http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027617.html
Needing a dominating performance to close a widening gap with Barack Obama in the polls, John McCain turned in a weak and at times disrespectful performance at Tuesday’s presidential debate that should only see his campaign drop further behind, and could raise more questions about the Republican candidate’s temperament and fitness to lead.
Thankfully for both candidates, and the Jewish people, they both said they would support Israel against an Iranian attack, with McCain saying – again – that the United States would not let a second Holocaust happen.
The past week saw both campaigns take the gloves off and resurrect the “ghosts of questionable friends past” William Ayers, Reverend Wright, and Charles Keating, leading many to predict that sparks would fly at Belmont University in Nashville. Though the guilt by association smears that had typified the last week were not on display, the mood was far more personal than the last debate, and McCain appeared to lose his cool and keep things intense for the full 90 minutes.
In a format that was expected by many to favor the Arizona Senator, McCain came off erratic, at one time saying he would solve the economic crisis by instituting an across the board freeze on non-defense spending, while at the same time calling for the government to buy up hundreds of thousands of defunct mortgages, possibly through the use of good vibes or further loans from China the U.S. doesn’t have the money to pay off. In response to the same line of questioning, about what personal sacrifices Americans could make to help deal with the economic crisis, Obama mentioned his support for increasing programs like the Peace Corps, invoking the oft-ridiculed time he spent as a community organizer.
In a moment that will certainly be lampooned prominently on Saturday Night Live and will rack up the hits on Youtube, McCain, while discussing an energy bill he opposed, pointed at Obama and referred to him as ‘that one’, a move that on the positive side for the Arizona Senator may get people to forget about his widely-criticized inability to look Obama in the eye or call him by his first name during the first presidential debate.
McCain also made a number of odd assertions, including that determining the content of Obama’s tax proposals is like nailing Jell-O to a wall, an act which is only impressive to anyone who hasn’t tried to insulate a house with pudding. Another failed and arguably bizarre attempt at humor and rhetorical victory came when McCain referred to the need for the government to avoid funding “gold-plated Cadillac health-care plans” that “pay for things like hair plug treatments, I may need one, but who knows.” Though it may have been in retrospect a sly jab at Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s alleged reconstructive scalp work, the joke fell flat and seemed odd and out of place to say the least.
Later, when asked who he would appoint as Treasury secretary, McCain joked “not you Tom” to a deafening silence, before saying it must be someone Americans can identify with and trust, mentioning the CEO of Ebay Meg Whitman, whose company on Monday announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce and reportedly suffered a 56% loss in the value of its shares over the past year.
A final uncomfortable and awkwardly funny moment came inadvertently when after the candidates gave their closing remarks, moderator Tom Brokaw began to thank them as they walked to the front of the stage, only to have to point out that they were now standing in front of his teleprompter and if they could be so kind and move so that he could finish his closing remarks.
Though the bare-knuckle personal attacks that had defined the previous few days of the campaign were absent Tuesday night, McCain exuded a flippant and often curt style that posed a marked contrast to Obama’s measured and calm manner. If McCain expects to gain ground in the third debate next Wednesday in New York, he must find a way to expose how Obama is as he says, not ready on day one to lead, without showing the intense and erratic style that couldn’t be expected to win him any new fans Tuesday night in Tennessee.