By Ronald Baygents, KUNA,
Washington : Declaring that he was “not President Bush,” Republican presidential nominee John McCain delivered what analysts agreed was his best performance on Wednesday night in the last of three debates between the Arizona senator and his rival, Barack Obama.
Whether that was enough to close the big lead Obama has over McCain in recent polls leading up to the November 4 election was an open question.
A CNN “instant poll” of debate watchers showed 58 percent viewed the performance by Democratic nominee Obama as favorable compared to 31 percent for McCain.
Other networks also reported findings that Obama was judged to have won the final showdown, which would mean the Illinois senator may have virtually closed the deal in his quest to become the first African-American U.S. president.
During the first half hour of the 90-minute encounter, held at Hofstra University in New York, Obama noted that Republican President George W. Bush had squandered a budget surplus in eight years and run up a nearly half-trillion-dollar deficit.
McCain turned to Obama and said, “I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.” The debate, moderated by CBS newsman Bob Schieffer in a format where the candidates and moderator sat together at a table, focused on domestic issues, and the number one issue — the slumping U.S. economy — dominated the exchanges.
Obama repeatedly referred to “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” and accused McCain of wanting “eight more years of the same” Bush economic policies.
The candidates rehashed many of their past statements on the U.S. home mortgage crisis, tax policy, federal spending, deficits, health care, energy, education and abortion.
McCain hammered Obama as an advocate of “wealth redistribution” and “class warfare,” while promising to cut business-tax rates to encourage businesses to create more jobs.
Obama told McCain that on tax policy, energy policy and spending policy, “you have been a big supporter of George Bush.” McCain countered that he had a long record of favoring reform, citing his Senate votes on such issues as climate change, spending, anti-torture legislation, the conduct of the Iraq war, and taking on giant pharmaceutical firms and protecting the rights of patients.
Asked about the negative tone of the campaign, McCain agreed that the campaign had “taken many turns I consider unacceptable,” and accused Obama of not repudiating inappropriate remarks by some during the campaign.
Obama said Americans expect presidential campaigns to be tough, and that polls show two-thirds of Americans believe McCain is running a negative campaign.
“One hundred percent of your ads have been negative,” Obama told McCain, who responded, “That is not true.” Obama replied, “It absolutely is true.” Obama said he does not mind if McCain attacks him for the rest of the campaign, but said Americans instead “deserve to hear about our economic policies” and other key issues instead of “politics as usual.” When McCain brought up Obama’s association with Chicago professor William Ayers, a former member of a radical group from the 1960s linked to domestic bombings, saying Obama launched one of his political campaigns “in Ayers’ living room,” Obama said that was “absolutely not true.” McCain then pivoted to a new topic, saying, “My campaign is about getting this economy back on track,” which prompted Obama to flash a big smile.
During a question about each candidate’s choice for vice president on their ticket, McCain noted that Obama’s running mate, Senator Joe Biden, voted against the 1991 Gulf War, when “we had to take Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.” Both candidates called for weaning America off dependence on Middle East oil, with McCain saying such oil is being bought “in places in the world that harm our national security” if that dependence does not end.
Obama said there was nothing worse than the U.S. borrowing 700 billion dollars from China to buy oil from Saudi Arabia, and said such practices were “mortgaging our children’s future.” McCain criticized Obama for saying he would “look at” increasing offshore oil production in the United States. McCain said America needs to “drill now, not look at drilling.” Obama said the U.S. cannot drill its way out of its energy problems, but should invest in wind, solar, geothermal energy and a switch to the production of high-fuel-efficiency American cars.
In his closing statement, McCain again aimed to separate himself from his fellow Republican, President Bush, who has held near-record low public approval ratings for nearly two years.
“America needs a new direction,” McCain said. “We cannot be satisfied with what we have been doing the last eight years.” The issue was which candidate could best be trusted, McCain said. The former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam said he has spent his life “putting my country first.” In his final remarks, Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate and former Chicago community organizer, said America was experiencing “tough times right now,” but things cannot be expected to improve if the “same failed policies and politics of the past eight years” are pursued.
While it will not be “easy or quick,” Obama said “brighter days are ahead” if Democrats, Republicans and Independents can come together to solve the problems of the nation.