Presidential Debate October 7th, What to Expect

What to expect from tonight's presidential debate as McCain's campaign switches into attack mode in the face of falling poll numbers and Obama seeks to continue his momentum on economic and health care issues.

The presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is scheduled for 9:00 PM Eastern Time tonight, October 7th. Meanwhile, in the days leading up to tonight’s presidential debate, CNN reports Barack Obama has been gaining sharply in the polls as the economy has become the main focus for many voters. When the numbers are broken down, more voters believe that Barack Obama is more qualified to lead the country through the current economic catastrophe than John McCain who finished fifth from the bottom of his Air Force graduating class. Media Calls for McCain to Attack in Presidential Debate The conservative media has been increasingly shrill in their cries for McCain to attack Barack Obama’s character. The Washington Post reports that McCain is doing just that, believing, they say, that things like Barack Obama’s “personal associations” are more important to voters than a presidential candidate’s ability to handle the economy. While anything can still happen between now and the election, the presidential debate on October 7th may be John McCain’s last best chance to turn back the tide of ebbing support around his campaign. What to Expect from John McCain in Tonight’s Presidential Debate So in tonight’s debate, we can expect to see John McCain attempt to frame his responses to nearly every question into attacks on Barack Obama’s character. In the last Presidential debate, John McCain repeated a catch phrase that he hoped would catch on in the media and with voters. Over and over he said, “I don’t think Barack understands.” He was apparently attempting to portray Barack as inexperienced, uninformed and unintelligent. Expect more of this same refrain, but expect even sharper attacks. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that recent speeches to supporters by Sarah Palin have tried to link Barack Obama to terrorists as if having worked with a man with a decades old history of radical activities (during the rampant protests of the sixties) somehow means that Barack Obama will open the borders to terrorists. So in tonight’s vice presidential debate, expect more diversion away from the economy and other substantive issues from John McCain as he tries to paint Barack Obama as less patriotic, less American, less honest, and somehow even less stable than John McCain. McCain wins this debate if he can focus the discussion on Barack Obama instead of the economy while at the same time he must avoid appearing to be overly aggressive or the plan could backfire. What to Expect from Barack Obama in Tonight’s Presidential Debate Barack Obama has gained support from voters as economic issues have come more to the forefront of attention. In tonight’s presidential debate, he will do well to stick to issues like the economy and health care to the extent he can against the expected attacks from John McCain. However, he will need to defend and blunt the attacks from McCain. He will need to point out that John McCain’s attacks are reflections of his famous temper. With every off-topic attack, a simple comment cautioning John McCain not to lose his temper and to try to actually answer the questions being asked could blunt the effectiveness of any attacks. Barack Obama can’t let the debate be all about McCain’s attacks and Obama’s defense. He must stay on message about issues like the economy in order to appear to be the more level-headed and presidential of the two candidates during tonight’s presidential debate. The more focus there is on issues, and especially the economy and health care, the better the results will be for Barack Obama. Obama Campaign Launches Counter Attack In recent days, as reported by the Associated Press, Obama’s camp has launched some attacks on John McCain’s actions in the Keating 5 scandal in which McCain accepted over $100,000 in contributions as well as family trips to the Bahamas in return for intervening with regulators on behalf of Charles Keating Jr. In a situation that mirrors today’s economic crisis, the collapse of Keating’s savings and loan resulted in the total loss of life savings for many investors. McCain has called this incident the greatest mistake of his life. We can certainly expect mention of this incident to be brought up by Barack Obama if John McCain does indeed launch into character attacks. John McCain’s Campaign Recalls Tactics used Against him By Bush The tone of McCain’s recent campaign is particularly ironic in light of his own strident complaints against what he called unfair smear tactics used against him by George Bush in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination 8 years ago. As the NY Times reported,

“In the 2000 South Carolina primary, one of the most notorious smear campaigns in recent American politics peddled distortions and lies about him, among them that Mr. McCain’s current wife, Cindy, was a drug addict and that the couple’s daughter Bridget, adopted from Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Bangladesh, was a black child Mr. McCain had fathered out of wedlock… He lost the state to George W. Bush, and his campaign soon derailed.”

At the time, McCain stood up against the very tactics he is now employing in his all out bid for the presidency. Some would say that his actions during what is probably his last national campaign, tarnishes the memories of John McCain’s career.