The LuLac Edition #584, Sept. 27th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: OUR

TOP 40 LOGO AND

SENATORS McCAIN

AND OBAMA.

Going to the candidate's debate.

Laugh about it,

shout about it

When you've got to choose

Every way you look at this you lose.

DEBATE RECAP

Last night's debate between Senators McCain and Obama was certainly an interesting piece of American history. Here's my quick take on the debate:

1. There was no knock out punch by either candidate and no big mistake.

2. McCain displayed a great deal of knowledge on Foreign Policy as expected but Obama held his own going step to step with McCain. McCain's advantage was that he kept on referring to Obama's inexperience in foreign affairs. Obama countered well with reasoned responses but fell short by not making the point that McCain was part of the Bush Iraq policy from the start and saying that McCain would be an extension of the Bush administration. I think both men should have questioned each other as to who was going to lead their foreign policy teams if they were elected President. That would have given us an insight into the way the policies would be conducted.

3. On the economy, both men made what I felt were perfunctory statements of confidence and support although Obama drove home the point that Main Street was taking a bigger hit than Wall Street.

4. From our relationship with CBS News.Com, here is a recap of what an exclusive poll taken by CBS on the candidate's debate performances: CBS News and Knowledge Networks conducted a nationally representative poll of approximately 500 uncommitted voters reacting to the debate in the minutes after it happened. Thirty-nine percent of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. Twenty-four percent thought John McCain won. Thirty-seven percent saw it as a draw. Forty-six percent of uncommitted voters said their opinion of Obama got better tonight. Thirty-two percent said their opinion of McCain got better. Sixty-six percent of uncommitted voters think Obama would make the right decisions about the economy. Forty-two percent think McCain would. Forty-eight percent of these voters think Obama would make the right decisions about Iraq. Fifty-six percent think McCain would. The margin of sampling error could be plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the entire sample.

So looking at this poll it appears both men gained in some catagories where they were strong. Again, a dead heat in the debate with no gaffes.

5. Fashion report. Both men wore the traditional Presidential navy blue suit, no pinstripes. Obama had on a white dress shirt with burgandy tie. McCain chose a blue shirt with same suit. His tie was a multi striped number that bled onto the TV and distracted viewers. Both looked sharp and Presidential.

ELECTION TOP 40

DEBATES #38

With less than forty days to the Election, the debates will continue to be an issue. As indicated earlier, both men were at a virtual stand off on the debate. Debates were not a real factor in Presidential politics until 1960 when John Kennedy squared off against Richard Nixon. It was said that if you listened on the radio, Nixon won the debates but if you saw it on TV, Kennedy thumped the then sitting Vice President. LBJ, Nixon against Humphrey and Nixon against McGovern saw no debates in '64, '68 (although Humphrey was screaming like a banshee at every stump speech referring to Nixon as "Richard the Chickenhearted" to get Nixon to debate) and '72. The debates came back in vogue when a faltering Ford campaign accepted the Carter challenge in 1976 and since then, there have been debates every cycle. Consensus has been that debates do no real harm even if there are a few gaffes. It was clear in 2004 that Senator Kerry wiped up the floor with President Bush but no one told the GOP base or the right wing Christians. So I guess as the campaign winds down, the mantra for the debate should be "do no harm". From You Tube: Simon & Garfunkal.