Yes, the last “debate.” Although, perhaps for tonight’s rendition, I can actually drop the quotes. I thought this was by far the closest any of the debates have come to an actual debate. Both candidates were directly engaging and responding to one another, and Bob Schieffer did well in making sure they did exactly that.
As I noted last month, Rick Davis, John McCain’s campaign manager said:
This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.
Well, Mr. Davis. This third debate confirmed what we should take away from John McCain: that he is an angry old man. The obvious display of contempt toward Obama, the fidgeting, the rolling of his eyes, the sneering, the sarcasm, etc. all add up to McCain having an anger problem. As David Gergen on CNN noted, McCain “looked angry. It was an exercise in anger management up there.” In the tough times we face, we don’t need a leader who cannot control his emotions; we need someone who can calm us and reassure us. John McCain cannot do either.
The best line from John McCain in all three debates came tonight. McCain said:
Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.
A good line, one I’m surprised he waited until 19 days before the election to use. The line, though, has a problem. While McCain is technically not Bush, voting for his policies 90% of the time gets you pretty close to being him, no?
And apparently Barack Obama is at fault for the McCain campaign being so sleazy. McCain said this:
And I know from my experience in many campaigns that, if Sen. Obama had asked responded to my urgent request to sit down, and do town hall meetings, and come before the American people, we could have done at least 10 of them by now. […] So I think the tone of this campaign could have been very different.
President Bush is a Republican leader who is incapable of accepting blame for his actions. John McCain is a Republican leader who is incapable of accepting blame for his actions. But just remember, John McCain is not George Bush.
In the same exchange as the quote above, McCain said this:
And of course, I’ve been talking about the economy. Of course, I’ve talked to people like Joe the plumber and tell him that I’m not going to spread his wealth around. I’m going to let him keep his wealth. And of course, we’re talking about positive plan of action to restore this economy and restore jobs in America.
That’s what my campaign is all about and that’s what it’ll continue to be all about.
Is John McCain in denial? Does he not see the ads his campaign puts out? That 100% of them recently were negative?
Finally, Sarah Palin introduced us to Joe Six-Pack. Tonight, McCain introduced us to Joe the Plumber. Now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I like the name Joe. But why does the McCain campaign have this infatuation with Joes?! As an average Joe speaking for Joe Public, knock it off.
Final verdict: again, McCain needed a game-changer. Didn’t happen.
