The Last Debate --Hurrah!

It's hard to believe that the last debate (hurrah!) in this long and winding and extraordinary election has just ended .

The pundits were out of the gate--even before the two spouses, in red and blue, bounded onto the stage -- peddling their wares and opinions. Who won? Was it a game-changer for McCain? (Note to pundits: Could we abolish that term? Elections are not games.) No. Some argued that McCain won the first quarter. But by halftime, punditocrats brayed in virtual unison that it seemed as if McCain needed anger management therapy.

"Obama on the defensive" was another favorite pundit theme. It is true that given the opportunity to skewer McCain/ Palin's demagogic 100 percent negative ads and rallies-- the ones that have incited ugly and hate-filled xenophobia at a time of metastasizing economic pain--Obama chose to stay cool, sober and cautious. (McCain's defense of those rallies, and his vile attacks on civil rights leader and American hero, now Congressman John Lewis, exposed the dark twists and turns of a man who once denounced gutter tactics. He now condones them.) It's pretty clear --as one observer noted--that Obama's strategy is "dare to be boring." He played a safe game tonight.

McCain, on the other hand, flailed and revealed a kind of manic desperation . He had one punchy line: "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run to run against him, you should have run four years ago." But how far does one punchline take "No More Mr. Maverick." McCain is more right and wrong than Bush on core principles and issues--from Iraq, Iran, North Korea ( he protested taking it off the axis of evil list) and Russia and he has pandered to a Republican right-wing base on energy, on immigration, and tax cuts for the most wealthy. He's even capitulated ---though Obama failed to point this out in tonight's debate--on the CIA'S use of torture.

The false populist invocation of Joe the Plumber was McCain's attempt at a Reaganesque move. Hey, I am happy that a working man out of Toledo, Ohio got his 15 minutes of fame on network and cable TV. But McCain is no Reagan and it is no longer morning in America (if it ever was). And Obama was smart and nimble when he decided to speak directly to Joe--and explain how McCain was distorting his tax and healthcare plans.

At a time when the collapse of the markets has left conservatism in rubble and market fundamentalism in freefall is it any wonder that, as Harold Meyerson pointed out in his Washington Post column Wednesday, "a disoriented John McCain is wandering the moors howling about Bill Ayers?" McCain's attacks on Ayers and ACORN were jerky and disjointed. (And it was hysterical for McCain to assert that ACORN was "perpetrating the greatest voter fraud in US history." As The Nation's Ari Berman blogged yesterday, "McCain and his Republican allies continue to make a big stink about voter fraud in an attempt to cover-up their own efforts at voter suppression.....A new report by blogger Ari Rabin-Havt documents, "nearly a quarter of John MCain's 'Clean Election and Voter Fraud Committee' chaired by Warren Rudman and John Danforth, have been involved in GOP voter suppression efforts or unfounded partisan claims of voter fraud." What's really at work is GOP panic about enormous Democratic (minority) turnout and a preemptive move to discredit the legitimacy and integrity of the election's outcome.)

Trying to change the subject is a tactic that's missed its moment. The McCain camp's full-frontal, cynical attempts to make this an election not about issues, or to make this a referendum on national security and patriotism have been washed away by hard and fast reality: a financial crisis that includes some 10,000 foreclosures a day, nationalized banks and Washington Post cover stories with headlines like , " The End of American Capitalism?"

Two final thoughts. Thank god this is the last debate. We have been treated to some of the most trivial questioning and bad moderators in the recent history of Presidential debates. Tonight, like his two predecessors in the general election debates, CBS's Bob Schieffer parroted the suffocating establishment consensus: How, in these times of financial crisis, will you tighten the government's belt? Obama stuck to "prioritizing"--with healthy nods to the need to rebuild and reinvest in America. McCain gleefully, almost maniacally, talked of class warfare and freezes and hatchets and cuts and more cuts. And those accursed earmarks which he seems to believe are the main budget-busters. (Obama, fortunately, was quick to point out that earmarks are .5 percent of the total federal budget.)

But the premise of this entire debate, as The Nation pointed out in our lead editorial last week, is "quite simply nuts." The fetish about budget-balancing has become especially nutso with our economy headed for a severe recession. With banks halting lending, businesses laying off workers, state and local governments slashing services and cutting jobs, homeowners facing mass evictions, and consumers cutting back, a massive federal stimulus is critical to avoid economic pain and calamity. We have to end our deficit paranoia. Pragmatism and reality --not ideology--are driving forces right now.

