The Popular Vote: McCain's biggest election season letdown
Michael Roberts
Issue date: 10/28/08 Section: Opinion
The lights came on, the candidates stepped onto the stage, the questions were asked, the questions were answered, the candidates stepped off the stage, the lights went off and John McCain blew it.
John McCain had an opportunity in the last debate to show that, despite whatever he says, Barack Obama is going to raise your taxes with all of the new programs that he wants to put into place. McCain should have touched upon other recent Democrats like Clinton who, when campaigning, said that he would cut taxes but actually ended up raising them. McCain didn't do a good enough job of making Obama look like other liberals and less like this agent of "change" that he has painted himself as.
McCain should have painted Obama as the classic "tax and spend" liberal. McCain should have added up the costs of all the different programs Obama has proposed and shown the American people that, despite the tax cuts that they would get, they would have to shoulder the burden of the new programs.
McCain instead left the debate with the American people thinking that both of the candidates would lower their taxes if they were elected. Taxes are a debate Republicans should always win. McCain simply wasn't convincing enough, and he didn't stress his tax plan enough (probably something to do with Obama being able to rely on his 95-percent-of-America tax break number).
McCain would have fared better had he, as he should have, brought up the connections that Obama has with people like William Ayers. Instead of effectively bringing up the questionable connections Obama has with people such as Ayers and Wright, McCain sort of brought the subject up by not making any accusations and letting Obama talk his way out of the issue. McCain should have pressed much harder.These sorts of connections show a lack in judgment, something that McCain could have harped on for the rest of the debate, but he let go much too easily.
The inexperience argument has shown not to work (and with the selection of Palin as VP has all but disappeared), but the lack of judgment argument surely would have worked if McCain had properly brought it up and pressed the issue. Not to mention that if McCain had approached this issue correctly, he would have had his attack ad ammo for the rest of the election. Instead, now many say Obama has dealt with the Ayers and Wright issues.
John McCain had an opportunity in the last debate to show that, despite whatever he says, Barack Obama is going to raise your taxes with all of the new programs that he wants to put into place. McCain should have touched upon other recent Democrats like Clinton who, when campaigning, said that he would cut taxes but actually ended up raising them. McCain didn't do a good enough job of making Obama look like other liberals and less like this agent of "change" that he has painted himself as.
McCain should have painted Obama as the classic "tax and spend" liberal. McCain should have added up the costs of all the different programs Obama has proposed and shown the American people that, despite the tax cuts that they would get, they would have to shoulder the burden of the new programs.
McCain instead left the debate with the American people thinking that both of the candidates would lower their taxes if they were elected. Taxes are a debate Republicans should always win. McCain simply wasn't convincing enough, and he didn't stress his tax plan enough (probably something to do with Obama being able to rely on his 95-percent-of-America tax break number).
McCain would have fared better had he, as he should have, brought up the connections that Obama has with people like William Ayers. Instead of effectively bringing up the questionable connections Obama has with people such as Ayers and Wright, McCain sort of brought the subject up by not making any accusations and letting Obama talk his way out of the issue. McCain should have pressed much harder.These sorts of connections show a lack in judgment, something that McCain could have harped on for the rest of the debate, but he let go much too easily.
The inexperience argument has shown not to work (and with the selection of Palin as VP has all but disappeared), but the lack of judgment argument surely would have worked if McCain had properly brought it up and pressed the issue. Not to mention that if McCain had approached this issue correctly, he would have had his attack ad ammo for the rest of the election. Instead, now many say Obama has dealt with the Ayers and Wright issues.
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posted 3/26/10 @ 6:08 PM EST
This article is amazing. I?m going to spend so much time procrastinating on here. I?m not quite sure if I should be thanking you, or cursing you
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