Good day one and all. I have watched the final presidential debate and offer up my analysis. I’m sure you’ve been sitting on the edge of your seat since it ended last night wondering what I had to say.
The first point I wish to bring up is John McCain’s over-use, arguably abuse, of the word ‘maverick’. Compromise is what makes the world go round. Being a ‘maverick’ is not always a good thing. Being stubborn and refusing to compromise can get you a reputation of someone who is not pleasant to work with or for. Certainly standing up for what you believe in is a good quality but so is compromise and working together. President Bush was a maverick of sorts in that he refused to sit down with North Korea or Iran to discuss tensions and their growing nuclear programmes. Diplomacy is a key aspect of any presidency. Foreign leaders are not going to be as willing to work with the US if our leader is too head-strong. We’ve seen this the last eight years and look where it has gotten us. While I don’t like to tout ‘the world would vote for Obama’ because it is an American election, it is very important to note that our poor reputation throughout the world would rise very quickly with Obama and sink even lower with McCain. Moreover, if McCain’s alleged temper began to go hand-in-hand with his maverick tendencies it could damage us even further. People don’t want to work with hotheads. Standing up to party leaders may be an admirable quality at times but, in the end, teamwork and compromise go a lot further than being a lone ‘maverick’.
My second point is on the negativity the McCain campaign seems to have let overtake them. Polls are showing that the negative attack ads from the McCain campaign have actually damaged him rather than helped him. Obama made an excellent point in the debate about how Americans were less concerned with his or McCain’s hurt feelings than they are with them actually discussing the issues. McCain tried to pin the negativity on Obama solely because he had not agreed to Town Hall-type meetings. His claim was that the negative attack ad questions and comments could have been directed at Obama and he would have had the opportunity to answer these claims. I’m sorry but that is absolute bull hockey. Obama not agreeing to do these meetings does not excuse in any way, shape or form the McCain campaign attacking him so blatantly. Sarah Palin claiming he ‘pals around with terrorists’ only opened up a huge Pandora’s box of racism, Islamaphobia and hatred. McCain then accused Obama of having negative ads attacking his record on issues such as health care and immigration. Again, I’m sorry but attacking your opponent’s record and stance on specific issues is what you are supposed to do. You cannot relate this in any way, shape or form to attacking someone’s character. Where you stand on specific issues is how the American voters will judge you. Your opponent stands the better chance of defeating you if he/she can show weaknesses in your positions. That’s Politics 101 John-boy. At the end of the day it is the issues on which you will, and should always, be judged. While character is important, unless Obama himself planted a bomb for Bill Ayers or personally registered a non-existent voter for Acorn, his very loose associations with these people do not prevent him from being a good president.
My third point is very short. I was unhappy that Obama somewhat dodged the direct question of whether Sarah Palin was qualified to be president should anything happen to McCain. McCain certainly jumped at the opportunity to attack Joe Biden’s record. I think, perhaps, Obama did not want to appear negative or be labeled as sexist but I also think he missed a golden opportunity to directly question McCain’s judgment in choosing such an inexperienced running mate.
My final point is all about Joe. Joe the plumber was the talking point of last night’s debate. He’s a plumber in Ohio to whom each candidate spoke directly to in explaining how his tax cuts and economic plans would help Joe buy his business and prosper. I had hoped to learn more about him in the Guardian’s ‘Who is Joe the Plumber?‘ piece but, alas, there is not much more information around besides what we already know. I wondered how he felt about being used as an example and who he intended to vote for. Here is his response to the debate. It would seem to me that he will be voting for McCain.
The polls are all pointing to an Obama win. I’m trying very hard not to count my chickens before they hatch because, as I’ve discussed before, people often have a tendency to say they’ll vote for the black candidate but then don’t when they get in the voting booth. I certainly hope Obama has done enough to win. Like the rest of you I will just sit back and wait, hoping, praying that Americans make the right decision.