Current Event #4: Second Presidential Debate

On the 7th of October, the two presidential nominees squared off once again to a face-to-face debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, focusing on the economy and foreign and domestic policies. The two senators took on questions from the moderator, a crowd of undecided voters, and emails.

Regarding foreign affairs, Republican John McCain argued that he had a “record to stand on” and that Obama didn’t understand national security. Democrat Barack Obama responded by bringing up McCain’s mistaken judgment on the Iraqi war, stating that McCain had promised it would be “quick and easy.”

When the issue of the economy was brought up, Obama claimed that the “worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” was because of President Bush and McCain trying to “strip away regulation. McCain proposed the government buying and renegotiating of bad home loans, which he admitted to being a costly, but essential plan. He said Obama’s tax proposes were pointless and will actually raise taxes on small business revenue, leading to more layoffs.

Health care coverage was another topic the candidates discussed. Both agreed on creating computerized medical records in order to reduce costs and limit errors. Obama said that health care was a “right” and a national insurance program was needed for people that don’t already have coverage through their employer. However, McCain said that competition would help lead to better health care and promised reform have more options available to individuals other than employer-provided coverage.

The 2007 Bush-Cheney energy bill discussed lead to some speculation and attention of media reporters. McCain had voted against the bill, but he said that Obama had voted for it, referring to Obama as “that one.” The media found this label interesting and the public will most probably hear more about it in the days to come. A national poll conducted suggested that debate watchers felt Obama had won the debate. In the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, 54% of the 675 adults questions (by telephone) declared that Obama did the best job, while 30% thought that McCain did a better job performing. There’s about a 4% sampling error to the survey.

The next and final presidential debate is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 15th at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.