The Oct 7th Debate

I am writing this during and after the presidential debate on October the Seventh.
While this debate did not revolutionize the election it certainly helped to define the positions of both candidates. The next president, be it John McCain or Barrack Obama, will face some of the toughest challenges any incoming president has ever faced certainly the toughest since FDR.

Tonight's debate has helped us to see how each candidate will handle many of the issues, from the economic crisis to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the energy crisis and a looming social security shortfall. The most short term issue, the economic crisis was the most among the most contentious as both candidates attempted to be the one who predicted the crisis. However, it seems Obama has the advantage here as he unlike McCain has been pro-regulation for a long time. Tax policy is one issue where Obama and McCain differed significantly, McCain wants to give tax cuts to the wealthy and to business, subscribing to the so called "trickle-down" effect, while Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich and big business. Health Care was another issue on which the candidates differed sharply, Obama wants the government to get much more involved with the problem, different people would benefit under each plan. Consumer reports discusses which demographics fare best under each plan in detail. Foreign policy and National defense were much more evenly balanced, with McCain's advantages being his long experience in the area as well as his support for the seemingly effective surge in Iraq, while Barrack Obama had the advantage of opposing the Iraq war from the beginning. On Energy there seemed to be little to tell the candidates apart aside form a slightly increase emphasis on green energy on Obama's side. One more interesting this debate gives us clues to are the candidates personalities. Barrack Obama remained calm and cool throughout the debate in contrast, McCain seemed annoyed almost angry when Obama was speaking. Though it is my personal view I feel a calm chief executive is best for America.

At this point with less than one month to the election to go, one must remember that it is not only the next president that will be decided this November but the next congress as well. At this point polls suggest the Democrats will pick up a few more seats in both the House and Senate, however it appears they may not have enough to prevent filibusters, a legislative delaying tactic. This means that even if McCain is elected he will have a much harder time enacting his agenda. But it also presents a problem for the Democrats, the next four years are likely to be hard ones in many ways, possible tainting the Democrats with unpopular measures including tax increases and cutting important programs.

On a related note, one Democrat running for reelection in the senate is Max Baucus, the senate Finance committee chairman, he won with a 32% margin in the last election so it seems unlikely that he will lose. The unusual thing about this election is the two candidates positions, Senator Baucus favored the Bush tax cuts, while his Republican opponent Bob Kelleher, favors socialized medicine, nationalizing the oil industry and raising taxes to lift the poor out of poverty. Does this seem backwards to anyone else?

The next election will be for high stakes, perhaps even more than usual. Many people seem to agree that the nation has reached a critical decision point about its future course. Unfortunately no one can look into the future to tell us the right choice so we must hope America makes the right choice.