Liveblogging the McCain/Obama Presidential Debate #2

*6:14 - Obama: 'Biggest problem is deregulation... 2 years ago I said we had a sub-prime lending crisis.'  All Obama did was talk.  He made noise.  Regardless if McCain took a year to jump on a regulation bill, at least he jumped on the bill and recognized its importance.

*6:17 - McCain has, once again, laid out precisely what he believes needs to happen in order to fix the economy.  Sen. Obama does not seem to have such clarity or such precision in his answers.  He keeps recycling his "eight years of bad economic policies" talking points, but the Democrat congress has less popular support than the president and it is congress that sets the budget.

*6:20 - Obama: we need to shift priorities in Washington.  McCain: we need reform.  The American people need to look at records rather than rhetoric.  Go to the national taxpayers union.  Obama has the most liberal, big spending record in the U.S. Senate.  McCain claims to have fought earmarks and it is true, John McCain has rarely, if ever, requested an earmark in his 20+ years in the senate.

*6:25 - Obama: 'Priorities - Energy, Healthcare, Education. '  While I disagree with the Senators usual attacks on big oil, I think that he has a right motivation to develop and execute a strategy for developing a new energy economy.  Unfortunately for him, McCain has similar plans so there is a difference without much of a distinction.

*6:29 - McCain: 'We need to have a spending freeze.'  McCain is speaking with the experience of having watched good bills die due to backroom deals.  Sen. McCain knows how things operate and how they can be corrected.   Sen. Obama requested $1 million in earmarks a day while he was a senator.  So, I guess we can say that Sen. Obama knows how things operate as well, but one ought to be less inclined to believe that he would do anything to stop them. 

*6:30 - Obama: 'President Bush, after Sept. 11, said "Go out and shop."  That is not the kind of leadership we need.'  Compare and contrast.  McCain raised the same point in the prior debate.  He said that what we needed was people to join the peace corps, to join the military.  Sen. Obama said that we need to focus on energy.  One understands the threat abroad that must define how we think of things at home.  The other is focused not on meeting the threats abroad, but funding idealist ambitions at home. 

*6:37 - McCain: 'Obama's tax plan raises taxes on 50% of small businesses.'  Sen. McCain seems to be distorting the record on this.

*6:37 - "Would you give congress a date certain to resolve social security?"  Obama: 'We need to take on entitlements.  I would like to do this in my first term as president.'  Sen. Obama went back to taxes.  No answer to the question.  I am a young guy and nobody in my peer group expects to see a dime of social security.  Sen. Obama appeals primarily to my demographic and he just re-affirmed our belief that Washington is too broken to pay me back the money I am to be owed in 40 years.

McCain: 'Social security problem is not that tough.  We need to sit down at the table.'  McCain pulls out experience story.  Sen. McCain says that to solve the problem, we need a commission to come up with recommendations.  Congress needs to vote up or down.  No more fooling with it.   This makes a lot of sense to me and gives me hope about Social Security.

*6:44 - A question about developing alternative energies.  I think that, at the end of the day, there is no meaningful difference between the two candidates on the issue.  Each wants to pioneer a new energy economy.  I do resonate with Sen. Obama's claim that, like the computer, solving the energy issue will power our economy into a new era.  Given the global warming hype worldwide, I think there is a lot of money to be made selling new energy innovations.  Contrary to Sen. Obama, a new energy economy won't be built in a day and there are many operational infrastructure that depend on oil.  We need to drill now for oil to help give us the necessary, domestic oil to ease us through the transition process to new energy.

*6:49 -  "Should healthcare be treated as a commodity?"  Obama: 'Healthcare is breaking family budgets.  Many people do not have health insurance or have seen their premiums double in the last eight years.  We have a moral commitment and an economic imperative to do something.'  His solution:  He will work to reduce useless paperwork, invest in preventative medicine, and put you in the same pool as government employees without health preconditions.  The former seems like something that is outside the capacity of the federal government (think hospital paperwork is bad?  Have you ever filed paperwork for car to the federal government?).  The latter seems economically impossible.  Does someone have expertise on this?

Sen McCain:  We have got to give people choice.  Give people a $5,000 refundable tax credit. 
"Is Health care a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?" 

