach was to McCain's with the exception of speaking directly with Iranian leaders. When asked about this McCain said that Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons, that we must put pressure on them through a league of democracies and not the UN Security Council but a military response is not off of the table. The Obama said basically the same thing just worded more professorial (and dull as dishwater). He did reiterate that his administration would meet directly with Iranian leaders to attempt to come to an agreement but he also said that a military response is not off of the table (in fact he went so far as to say that it is never off of the table). I was struck by their answers (especially The Obama's) and I'm surprised that the right-wing blogs that I frequently read have not picked up on this.
When asked about Pakistan I was surprised at The Obama's response which, on the surface, appeared to be tough. He said "we can't coddle a dictator" in charge of that country. Both McCain and The Obama said that they will get (The Obama used the word "kill") Osama bin Laden. McCain made a good point by saying that he was "not going to telegraph his punches" unlike The Obama.
One of the interesting questions that I thought was asked was "Do you think healthcare is a responsibility, a right, or an entitlement?" McCain's response was that it was a responsibilty and he went on to attempt to explain his Health Care Plan idea which involves a $5,000.00 tax credit...his plan is too complex to go into detail but he made the attempt (I don't mean that as a slam...he has a good market-based approach). On the other hand The Obama said that it was a RIGHT. What!? He went on to criticize the taxes that McCain's plan supposedly places on businesses. This was really weak on The Obama's part in my opinion.
Lastly, I was struck again at the non-specific answer that The Obama gave when the subject of what will have to happen to spending in the next presidency. The Obama reiterated that he would look at every aspect of spending and approach it surgically (using the scalpel reference again) and cut where he thought it would not hurt programs that MUST be continued to help. He then went on to describe the programs that he'd expand and/or leave intact. McCain said flatly that he'd freeze all programs across the board and he specifically mentioned, surprisingly, certain defense programs that he'd cut in the past as an example. The Obama did not give any specifics about cuts but was more focused on what he would not cut.
The other questions were fairly boring and I thought were mostly answered with talking points on both sides.
I don't think that there were any real gaffes on either side; I thought that McCain did well on his part but he did not really break-away from his current situation.
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