POLITICS
Obama Seals The Deal: Even Joe the Plumber Can't Save McCain From The Can
ENATOR JOHN MCCAIN IS ONCE AGAIN IMPRISONED, THIS time by his presidential gambit going nowhere. It ended abruptly last night during the final presidential debate when Senator Barack Obama delivered a preternaturally calm perform while explaining why he ought to be the next president of the United States. And my guess is that even Joe the Plumber can't rescue McCain from the can.
Senator McCain tried to change the inevitable, but all night it looked as though he was boxing at shadows. In one of his best lines, he told Obama, "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against Bush, you should have run four years ago." The line caused some titters from an audience sworn to silence.
The Arizonan even dared to mention former 60s radical Bill Ayers, one of the cast of questionable characters that have littered Obama's campaign. Very calmly, Obama explained that he had served with Ayers on an education reform board financed by a former ambassador to Ronald Reagan, adding his own footnote to Republicans' favorite hagiography. And without any evidence to the contrary, America has little reason to doubt him. He then flicked the topic away with the remark that McCain's focus on Ayers "says more about your campaign than it says about me."
In short, the night's overall picture was of that an outsized fighter bobbing and weaving around the taller heavyweight champ.
Unlike the first debate, when Obama felt the need to address every debate point McCain made, Obama oozed confidence and control. He discarded soundbites and opted for a heartfelt conversational tone while admonishing McCain that America's youth aren't a "special interest'' but our future. He also said he "didn't mind being attacked for the next three weeks," but that the public can't afford four more years of bankrupt government.
In short, Obama ended the night without a scratch. And he didn't gloat or flinch when, during his closing comments, he looked straight in the camera and delivered his knock-out blow:
"The policies of the last eight years, and Washington's unwillingless to tackle the tough problems for decades, has left us in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And that's why the biggest risk we could take right now is to adopt the same failed policies and the same failed politics, that we' ve seen over the last eight years and somehow expect a different result. We need fundamental change in this country and that's what I'd like to bring...His competitor was the first to congratulate him, saying, "Good job, good job, good job,'' with a vigorous handshake. Which made McCain himself look forward to being sprung from his self-imposed sentence three weeks from now.
It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be quick. It's going to require all of us, Democratics, Republicans, independents to come together and to renew a spirit of sacrifice and service and responsibility. I'm absolutely convinced we can do it. I would ask for your vote, And I promise you, if you give me the extraordinary honor of serving as your president, I will work every single day tirelessly on your behalf and on the behalf of the future of our children.
Posted October 15, 2008
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