Liveblogging the Final 2008 Presidential Debate

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! This is your friendly Contributing Editor waiting to accompany you through the third and final Presidential debate of the 2008 campaign. Tonight's debate at Hofstra University in New York will set the final stage for the last two-plus weeks of the 2008 Presidential campaign.

8:20PM: Sorry for the delay...I am up and running just in time for McCain's first zinger. Well, Senator McCain, if you aren't President Bush you could have fooled me based on your voting record!

EDIT: Hey, folks. This is George, sneaking in to catch you up a bit on the early stuff.

The debate started off with the expected economics question: why is your plan better than the other guy's?

McCain went first, predictably didn't answer the question, and instead blames the crisis on Freddie and Fannie -- a claim which has been debunked, of course, though the way McCain has voted, it's not like I expected him to be a brilliant economic mind. He was also very pleased to be the first to use the "new direction" line in this debate. Everybody knows where they heard that first, John. No one's buying it from you.

Highlight one from McCain was the "Joe the Plumber" anecdote. He tells of somebody who listened to Obama and was worried his taxes would go up. Obama clarifies that Joe wouldn't be paying more taxes unless he made over $250,000. McCain's reply: "why would anyone want to raise taxes at all in this economy?" In retrospect, this should've been a laugh line, because not two breaths later, McCain talks about cutting the federal deficit. Obama notes that we turned our surplus into a deficit and doubled the national debt in the past eight years, and McCain answered that he's not President Bush and Obama wants to run against Bush, not McCain. Obama answered that McCain voted for four out of five of Bush's budgets. Good job of tying McCain to Bush, though I wish it'd also have been tied to the tax cut explanation.

McCain continued his smears, saying that Obama had never disagreed with his base on anything on substance. Obama noted tort reform, charter schools and clean coal as topics where he disagreed with his base.

8:25PM: Well, Schieffer just lowered the boom on both of them about the tone of the campaign. McCain immediately tried to dodge it by saying that it could all be avoided if only Barack Obama had agreed to all his town hall meetings. While we're at it, I'd like to put in my request for a pony.

8:30PM: The back and forth discussion on who is more negative and why it's negative just went up a notch with Obama's discussion of John Lewis' comments. The only thing missing from John McCain right now is steam shooting out of his ears. He's not handling it too well, folks. I think we're about five more minutes away from a WWF smackdown.

8:36PM: McCain just dumped the conservative blog feed into the debate with William Ayers and ACORN. Obama launches into a discussion of Ayers and what he did when Obama was 8 years old and a brief discussion of what has gone on with ACORN and that the Obama campaign has nothing to do with either of them. McCain isn't letting up. McCain then shifts from third right to first going from Ayers and ACORN to how he's not going to raise taxes. Uh? Transition, anyone?

8:41PM: Next up, climate change. McCain wants to build more nuclear plants and touts clean coal technology. Obama comes back to his line about not borrowing from China to pay the Saudis (nicely bridging two huge issues) and touts his work in the Senate on alternative energy. Obama also cites the need for hybrids to be built here in the U.S.

George's EDIT: Obama also talks about investing in alternative energy, of course. McCain wonders why Obama keeps wanting to increase spending, and talks about drilling offshore now. Obama notes that that won't make a sufficient difference -- we have 2-3% of the world's oil resources, but use 25% of the world's oil. I'd like to note that McCain apparently wants "all of the above" and criticizes increasing spending, so he wants to pay for zero of it, from the sound of it. Pretty typical Republican fiscal policy, if the last eight years are any indication.

8:47PM: The next question is which Vice Presidential candidate would make the better President. Obama goes first and touts the long public record of Joe Biden and his focus of working families. McCain follows up with an odd paean to Sarah Palin and her record as a reformer. He also mentions her pushing for programs for special needs children -- which Obama notes would not happen in a McCain administration if he kept to his promise of the across-the-board spending freeze. When the question of Palin's credentials comes to Obama, he notes that she has excited the Republican base. When the question of Biden's credentials comes to McCain, he notes that he is qualified but that he has some "cockamamy" ideas on foreign policy.

8:55PM: The discussion now shifts to health care, specifically controlling health care costs. Obama discusses how his plan would allow people who currently have health insurance. McCain wants to...put health care records online? McCain also touts more clinics and goes right into speaking to Joe the Plumber and how Obama will fine him while McCain will put $5000 in his pocket for health care. Obama picks up the meme of speaking into the camera for Joe...nicely done!

9:03PM: Seriously...the only thing missing from John McCain is steam coming out of is ears. It's been a long time since I've seen him this angry. And why is he talking about Cindy McCain's health care plan?

EDIT: Hey, folks, it's George again -- I think I may have inherited the rest of the liveblog. Thanks, Patrick, for the pinch hitting!

I'm catching up, so excuse the lack of timestamps here.

So after the health care drubbing Obama gave McCain, Supreme Court litmus tests. McCain doesn't think litmus tests should be applied to judges, but wants to appoint "strict constructionists." He then starts attacking Obama on abortion, calling things like "health of the mother" an "extreme liberal" code word and trying to paint Obama as far left. Being concerned with the health of mothers is an extreme position? McCain is now tilting at windmills -- and seeing dragons. "Liberal conspiracy!" OK, John. Obama talked about the common ground in two otherwise disparate viewpoints, of lowering the number of abortions.

On education, Obama starts off and talks about needing both reform and more money into the system, as well as more parental involvement. McCain talks about needing competition in schools. Hmm. Says charter schools are a good step toward that. Obama also likes charter schools, but not vouchers, noting that the data doesn't support vouchers being successful. McCain points to the DC system as a success of vouchers -- thing is, D.C. does have one of the worst educational systems in the U.S., but they're also one of the worst funded. The new superintendent is pushing for charter schools, Obama says, while McCain says that vouchers are also in the plan. I don't really see what that has to do with it -- I wish I'd heard a repeat of the fact that vouchers aren't shown to improve quality of education. And why D.C. would be presented as a model for the U.S.'s educational system is beyond me.

And did McCain just criticize Head Start? Seriously, one of the most successful educational programs in the U.S. and he's criticizing it because the kids "aren't significantly ahead" at the third grade level. The point of Head Start is to catch kids early that would typically be *behind* in the educational system. Is McCain just looking for things to complain about?

Closing arguments: McCain's has changed substantially from early on, of course. Starts out as he did the debate: "America needs a new direction." And he has for this debate added -- twice -- being "careful stewards of your tax dollars." This jives with his early attacks tonight on Obama's tax plan, and the general attempt to paint him as a "tax and spend liberal" which was clearly his strategy for this debate. Makes the ask for votes, as usual. Obama hit his standard points of needing to fundamentally change our direction from the failed policies of the past eight years -- his message has stayed constant throughout the campaign. I suppose you could say McCain was against change before he was for it? And Obama makes the voter ask too! "I would ask for your vote." I was wondering when that was going to come.

And that's it! Thanks for following along with us, and keep checking in as we follow along with reactions to this debate.