Hundreds of people sat on their blankets and lawn chairs in the Grove at the University of Mississippi in anticipation of the presidential debate. There was an air of excitement and uncertainty when the clock struck 8 p.m. in Oxford as no one knew what to expect.
Inhalers and oxygen machines were on standby just in case Republican presidential nominee John McCain decided not to show up at the last minute. People from all across the state and farther were in attendance.
As Jim Lehrer, the moderator, announced the names of both candidates there was an overwhelming cheer in the Grove for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. However, I was not shouting in favor of either candidate. I was wondering why I neglected to bring something to sit on while sitting on the wet grass.
The debate was originally supposed to center around the topics of foreign policy and national security, so it made perfect sense for Lehrer’s first question to be about America’s financial crisis.
Both candidates argued extensively and yet somehow vaguely about this topic. I am still trying to figure out what the fundamentals of the economy are.
Obama believes there should be more oversight in how the money is used so that none of it is wasted for golden parachutes. In other words, he is for more government regulation of the economy. Furthermore, taxpayers who are putting their money at risk should have the possibility to receive some of that money back. He ultimately blamed George Bush’s economic policy, which McCain supported, for the poor state of the economy.
This would set the stage for the entirety of the debate as McCain tried to disassociate himself from his party and from George Bush.
I believe that it was in Obama’s slight favor for the debate to remain focused on the economy since he does not have as much foreign policy experience as his opponent.
McCain said contributing factors to the financial problem has been the greed in Washington, D.C. and on Wall Street. His proposed financial package includes transparency, accountability and oversight. He also said the various regulatory agencies, which were not operating efficiently, should be unified and brought under a strict interpretation.
One of McCain’s main points that he interjected during this period was how Republicans and Democrats were working together to help solve this issue. Well, why were they not working together before this situation culminated into the problem that we have today?
There were many in the crowd who would agree McCain’s and Obama’s ideas sounded good, but there was something covertly hidden from public view. McCain and Obama’s economic recovery plan stated a who, what and why but neglected to inform the public on how they will implement their economic plans.
How will they ensure more financial accountability? How can they be so sure that their plans will succeed? Since when did McCain and Obama become financial experts? I would wonder if the candidates could manage their own finances before I trusted them with the national economic policy.
Lehrer did a good job of not showing favoritism to either of the candidates throughout the debate, but he could have moderated a bit more during this topic. It was at this point the debate became bogged down in the economy, which detracted from the original point of the debate.
Lehrer’s job was to keep the debate moving from topic to topic with each candidate remaining within the allotted time, but that was not done. The candidates would answer the question, and he would ask them the same question again.
The presidential debate was a fun and electrifying experience, but I wonder what type of impact it will actually have in a state that nearly always votes Republican no matter what? The debate was very informative, but left me with more questions than answers concerning whom I will vote for in the upcoming election. I do not know whether I am right in even calling what happened in Oxford a debate since the candidates agreed on many of the issues.
Lawrence Simmons is a senior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at [email protected].