First Debate Produces No Clear Winner, but Obama edges out.

Tonight was a moment I'd been waiting for for a long time: Barack Obama and John McCain facing off in their first one-on-one Presidential Debate on live television. I was a little worried yesterday that McCain might successfully postpone the debate due to the urgency of the financial crisis situation, but thankfully there was enough pressure from the American public that McCain second guessed the political dividends that this gimmick might pay towards his campaign. (Sorry Senator McCain, but Gov. Palin's still going to have to face off with Senator Biden next week, as much as you'd love to give her some more time to prepare herself).

Fortunately for politically interested Americans, the debate went forward as planned. Overall, I think most people would agree that neither candidate vastly outperformed the other tonight, nor did either of them crash and burn. According to a CBS News poll following the debate, "40% of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. 22% thought John McCain won. 38% saw it as a draw."

Nearly half of the debate was focused on the financial crisis and the economy, and rightfully so considering talk of a possible $700 billion dollar government bailout, mortgage closures, skyrocketing unemployment rates, and high gas prices. While I expected Obama to dance circles around McCain on economic issues, I thought McCain was able to hold his own. I was surprised with how articulate McCain was in presenting his policies, even if I didn't identify with most of what he was saying.

In fact, I thought both of them did certain things quite well: specifically energizing their base of supporters. As such, Obama's main plan for getting the economy back on track was tax cuts for the middle class and 95% of working Americans, offset by closing corporate tax loopholes and repealing the Bush tax cuts on those Americans making over $250,000 a year. Also, cutting wasteful government spending and having the long-term goal of getting out of Iraq. McCain's was to concentrate entirely on cutting wasteful government spending, to lower taxes, and to have less government involvement in general. In this sense, the strategy for the night seemed to be to "play to your base."

Frankly, I was a little disappointed that both candidates expressed too much of a willingness to postpone crucial projects in order to pay for the financial crisis, specifically their potential willingness to postpone crucial energy projects. Although, Obama said he would only be willing to alter parts of his energy strategy to adjust to hard times and cited the benefits that a clean energy revolution would have for the American economy. To me, the most ridiculous part of the debate was when John McCain offered a wild solution for the financial crisis when Jim Lehrer pressed him for more details, "How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs." A spending freeze? On almost everything except the US military (which gets the largest share of US budget appropriations)? It seems that McCain's only strategy for the economy is to cut taxes and cut spending and everything else will just work itself out. I though Obama's response to this was quite accurate,
"The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel. There are some programs that are very important that are under funded...Let me tell you another place to look for some savings. We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when they have a $79 billion surplus. It seems to me that if we're going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad, that we have to look at bringing that war to a close."

As usual, environmental issues were entirely ignored by the moderator and made virtually no appearance in the debate. However, energy policy did come up several times, and in that sense Global Climate Change was at discussed. What frustrates me most is when John McCain attempts to present himself as a leader on energy innovation in the Senate. When McCain was trying to distinguish himself as the great Mavericky Maverick that he is, he mentioned how he differs for George Bush on the issue of addressing climate change. Unfortunately, as Obama rightly pointed out Friday night, McCain has voted against renewable energy 23 times over his career in the US Congress. "And if we want to talk about oil company profits, under your tax plan, John -- this is undeniable -- oil companies would get an additional $4 billion in tax breaks." So as much as John McCain may be a slight improvement over George Bush on energy and the economy you can be assured that renewable energy and innovation is not his priority. Under a McCain-Palin administration we are going to see more drilling, more "clean" coal, 45 new nuclear plants by 2030, more tax breaks for oil companies, and then a little renewable energy on the side. (For more on how Obama is head and shoulders above McCain on energy and climate change see my previous two posts).

If anyone missed the debate, here's a link to the transcript online. The video can be found there also.

Next up, we'll get a chance to take a look at Senator Biden and Governor Palin going head to head this Thursday. Should be interesting.