McCain: A responsibility.  Obama: A Right.  Sen. McCain sees it as a responsibilty for Government and people to work together to solve the problem.  Sen. Obama sees government involvement as an imperative because we are a wealthy nation and, therefore, people have the right to health care.  We need government regulation.

*7:00 - Sen. McCain: "America is the greatest force for good in history."  When we are strong militarily, we must be strong economically, and we can be a powerful force for good in the world.

*7:02 - Sen Obama: 'I do not understand why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.'  This same, tired narrative reveals a profound ignorance on Sen. Obama's part about military strategy and the relationship of terrorist powers in the Middle East.  He is hoping that Americans will be confused by anything more than arm-chair military strategy.  However, thanks to the work of Gen Patraeus and new media journalists such as Michael Yon and Victor Davis Hanson, Americans are aware of the importance of the work being done in Iraq.

*7:05 - "The McCain Doctrine?"  McCain opens fire by pointing out that Obama would have brought our troops home in defeat - this is undeniable.  McCain: 'We must have a cool hand at the tiller.  We need a person who understand the limits of our capabilities.  We went into Somolia as peace keepers, had to be peace makers, and we lost.  We have to temper decisions with understanding of what we can actually accomplish.'  We must be wise with American blood.  We have to be sure that we do not bleed and make a crisis worse.

*7:10 - Sen Obama: 'We will kill Bin Laden, this has to be our biggest national security priority.'  Sen McCain: 'Sen. Obama wants to announce that he will attack Pakistan.  Remarkable.'  Clearly this is bad, diplomatic strategy from people who are assumed to be strong on diplomacy.  Listen to how McCain and Obama discuss this issue.  McCain is very keen on strategy and he outlines it like an old professional who has been there and done that.  McCain speaks in high ideals.  Obama denies attacking saying that he would invade Pakistan, but his claim is false. 

*7:18 - Sen. McCain, once again, talking knowledgeably about strategy.  Sen. Obama points out that there are problems in Afghanistan and that we need more troops, but does not speak in terms of strategy, he speaks in terms of ideals.  It is idealistic to think that withdrawing our troops from Iraq will somehow translate into making the Iraqi government more powerful, more able to handle affairs in their country.

*7:21 - The candidates are debating the idea of a new cold war.  Neither thinks it terribly likely, but they differ on the active role we should play in the former soviet regions.

*7:24 - "Russia the new evil empire?"  Each candidate: Perhaps.

*7:25 - "If Iran attacks Israel, would you commit troops to defend Israel or would you wait for UN Security Council?"  McCain: 'We would obviously not wait.  Russia and China (in the council) would pose significant obstacles.'   Sen McCain is able to speak knowledgably about the relationship between the powers in the Middle East.  Sen McCain reminds people that Sen Obama would meet without preconditions with Ahmadinejad.  This is very troublesome.  Sen. Obama: 'Iran cannot get a nuclear weapon - it is unacceptable.  It is important for us to use all the tools at our disposal to prevent us from making those kind of choices (military force.  We need to impose sanctions.'  Sen. Obama thinks that Ahmadinejad is operating on a rational, decision calculus such that money will change his behavior and his deepest desires to eliminate Israel.  This fundamentally ignores the nature of the deep seated hatred that truly fuels conflicts in the Middle East.    

*7:30 - "What don't you know, how will you learn it?"  Sen. Obama: 'Ask Michelle.'  Senator Obama tells his interesting life story about his rise to success.  He asks if we are going to pass off that dream to the next generation?  Sen McCain: 'What I do not konw is what all of us do not know.  What will happen to us here and abroad.  There are challenges around the world that are new and different.  What I do not know is what the unexpected will be, but I have spent my whole life serving this country.  I know what it is like in dark times.  I know what its like to rely on others for support, to keep this country going through tough times.' 

Sen. McCain's life story is one of experience, having worked through tough times.  Sen. Obama's story is one of an American who is young to the world, having observed the service of people like his mother and grandmother and the struggle they faced.  It's observation v. experience.  Which is more compelling? 

Thanks for reading.

**Please note, all quotes are approximate**