Town Hall Showdown

Again, I did not make it to the end of the debate, which is bad and especially because I think the most interesting thing happened at the end, from what I have heard.

McCain left and Obama stayed to talk with the audience of independents, have his picture taken and shake hands. Interesting.

During the hour I watched I took four pages of notes. Here are the highlights:

• McCain argued about whether the whole financial mess Congress just voted on was a bailout or a rescue. That struck me as the semantics of bullshit.
• Obama got a nice jab in by bringing up McCain's right hand man's connection with Fannie Mae.
• McCain called himself a "consistent reformer." Please. Then he called Obama the most liberal. I for one, don't find that to be a fault. Although that ranking is in question too.
• Tom "Brokejaw" was MAJORLY crotchety last night. Just let the dude retire and go home now folks.
• I thought it was interesting that when Brokaw asked the two candidates to prioritize healthcare, entitlements and energy and say which was their highest priority, McCain was Mr. I Can Do It All. Obama struck me as more realistic by actually a) answering the question and b) acknowledging that we have to prioritize things and that we might not be able to do it all.
• The tall stools were a big mistake for McCain. It was bad enough seeing him walk around, coming off as rather aggressive and antagonistic (more on that later), but he was too short to sit on the stool and have his feet touch the ground, so it made him look more awkward. While Obama looked VERY relaxed casually leaning against it.
• McCain espoused an across the board freeze with the budget to help fix the economy. Obama disagreed (yeah!) saying that was taking a hatchet to fix the problem when you needed a scalpel. Also, Obama commented that Americans don't feel like the people at the top level of income are sharing the burden and won't with the tax cuts McCain wants to make permanent for CEOs, etc.
• McCain and his freakin' commissions idea. Ugh. I don't know what the answer is to fix medicare, but he trouts out the idea of a commission for everything and it is getting old, just like his repeated use of "my friends." I counted at LEAST five instances he said that in the first hour alone.
• The fixation that McCain has on nuclear power as the great fix to our environmental and energy problems is disturbing to me. Good luck trying to build those reactors. Perhaps the first one could go in Arizona?
• I liked that Obama said the environment was the biggest challenge of our time.
• Obama got a good jab in when he referenced government having 30 years to fix the energy/environment problem (I assume he is dating back to the first gas crisis in the 1970s) and didn't. He followed that with saying McCain has been in Washington for 26 of those 30 years. Nice.
• Back to McCain's antagonistic side, his reference to "that one" voted for the Bush/Cheney energy bill and he voted against it. Talk about lack of respect.
• Finally I liked the question about is healthcare a privilege, right or responsibility. McCain said responsibility, Obama said right.