Bare-knuckled Fight,Different Targets

(Los Angeles)The match between Barack Obama and John McCain went down last night, but the two candidates had different targets in their sights.

Barack Obama talked about his views on the issues. John McCain talked about his views on Barack Obama.

As soon as the evening started, McCain accused Obama of wanting to raise taxes in order to “spend money left and right,” a preferred talking point for Republicans. Obama explained his program, while McCain’s subsequent jokes and remarks fell flat.

Mr. McCain tried to speak to everyday people by using the example of “Joe the Plumber,” a voter Barack Obama met who didn’t like his economic plan. “Joe, I want to tell you,” McCain said, “I’ll…help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for…and what [Senator Obama] want[s] to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business.”

Obama shored up his proposals to get out of the economic crisis while tying McCain’s to Bush’s. “Senator Obama, I’m not President Bush,” McCain retorted. “If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have done it four years ago.” His opponent seemed disconcerted by that new attack. “I am aware that you have shown your independence, but on the face of things, you’re still proposing the same ideas as Mr. Bush,” he said.

After having accused Obama of leading “the more expensive negative campaign since Watergate,” McCain brought up “the Ayers affair,” the bomb-thrower who has been receiving a lot of coverage for the past two weeks. Obama responded calmly and with confidence while digging his opponent in the process. “Mr. Ayers has become the cornerstone of John McCain’s campaign, and it’s something that I would like to respond to.” Obama recalled that Ayers sat with him on a board funded by the Annenberg Foundation, itself financed by a close friend of Ronald Reagan.

McCain is less “presidential”

On the face of things, the Democrat appeared to gain the upper hand as he brushed aside John McCain’s attacks. “I believe that the American people are less interested in our petty fighting than our plans for the economy. I am able to endure three more weeks of attacks, but the American people can’t take another four years of disastrous policies,” he said in front of the crowd at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

McCain’s attack lines seemed hazy and occasionally missed their target. Busy attacking and then making his points, McCain appeared less presidential than Obama. He often addressed the camera and seemed calm and at ease with this format than in the last debate, the 49th one organized since the start of the Democratic and Republican primaries last year.

Obama had been viewed as the winner of the first two debates and holds a lead of 9 to 14 percentage points at the national level, according to national polls.

The economic crisis seems to be the only subject worrying voters this year. Focus groups of Democrats and Republicans showed that Obama was favored in regards to the economy. Some overtly racist voters said they were going to vote for Obama “simply because they are incapable of voting for a Republican,” reported Politico.com journalist Ben Smith yesterday.

And the winner is…. Obama!

Democrat Barack Obama once again turned in a better performance than John McCain last night, according to a poll taken by CNN. Among respondents, 58% thought that Obama won the debate, while 31% thought McCain did. Americans seemed to prefer Obama in every category. Who would be the strongest leader? Obama with 56% to 39% for McCain. The most sympathetic? Obama pulls in 70% of the vote while McCain has to do with 22%. Obama expressed his views better (66% against 25% for McCain). The Democrat would handle health care better than the Republican (62% against 31%) and would handle taxes better (56% against 41%). Among respondents, 40% identify themselves as Democrats, 30% as Republicans, while 30% are Independents. These proportions accurately reflect the current American population trends according to CNN. The poll’s margin of error is four percentage points.