Obama Won Third Debate, But Failed (or Chose Not?) to Go for the Jugular

October 16, 2008
Category: Keys to Victory

While all post-debate snap polls and focus group surveys taken right after the Wednesday night debate gave Barack Obama an overwhelming win over his presidential rival John McCain (in my opinion more on style than sheer will to win and force the issue), there are a few areas of the debate in which the Democratic candidate could have crushed John McCain, but failed to do so. I saw three great openings which Barack Obama failed to take advantage of during the debate. Here are some of the few answers or retorts that Obama could have used to crush John McCain once and for all:

1) When John McCain scored his zinger of the night by telling Obama he [McCain] is not George Bush, and that he [Obama] should have run four yours ago if he wanted to run against George Bush, Obama could have replied by saying:

“I appreciate John McCain’s attempt at dissociating himself from the record of George Bush. I just wish he had applied the same standard to his recurrent attempts at associating me with the reprehensible actions which Bill Ayers committed 40 years ago when I was only eight years old. And so, I will return the favor to Senator McCain by telling him I am not Bill Ayers, and that if he wanted to run against Bill Ayers the domestic terrorist, he should have run against Bill Ayers 40 years ago.”

The same answer could have applied to John McCain’s fake outrage at John Lewis (when he alleged that John Lewis, the former civil rights leader, associated him and his running mate with the crimes committed against Blacks several decades ago).

2) On the issue of McCain expressing pride in the angry, overexcited crowds that have been calling Obama “terrorist” and shouting “kill him”, Obama could have retorted:

“John McCain just said that he is proud of the people who come to his meetings and who shout “terrorist” and “Kill Obama”. Personally, I would never be proud of supporters who shout: “Kill John McCain!” And I would rather lose an election than get the vote of anyone who believes that the only way we can win is by assassinating the character of John McCain, or causing people to want to kill John McCain. That way of doing things is not only mean, but also profoundly unAmerican.”

3) On the overall negativity of John McCain during the debate, especially regarding the issues of Bill Ayers and the like, Obama could have dismissed the whole thing by simply wrapping it up in one single shot like so:

“On a night like this, when Americans are hungry for answers and worried about the economy, high oil prices, melting mortgages, the health of their families, the education of their children, and their jobs, all that John MCain seems to want to do is draw us back into the mud of old Washington politics, where candidates would rather divide and tear America down as opposed to lifting it up. The path of personal destruction and distraction that John MCain wants to draw me in is not only dishonorable, it is also dangerous. See, a lot of people have criticized my campaign from the beginning arguing that I was not tough enough, and that I should attack John McCain and go for the jugular. I could have certainly heeded this call for blood and begun to pander to such extremes by accusing John McCain of recklessness in his choice of a vice-presidential running mate who has been in this campaign now for, what, just six weeks, and whom Americans did not get the opportunity to fully vet before being asked to vote for her. I could have faulted John McCain for associating himself with a vice-presidential choice who has now been found guilty of abusing her power as governor of Alaska. I could have even gone further by calling attention to the fact that both Sarah Palin and her husband Todd Palin once belonged to a separatist party in Alaska that has sought to secede from the United States. I could have done all that and even more. But, let me ask you, what would America gain from such petty behaviors? What would such an approach bring to this debate except the type of nastiness that would have taken us away from the real issues that Americans are facing today? If John McCain wants to continue to run against the Bill Ayers, Britney Spears and Paris Hiltons of the world, let him have that debate with them. As far as I am concerned, I want to look the American people in the eyes and tell them what it is that I want to do for them and with them to resolve the issues at hand if they elect to give me the opportunity to serve them as president of the United States come November.”

I believe this last (long) line could have put McCain to rest for ever.

Obama and his campaign can still, in the remaining 20 days before election day, hammer home these three arguments in order to force McCain into a fatal retreat.

The note of caution for Obama here is, therefore, that he has tended, all throughout this campaign, both against Hillary Clinton and now against John McCain, to sit on his advantage and let the waves of public opinion take him to victory. By not forcing the issue and being overly cautious, he has often been perceived as not able to close the deal. Yet, small arguments such as the above, which are not negative but witty, could easily carry him to victory while leaving the impression that he is indeed fighting for the largest margin of victory possible. Because polls can change rather swiftly, especially in the context of an unexpected “October surprise” that has not yet materialized itself, the Obama campaign needs to ensure that no matter what John McCain does, he can never catch up with Barack Obama in voting intentions.

Let us hope Barack Obama can end the campaign strong by hitting home on McCain’s negativity using arguments such as the above that will, once and for all, crystalize his victory. Only then will he, as Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of of the DailyKos blogsite recommends, break the backs of both John McCain and his supporters.

Dr. Daniel Mengara
The author is an Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Montclair State University (New Jersey). He is also the leader of Bongo Doit Partir (Bongo Must Go), a movement of expatriated Gabonese citizens opposed and seeking an end to the 41-year-old dictatorial regime of Omar Bongo in Gabon.

Comments

One Response to “Obama Won Third Debate, But Failed (or Chose Not?) to Go for the Jugular”

Andrew on October 16th, 2008 12:54 am

Like the suggestions, though #3 is perhaps a bit too wordy.

btw, I thought “coulds” could come in many colors….like how a non-white man “could” become president in 2009