On a day in which the Dow plunged 733 points on negative economic news prompted by a dismal report on retail sales, a bleak outlook by the Federal Reserve and sober remarks by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke ~ the third and final presidential debate took place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
A government report showed that retail sales suffered their biggest drop in three years last month. With consumer spending making up two-thirds of GDP, the retail sales data stoked growing recession fears. A recession that the Bush/Cheney/McCain administartion has yet to acknowledge.
Meanwhile the third and final presidential debate took place with Obama now enjoying a 14 point lead in the latest New York times poll.
In the middle of a financial crisis, Americans say they trust Obama more to handle the economy, and the Illinois senator leads McCain 50 percent to 41 percent in a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll ~ and nothing in this debate would cause that to not widen for Obama was clearly more informed and specific regarding his economic agenda.
Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed by CNN said they believed Obama won Wednesday night's contest; 31 percent said they thought McCain came out on top. The margin of error was plus or minus four percentage points.
The talking points were the same with an addition of a new character ~ Joe the Plumber ( McCain's last ditch attempt to capture the Joe Six pack and populist vote ) That was nicely handled by Obama who talked directly to Joe, the plumber, refuting McCains false claims and winning the argument.
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, picks up on this theme and correctly identifies McCain as a believer in old-school Republican policies and the status quo and Obama as a New Dealer for the New Age and fundamental change.
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/10/16.html
The Final Debate: If I Hear About Joe the Plumber One More Time...
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post
" This should forever be known as the Joe the Plumber Debate. First McCain was bringing him up all the time, then Obama did the same thing. What makes politicians think plumbing is the quintessentially American occupation? Why not address these sincere appeals to Marge the Human Resources Specialist?
Oh, the debate itself. I guess you could say it saw the most spirited exchanges, and maybe the most substantive. It followed the familiar pattern – McCain attacked, Obama counterpunched. The main differences this time were the Joe thing and the context. Obama’s ahead in the polls, McCain is behind. Obama clearly wasn't trying to break new ground, just vigorously defend his turf and continue to look and sound presidential. McCain needs to score points, and fast, so he’s following a kitchen-sink strategy.
My guess is that not a whole lot of minds were changed. I also assume that viewers will react pretty much the way they reacted to the first two debates, preferring Obama’s cool steadiness to McCain’s heated agitation. If you paid attention, though, you could hear the central differences between the two men’s philosophies. McCain, fundamentally, is a believer in old-school Republican policies. Obama, basically, is a New Dealer for the New Age. Even Joe the Plumber ought to be able to tell them apart. "
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/10/16.html
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
