McCain just recounted the “Joe the plumber” story and doesn’t even mention that Obama made his “share the wealth for the common good” comment. He deserves to lose this election if he’s as inept as that a driving home such a serious point.
OK, he brought it up in the follow-up. I was too hard on the guy. I apologize. You can tell Obama’s miffed about it.
[Note: Headline changed]
Obama says he’s going to lower taxes for 95 percent of the people, says Joe the plumber’s problem now is that he makes more than $250,000. His American Dream ends at a quarter million, I guess. He’s very much on the defensive. After a slow start, McCain wins that exchange on points.
Obama says “programs that don’t work, we should cut.” Remember that if he is elected.
McCain, again with the home values. Bob Schieffer interrupts him for no apparent reason. McCain says he’d use the hatchet of an across-the-board spending freeze and then he’d take out a scalpel. Schieffer interrupts him again with a question, breaks his train of thought.
Obama saying earmarks don’t add up to much and won’t solve the problem. Forget that I got a billion dollars worth, he seems to be saying. I notice that Schieffer didn’t interrupt him.
Good line: “Sen. Obama, I’m not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago.”
Another good line: “You have to tell me one time you stood up against the leaders of your party.”
Obama says he has a history of reaching across the aisle. Says McCain is a Bush lapdog, essentially. McCain responds, though Schieffer tries to cut him off.
Schieffer says campaign has gotten nasty. Give it a rest, Bob, it’s not tiddly winks.
McCain says tone would have been different if Obama hadn’t run away from town hall meetings together. Brings up Rep. John Lewis’ scurrilous attack, and points out Obama has never repudiated any of his remarks or others, while McCain has always repudiated ones about Obama. Says Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any campaign in history. Points out he didn’t keep his word about public financing of his campaign.
Obama points to mainstream media polls saying McCain is running a negative campaign. Doesn’t respond to the charge, though. Says economy is big issue. The rest is a distraction.
Will McCain raise Ayers and Wright? We’ll see. Or ACORN, especially.
Obama is really being truly sleazy saying that Palin didn’t stop people from saying mean things at her rallies. For one thing, it is probably the case that, with 5,000 to 15,000 people in the crowd, she never heard them. It is also possible that reporters misheard or made up the allegations. Even the Secret Service says they never heard anyone in Scranton yesterday say “Kill him.”
After slamming McCain and Palin Obama says, but we have to get back to the real issues. Slimy but effective.
AYERS!!!! McCain says we need to know the full relationship to Ayers and to ACORN.
Obama says Ayers is a professor in Chicago, that he was 8 years old when Ayers was a terrorist, blah, blah, blah. No change here. Same spin he’s used for months.
On ACORN, a “community organization,” paid people to register and the people did it poorly. Says he represented them in a motor-voter case. Doesn’t mention the $800,000 his campaign paid to ACORN to sign up voters.
What? Obama says he didn’t launch his political career in Ayers’ living room?
Not sure McCain hit that hard enough. Looks like a glancing blow.
Schieffer now asks about the selection of running mates. Gee, Bob, wonder where that question came from.
Scranton. Damn, I’m so tired of hearing about Scranton. Obama says Biden shares his core values. What would they be? We don’t know.
McCain says Palin is a reformer and a role model. Took on party, took on corruption. Gave money back to taxpayers, took on oil companies. Says she’s a breath of fresh air that will sweep away old boy network cronyism. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of her.”
Schieffer asks Obama, “Do you think she’s qualfied to be president?” He didn’t ask if McCain thinks Biden is qualified.
OK, now he asks him. He says yes, but that Biden has been wrong a lot. Obama said he’d let the nation decide that.
McCain says Obama always says “we have to spend more, we have to spend more.” Schieffer interrupts again. This is getting old.
Schieffer wants a “specific number” of how much we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil in their first terms. What a stupid question.
Obama also doesn’t answer with a “specific number,” as Schieffer stupidly demanded.
Obama is looking straight at the camera during his answers. Will Chris “Tingle” Matthews ridicule him as he did Palin when she did the same thing during her debate. Gee, I wonder.
Obama: “I believe in free trade, but….” There’s always a but with this guy. He gives an isolationist answer.