And while Obama was sober, serious and cautious tonight--okay, even flat at times--I felt there were some moments when he spoke with care and muted passion. One came when Obama explained why he would not support a free trade agreement with Colombia. He spoke of Colombian labor leaders who had been targeted without prosecution. "We have to stand for human rights and stand against violence being perpetrated against workers just standing for their rights." And then Obama spoke of the real life consequences of Supreme Court decisions--in this case the story of Lilly Ledbetter and her fight, on behalf of all women, for equal pay for equal work. John McCain dismissed her case as just a "trial lawyer's dream."

It will take the people, the voters, the movements Obama has mobilized, aroused and energized in this extraordinary election to hold him accountable --and to push him to be bolder. Reality will also drive him to be bolder --if he wants to succeed. It can be done. What can't be done is getting blood from a stone. Tonight, McCain showed himseld to be a mean, petty, out of touch man who is ill-suited to lead a nation in these perilous times.

Comments (31)

1. I am not George Bush.

   I am not a crook.

   One as credible a con man as the other.

   But now turn the page, it's finally ending.

   And here comes the really hard part, cleaning up after 8 years' worth of the GOP elephant.

   Obama will have to surpass FDR in many respects, not least of all in winding down the Bush era's disastrous wars abroad.

   Posted by sloper at 10/16/2008 @ 05:17am

2. "We have been treated to some of the most trivial questioning and bad moderators in the recent history of Presidential debates. "

   I think the press knows better than to ask either of those nimrods a "real" question.

   Posted by bleedingheart at 10/16/2008 @ 09:06am

3. I felt McCain, with his comments about women getting equal pay and preserving our right to choose was a huge turnoff. He was patronizing and dismissive of women who are over half the electorate. He showed himself to be quite sexist despite Sarah Palin as a running mate. This decision was telling and ( I can speak for myself) was insulting when there are many erudite, intelligent, articulate, professional women out there to choose from, he picks a former beauty queen who barely completed college who by fluke leveraged a stint as mayor of a very small town into a governorship of an outpost welfare state by a scant electorate who had been plagued by crooked politicians.

   I am sure that McCain will feel Palin's knife in his back soon enough as she has never met a fellow party member she didn't want to throw under the bus to further her career.

   We are very lucky to have Barack Obama to lead in these dire times. He has a cool head and thoughtful manner and will surely help guide us through these perilous times and is a great antidote to the reactionary politics we have suffered the last eight years.

   Posted by eilen at 10/16/2008 @ 09:08am

4. "We have to end our deficit paranoia. Pragmatism and reality --not ideology--are driving forces right now."

   Gee, Ms vanden Heuvel, why would anybody worry about a HALF A TRILLION dollar deficit or TEN TRILLION on the National Debt?

   Maybe those of us who aren't desperate for a "New New Deal" and are little more worried about the long-term financial stability of the country?

   Just paranoid, I guess?

   Obama showed he's not going to go down the suicidal road YOU want him to. Modest proposals, a tax on those making over $250K ONLY, and moving to balance the budget and putting us back on a more stable glide-path.

   Good. And frankly, the more you complain under his Administration, the SAFER and less scared, I'M going to feel.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 10/16/2008 @ 09:19am

5. well, mask,

   it looks like the ol' keynesians are back in favour.

   [i'm so pissed. mr. harper, a true "conservative" cut taxes and increased spending (on stupid shit).

   sound familiar?

   now, we'll be running a deficit next year.

   grrrrrrrrrrrrr.]

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/16/2008 @ 09:34am

6. I love the way McCain lectures America on how important education is, this from the man who came third from the bottom of his class.

   Posted by mystic at 10/16/2008 @ 10:20am

7. I love the way McCain lectures America on how important education is, this from the man who came third from the bottom of his class.

   Posted by mystic at 10/16/2008 @ 10:20am

   This from a man who chose as his running mate a woman who took 6 years to get a 4 year degree...

   Posted by Balrog at 10/16/2008 @ 10:32am

8. "The war on terror," Gore Vidal has said "is like a war on dandruff." Much ado about nothing. Its only aim has been to defund the American treasury so that social programs that benefit American citizens could not be funded and implemented, programs such as health care, social security, any program for that matter that was installed under FDR.

   The war on the Republic, however, orchestrated for the past 40 years by Republicans is not much ado about nothing, it is the evidence of the ongoing class, gender, and racial war remaining from the cancer left from the Constitutional Convention that hangs over the nation like a wet, filthy blanket. The Republican base represents the gold-digging destruction of the Commons the continuing debasement of women, the working class, and humanism inherent in liberal, democratic politics. Failure of the majority of Americans to come to grip with this fact is the only reason why John McCain is even a long-shot in this presidential election.

