Second debate: Feisty exchanges, little ‘town’ involvement

Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama met for their second presidential debate Tuesday night — a town hall format in Nashville moderated by former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. But the town folks were very limited in their involvement, and the two senators took time to take swings at each other throughout the debate, instead of always answering the questions asked.

While neither candidate scored a large hit, and neither stumbled into a major gaffe, the debate was lively and filled with wide-ranging questions from national security and foreign policy issues to the economy. With only four weeks left until the election, both candidates, but more so McCain, needed to score big in this debate.

McCain, who once said the economy is not his strongest suit, was strong in his responses on the current housing crisis, laying the blame for the “forest fire” on the “match” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “They’re the ones who with the encouragement of Sen. Obama and his cronies, his friends, gave these loans,” McCain said early in the debate.

Obama slammed back, “I never promoted Fannie Mae while Sen. McCain’s campaign manager lobbied for them.”

On addressing the national deficit McCain said he would call for a spending freeze in the federal budget, excluding the defense budget and veterans care. “I will tell the American people we will have an across-the-board freeze.”

Obama said he would go through the budget line by line and eliminate programs that did not work. He compared McCain’s spending freeze a “hatchet” for the budget, while saying he wanted to use a “scalpel.” Obama also said that dealing with the budget would also require reviewing revenues, as well as expenditures.

Following this, McCain attacked Obama, claiming the Illinois Senator planned to raise taxes on over 50 percent of small business owners. “Let’s not raise anyone’s taxes,” McCain said, touting his own plan. Striking back, Obama said, “The Straight Talk Express lost a wheel there on that one. I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans. The vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan.”

Asked by Brokaw if either would commit to solving the issue of entitlement programs within the first two years, Obama said that it would not get solved in the first two years, but he wanted to get it done “in my first term.”

On the other hand, McCain said of Social Security, “We know what the problems are and what the fixes are. We just need to do them.” On the issue of Medicare, McCain said he would create a commission then ask the Congress to vote up or down to accept that commissions’ recommendations.

Asked about what either would do as president to address environmental issues, particularly climate change and creation of green jobs, McCain responded by expressing concern the country was preparing to “hand out children and grandchildren a damaged planet.” To fix it, he said, “What’s the best way to fix it? Nuclear power.”

Obama said the issue of energy and the environment was a “national security issue.” He said it was “absolutely critical” to “create a new energy economy.”

When moderator Brokaw asked the senators whether health care was a “right, a privilege, or a responsibility,” Obama said he thought it “should be a right for every American.” McCain said he thought health care was a “responsibility.”

Both senators also hit each other on foreign policy issues, with McCain accusing Obama of being unprepared for the presidency and national security issues, while Obama reminded viewers of McCain’s “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran” gaffe. Obama was accused by McCain of supporting an invasion of Pakistan, to which Obama responded, “Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. I said if Pakistan was unable or unwilling to hunt down bin Laden and take him out then we should.”

The debate ended on a rather esoteric question from New Hampshire.

Both candidates were asked what they did not know and how they would learn it.

Obama said “It’s never the challenges you expect, it’s the ones you don’t that end up consuming most of your time.”

“What I don’t know is what is going to happen both here and abroad,” McCain said. “I don’t know what the unexpected will be.”