Final Presidential Debate

I know that my topics have been on health, but for this weeks blog I really wanted to discuss the final presidential debate.

Last night marked the third and final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. The event was held at Hofstra University. For John McCain, the debate was his last chance to curb the momentum that Obama has accumulated from the past two debates. Obama hoped that his consistent poise and coolness would continue to keep the majority of the American people on his side.

According to USA Today, in a story titled, "Analysis: McCain more cutting; Obama low-key", McCain kept Obama on the defensive side of the argument for most of the 90 minute debate, attacking him from every angle. "I don't mind being attacked for the next three weeks," the Illinois Democrat said, calling McCain's attacks a diversion from most voters' central concerns and choosing simply not to respond to several of them. "What the American people can't afford is four more years of failed economic policies."

According to Fox NEWS, in a story titled, "Candidates hit hard at final debate", which was surprisingly a bi-partisan story, John McCain tried to "recharge his campaign with a volley of allegations directed at Obama's honesty, judgment and empathy for tax-burdened Americans." Fox NEWS reports that "the debate was far more combative than the previous two -- likely a reflection of the fact it was a key opportunity for McCain to halt Obama's growing momentum in the polls."

Both stories had similar comments. I thought that Fox would be bias towards McCain, as they usually are, but the story was very bi-partisan, revealing fair analysis on both sides. Both stories had the same quote from John McCain when he said, "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." USA Today reveals that they believe Obama won the debate, where as Fox NEWS does not comment. According to both articles, Obama believes that McCain is proposing eight more years of the same thing. I was happy to see that a more correct viewpoint of the debate was promoted by Fox, and that USA Today, was a bit more straight forward with their opinions.