   The candidates were asked in last night's debate how they were going to pay for their programs given the current state of the economy. Obama had an opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to this question by simply saying, "the same way that we are currently spending billions a month in Iraq, and the same way that John McCain is proposing to spend billons more to keep our military in the Middle East."

   The reconstruction of the American Republic and its political, moral, institutional, and physical infrastructures must be the primary priority and no amount of social conservatism and neoliberalism angst shall stand in the way. The last reconstruction in this country failed because the political leadership lacked the courage and the intelligence to fight the fight. These qualities Obama must now reveal.

   Posted by afrothetics at 10/16/2008 @ 10:52am

9. Of course McCain would trivialize the Ledbetter case-he who lives off hs wife's finances- as well as pooh-poohing the need to consider the mother's health in making a decision for or against abortion. Its the systemic Republican paternalism that they just can't get away from. Because they are so very frightened of women, they have a desperate need to control everything they possibly can in the lives of women. A woman of intellgience and education is simply not going to buy any of what the Republicans have to offer-witness the plethora of stupid female Republcan pundits (Malkin, Coulter,Contessa Brewer, etc). Sarah Palin stands as testament to the Republican ideology and how they reinforce it-be stupid, mean and pretty and you'll get ahead. If you are smart, nice and pretty, you're a feminazi (like you, KVH! JOKE) and if you're unattractive and smart like Janet Reno you're a lesbian;both these groups can be written off as not "real" women. I am finding it really hard to believe that these "undecided" voters can't develop an opinion or see the difference betweeen old Grumpy and a chance for really turning the coutry around. What we are seeing here in canvassing undecideds is that most of them are racist and just can't bring themselves to say it out loud;thus the need to hide their conflict. They know they should be voting for Obama because they agree with him, but some can't even articlulate the word "black". If you get them one on one they are more likely to be convinced, but I don't think that the debates have been all that effective. It really takes sitting down with an individual and having a heart to heart conversation about the state of the nation to get thru-Obama can't do that, but we are out here doing it for him.

   Posted by oldintel at 10/16/2008 @ 10:56am

10. I am SO thankful that this is finally "over"! McCain can go back into one of his wife's houses, sit down and have a good cry, it will do him good. The future is bleak for the new administration, so much to do, and most of it is contentious; but we'll pull through this, just like we always have. Pragmatic and realistic answers to serious problems need to be addressed and dealt with.

    What gets me, is that out of some 350 million Americans that can run, for some reason, we almost always find ourselves in the veggie section of the store, (seems like the GOP actually lives there). But I do believe we can get through this. It will take work and sacrifice, something Americans are well acquainted with; but if, for once, we hold those we elect responsible, we will find that we will once again rise to to top, and become a nation of generous, proud and liberty loving people.

    Posted by rasputin195 at 10/16/2008 @ 10:56am

11. now, we'll be running a deficit next year.

    grrrrrrrrrrrrr.]

    Posted by frosty zoom at 10/16/2008 @ 09:34am

    As quoted by officer John McClain in Die Hard to his friend, screaming in reverse as his squad car is machine gunned from the tower.......

    "WELCOME TO THE PARTY PAL!!"

    Posted by Benchrest at 10/16/2008 @ 10:57am

12. Posted by frosty zoom at 10/16/2008 @ 09:34am

    Yeah, sorry, FROSTY...apparently you guys just re-elected "McHarper, eh?"

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/16/2008 @ 10:59am

13. "vile attacks on civil rights leader and American hero, now Congressman John Lewis, exposed the dark twists and turns of a man who once denounced gutter tactics??????"

    Which of the nine planets in our solar system did Katrina write this column from? Certainly not Earth. Here you have Lewis invoke one of the worst chapters in the history of this country and somehow implying McCain is fostering a similar environment because a few knucklheads yelled out some stupid sh*t at a rally. Vanden Heuvel even had the luxury of writing this column after another instance where McCain grabbed the mic effectively cutting off one troglodyte from blathering about Obama being an Arab correcting her that his opponent was in fact a decent family man. As if the 2 are mutually exlusive! In any event, vile is a bit of a hyperbole, but if it is to be used in this instance, it should be attributed to the false analogy that Congressman Lewis made. Katrina, you got it wrong this time. As for the debate though, I don't think McCain made his case whatsoever. I'd be hesitant to decree a winner b/c I think we all lost on this one.

