Politics - the First Presidential Debate 2008

Analysis of The First Presidential Debate in 2008

I watched the first Presidential debate of 2008 between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. I have numerous thoughts on what I saw and heard. As far as composure, debating style and technique, Senator McCain won the debate. As far as embracing political principles that I believe in, Senator Obama won me over.

I saw Senator McCain be on the offensive through much of the debate. I saw Senator Obama be on the defensive and stutter when replying to Senator McCain’s accusations and statements. Senator McCain also used a good debating technique by telling personal one-on-one stories to emphasize his points. All these techniques indicate that Senator McCain won the debate.

For me personally, I disagreed with Senator McCain’s content. I was turned off by his personal stories because it felt like he missed the big picture by focusing on the details. I totally disagreed on his overall foreign affairs political philosophy, I felt much more in line with Senator Obama’s view of foreign affairs.

I am a registered independent and always have been. Over the last several Presidential elections I have voted for Republican, Democratic, and third-party candidates. Each election I evaluate who is the best candidate, independent of which political party he is affiliated with, and cast my vote. I believe I am fairly objective in my analysis though I may not have always voted for the best candidate in retrospect.

As far as criteria, I heavily emphasize ability in foreign affairs over domestic affairs in evaluating candidates. I believe the President has a lot more influence and power in foreign affairs as an individual than in domestic affairs. I believe that Congress exercises a lot more influence directly over domestic affairs than foreign affairs, diluting the President’s influence.

President Bush has emphasized security over cooperation since 9/11 and has alienated many foreign countries and cultures. I believe his approach to fighting terrorism has directly caused a rise in terrorist activities worldwide. Many people of different cultures have reacted negatively to Bush’s arrogance and have taken up terrorism against Western values. Obviously, I have a problem with this.

I believe that the United States needs to improve our image outside this country. I believe that our President needs to actively improve our relationships with foreign countries. I believe the way to do this is not by rattling our sabres but to be open for dialogues for cooperation. Relationships with countries as diverse as Russia, Pakistan, and France are not as good as they were eight years ago. And don’t confuse cordiality by those country’s leaders with a good relationship. With good relationships with many of these countries, it is easier to exert multi-national pressure on misbehaving countries, it is easier to positively influence other peoples.

I recently read that there is new thinking that to only negotiate with unfriendly countries if certain preconditions are met does not work and could even aggravate an already tense situation, that to be open for negotiations without preconditions has a better chance for success. By setting preconditions, we appear obstinate and arrogant, not a good way to start successful negotiations.

Given my beliefs on foreign affairs, I felt that Senator Obama embraced these principles and Senator McCain opposed them. I also sensed that Senator Obama would be better at bringing about consensus among diverse interests both domestically and internationally. I sensed that he is less intransigent than Senator McCain. It felt like Senator McCain was thinking like a soldier, ie military solutions, and not like a diplomat. It is too easy to misunderstand another culture and too easy to kill each other off. If the answer is to kill the next terrorist, there will always be a next terrorist (and many more). This leads to an international death spiral, not a happy scenario. That is why I favor Senator Obama over Senator McCain from what I saw and heard during the first Presidential debate.