McCain calls Obama a sleazy word player (well, almost). Says he always says “we’ll look at offshore drilling” but never says he’ll drill. Says “Sen. Obama, who has never traveled south of our border…” Interesting tidbit.
Obama says we need a president who “is going to enforce unfair trade agreements.” Yes, he said that.
McCain: Obama doesn’t want free trade with Colombia, our best ally in the region, but wants to sit down with Hugo Chavez, our enemy, without preconditions. Schieffer cuts him off again.
Schieffer: In bad economic times do we need to cut health care costs or health care benefits?
Obama votes present again: “We have to do both.”
Do you realize what crap these issues are every four years. It’s all a joke. Six months from now most of this will be forgotten, like Quemoy and Matsu, the missile gap and the Social Security lock box. I makes you grieve for the country.
McCain, also a boring answer: put health records online to cut costs, practice wellness and fitness, blah, blah. OK, he says Obama will fine Joe the plumber if he doesn’t sign on to the Obama plan. McCain wants Obama to tell him what the fine is.
Obama says Joe the plumber is exempt. McCain looks gobstruck. Obama is blathering, but says the rich folks will pay it all. But I thought Joe was a rich folk because he’s over the $250,000 mark. Obama now sounds like that guy that sells the ShamWow on TV. He’s making no sense at all. At all.
McCain is hitting Obama’s “spread the wealth” remark again. Sorry I was so hard on him early in this post. Obama is not liking it. McCain says Obama wants to tell Joe what to buy, not let Joe buy what he wants.
Freudian slip of the night: McCain just called Obama “Sen. Government.” Truer words were never spoken.
Schieffer finally asks the forbidden question: Roe v. Wade. Asks about litmus test on Supreme Court nominees.
McCain says he’d never give a litmus test, but Schieffer interrupts him and says, “But you DO think Roe v. Wade should be overturned.” Making good points about being member of the Gang of 14. Good points here, if not for the base.
Obama: “We shouldn’t apply a strict litmus test.” He’s got those Clintonesque weasel words down. Says Roe v. Wade was “rightly decided.” If McCain doesn’t bring up Obama’s “infanticide” comments from his Illinois Senate days, he’s missing a big opportunity.
McCain: We’ve got to change our culture. He’s bringing up the infanticide issue. Right cross to the jaw. Says Obama voted against a partial-birth abortion bill and voted present on another similar bill.
Obama just lied, straight out. Said he’d never vote to withhold life-saving efforts on a baby that survived an abortion. But there are audio recordings of him saying it. His rambling answer is not selling, I don’t think. Says we need to “come together” use adoption, etc.
McCain is impressing me with his unapologetic views on abortion. Points out he and his wife are adoptive parents. Good response.
Schieffer question about crappy education.
Obama: “We’ve got to get our education system right.” Well, that’s settled. Blathering about early childhood education. Yeah, we know how well that’s worked here in N.C. More money, more money, more money. Blames it on parents.
McCain: It’s the civil rights issue of the 21st century. “What is the advantage of sending a child in a disadvantaged neighborhood to a failed school.” Mentions charter schools, finding bad teachers another line of work, give people a chance to give parents a chance to send kids to the school of their choice, like Obama. Says some of the worst school systems spend the most money per student.
Obama says we have a tradition of local control of schools, but…… Man, this guy has lots of buts. He’ll focus on giving teachers more pay “for their support.” Support of what, his political career? He says “I” created lots of charter schools in Illinois. He thinks he was a governor. He was just a jabbering legislator.
McCain brings up the D.C. voucher program, where they had 1,000 openings and 9,000 people wanted them. “I’m surprised you didn’t pay more attention,” McCain says. McCain strong on vouchers. A courageous thing, given the past political baggage.
Obama says data doesn’t show that vouchers solve the problem. Says there aren’t enough slots in DC, plus, what about the rest of the country?
McCain: Says Obama is saying that since there aren’t enough vouchers we shouldn’t do it even if it works.
CLOSING STATEMENTS
McCain’s first. If he doesn’t mention Obama’s questionable associations and alliances, he’s missing a great opportunity. He’s just doing boiler plate right now. Talking about service to country, wants to be given the honor to serve. That’s it. High minded. No jabs.
Obama now. Boiler plate. Jobs, lift wages, grow the middle class. Hope and change, blah, blah, blah.
It’s over.