    Posted by roywally at 10/16/2008 @ 11:03am

14. oh we will need to go more into debt in order to get out of this mess.

    we will need to stimulate new industries (alternative energy most importantly) fix infrastructure, fix the greed choked healthcare system, and any number of other problems.

    many folks say we got out of the depression because of ww2 alone, ignoring progress made by the new deal, but also ignoring the fact that it wasn't so much the war itself but the fact that the war forced us to go into HUGE debt in order to fight it, thereby supercharging US industry...

    class war, mr. mccain? your party has been waging it against the middle and lower classes for decades now.

    and lets try to stop lying to ourselves and our people...

    our definition of a strong economy seems based on the phenomenal and unnatural growth rates of the 1950's and 1960's, products of unique historical circumstances that have not existed since those decades. our unrealistic, greedy, gluttonous, imperious expectation of continueing such has been a gigantic factor in the smoke and mirrors shell game we have played for three decades now in order to sustain such ridiculous notions and rates of growth.

    slow and steady wins the race. its a different world.

    and i might suggest its time for us to save some big money by bringing home most of our military and using the savings to reconstruct our own country lest we find ourselves a second rate power and has been...

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/16/2008 @ 11:05am

15. Read the latest Strategic Defense Initiative from the Pentagon ... the US military will never withdraw from "wars of intervention," as aggressive, preemptive wars are now known.

    The SDI should not have been issued until after the new administration is in place & entered its input under the new civilian commander in chief.

    The intent is clear, to box in Obama, making it far more difficult for his govt to reassert democratic control over the US military.

    It's an extraordinary declaration of aggressive imperial intentions round the globe, US democracy & economy be damned, a declaration of war on the US people themselves.

    See Wm Pfaff's latest piece on his website for further analysis.

    Posted by sloper at 10/16/2008 @ 11:22am

16. SDI = National Defense Strategy.

    Although it seems to have very little to say about actually defending the US.

    Posted by sloper at 10/16/2008 @ 11:32am

17. Americans, by and large, are not the brightest apples in the barrel. It doesn't take a rocket scientist nor a Harvard professorship to understand the how and why of such a conclusion. There are literally many, many significant and indisputable reasons.

    Last night's debate was only one. It brought to the surface one example in millions as to the reason for my assertion. Joe sixpack plumber was only interested on one particular item which resonated with millions. Forget the dead GIs. Don't pay any attention to the criminality of the present administration. Forget the rest of your nation and all of the pain and suffering, financial, emotional, and physical caused by the upper 5 % of Americans. Just concentrate on your own life and forget the rest. And to add insult to injury the candidates concentrated on addressing this plumber.

    It is no wonder to me then that these two men have captured the limelight and are the two "best" qualified persons to hold the highest office in the land. And if one of them dies we just might have an individual in the Oval Office who is far more incompetent and ignorant than than the present occupant. Isn't it interesting that history repeats itself so often? It happens near the end of every civilization throughout history. The great majority of the population is always shocked to their very emotional foundations when it happens to them.

    One more example is the exclusion of those who are obviously far more qualified than those who are selected. The American people will, in the near future pay a severe and painful price for their ignorance regardless of whether or not it is justified. Ignorance and political cowardice reign and have been in charge of American politics for many long years. They are still in charge.

    Joe Fasulo, Florida

    Posted by joemailman at 10/16/2008 @ 11:48am

18. McCain sounded like one of Jeff Dunhams puppets. "My friends I know how to do it"

    Posted by lachatte at 10/16/2008 @ 12:37pm

19. >>>The false populist invocation of Joe the Plumber was McCain's attempt at a Reaganesque move.<<<

    Obama should have stressed more often that "Joe the Plumber" was actually "Joe the RICH GUY" who made over $250,000 a year in the plumbing business. Being rich and paying your fair share as part of the wealthy class of Americans -regardless of how you got these riches - is the issue, not the the false perception that Joe was a $40k year middle class guy.

    Posted by Metteyya at 10/16/2008 @ 12:51pm

20. Sorry to get off subject, but I could have sworn (rewound it 5 times) that at the McCain rally today a supporter yelled out "Kill Obama", then people cheered and McCain continued on as if nothing happened. Does McCain not know that the Networks are going to pick up on that, and that he should have done the right thing and reprimanded that supporter??

    Posted by phantastek at 10/16/2008 @ 1:45pm

21. Posted by lachatte at 10/16/2008 @ 12:37pm

    This one?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kXOg23pGeA

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/16/2008 @ 2:27pm

22. And John MacCain says he likes being behind, as the underdog. .......The great minds at the RNC knows they will lose this election, and that nobody but Jesus could clean up the mess they've made over the last 30 years. They want the Dems to win, and then they can blame them, when the economy finally hits bottom. They can then claim they could have saved it, if only they were elected.

    Posted by Freewheelin_Franklin at 10/16/2008 @ 4:08pm

23. its not the size of the deficit thats important, its

    a. what the deficit is about and

    b. the deficit as a percentage of the gnp

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/16/2008 @ 4:22pm

24. "With banks halting lending, businesses laying off workers, state and local governments slashing services and cutting jobs, homeowners facing mass evictions, and consumers cutting back, a massive federal stimulus is critical to avoid economic pain and calamity. We have to end our deficit paranoia. Pragmatism and reality --not ideology--are driving forces right now."

    What is needed is massive stimulus to prosecute the criminals who caused this mess. Who is going to pay for your massive stimulus?

    Posted by OneVote at 10/16/2008 @ 4:31pm

25. Amen to sloper.

    One point I'd like to make about Joe the plumber and his taxes going up. It's indicative of how little time John McCain has spent in the real world that he doesn't know that for small businesses, creating jobs is a tax writeoff. You don't just get to keep getting wealthier and putting that money in your pocket (if you make over $250,000 per year), but you do get to hire new workers and write their salaries and benefits off on your taxes. It strikes me as very odd that either McCain doesn't realize this or Obama doesn't.

    BTW, I heard this morning that J the P owes back taxes; not sure if it's true.

    Posted by finaleyes at 10/16/2008 @ 5:45pm

26. Could phantastek please post the 5-times rewound video? The secret service was unable to document this threat, or find anyone in attendance who could (or would) corroborate it; but has promised to investigate fully if anyone steps forward who did hear it. If there's a videotape they'd have to do something. Please post or link!

    Posted by jballard701 at 10/16/2008 @ 10:01pm

27. I wish the media was speaking more on the issues and I am impressed with the tangibility of solutions that Obama and his team continue to propose with eloquence (as JM also noted!) This despite Obama's having to periodically fend off flaming arrows and maintaining the composure of a diplomat (such as the Dalai Lama.) I really appreciated Obama's discussion of investing now in education and renewables for long term benefit. Life time and generational benefits are difficult concepts for a culture over focused on day to day stock moves and standing on a stool with one leg- the economic leg. This is why it is toppling! We have to implement policy that considers all 3 legs- human, environmental and economic to become sustainable.

    Posted by Jian at 10/16/2008 @ 10:12pm

28. I shocked by the narrow-mindedness of this article. If there are many people in the Democratic party who actually interpret some set of facts into the conclusions about the motivations and actions of people drawn by Katrina, then we are a world away from any understanding and reconciliation of each other as an American people. How can we find compromises to grow our nation and people when we are so quick to believe the worst about each other? I'm deeply saddened.

    Posted by bsmllc at 10/16/2008 @ 10:20pm

29. I shocked by the narrow-mindedness of this article. If there are many people in the Democratic party who actually interpret some set of facts into the conclusions about the motivations and actions of people drawn by Katrina, then we are a world away from any understanding and reconciliation of each other as an American people. How can we find compromises to grow our nation and people when we are so quick to believe the worst about each other? I'm deeply saddened.

    Posted by bsmllc at 10/16/2008 @ 10:20pm

30. I think Katrina is showing a serious lack of perspective when she argues that worrying about budget deficits is "nutso". The current aggregate deficit of the US governments (that is, we the people) is $10 trillion, headed to $11 trillion next year because of the various rescue packages of the US Treasury. Add the $11 trillion to the $7 trillion in unfunded debt of the US government to Social Security, and the $34 trillion in unfunded debt of the US government to Medicare (both numbers courtesy of a 2007 US Treasury report), and one arrives at a number which equates to every household in America "holding" $400,000 worth of US government debt. If the current fiscal crisis has offered us one overwhelming lesson, it is that one cannot continue to take on massive amounts of debt. Eventually the bubble WILL burst, and when the Federal debt bubble bursts, the tsunami that follows will be of catastrophic proportions. The children of today will be crushed under an avalanche of debt, and it is unclear if the empire will survive that calamity.

    gs

    Posted by gs at 10/17/2008 @ 11:44am

31. Posted by eilen at 10/16/2008 @ 09:08am

    I'm curious eilen, where did you find out that Palin "barely completed college"? Do you have a copy of her transcripts or anything else to subtantiate this claim?

    Posted by jayneslilsis at 10/17/2008 @ 1:30pm