The First Presidential Debate

On Friday September 26th, at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, the first presidential debate between Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obama took place. This debate really changed my opinion on who I wanted as president for many reasons. I gave my original candidate choice, John McCain, a 5, as well as a 7 for Barack Obama, the new candidate I want for president.

I believe that Charisma plays a big role in captivating the country as a president, as long as making others believe your beliefs better. There was a completely different vibe from each of the candidates. Yes, they were both wearing our countries patriotic colors, but they each carried themselves differently. From the very beginning of the debate, Barack Obama captivated me, and made me feel as though he was talking to me and only by looking into the camera. On the other hand McCain did the complete opposite. During a majority of the debate, he was either looking at the moderator or at Obama, and I felt very disconnected from what he was saying. Also, Barack had very high confidence in his speech, along with rarely stuttering unlike McCain who talked as though he was defeated and often used filers and stuttered. Overall, I believe that McCain’s lowest point of the debate was the way he carried himself. Even John’s tone of voice made me want to tune out. Furthermore, I believe that Obama’s highest point in the debate was his charisma because he really caught the audience’s attention and really made me want to listen to what he had to say.

Another very important part of being a president is actually knowing what you are talking about, not beating around the bush on everything, and sticking to your side. When it came to the topic of individual tax cuts, Obama said “What I’ve called for is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, 95 percent.” It is true that Senator Obama has proposed a tax cut of $500 for workers and $1,000 for working couples. Notice that this tax cut is for “workers” and “working couples,” not 95% of the population. First, according to factcheck.org, Senator Obama’s tax plan would benefit only 81% of workers and working households, not 95%. Second, he neglected to point out that the plan generates less than $42 per month for workers and $84 per month for working couples. Tax cuts for “95% of working families” sounds a lot better, but it does not tell the whole story. Therefore, for Senator Obama, his lowest point of the debate was being a “flip-flopper”, and not telling all the truth along with beating around the bush.

One issue that I disagree with Obama about was healthcare. He said “We have to fix our health care system, which is putting an enormous burden on families. Just -- a report just came out that the average deductible went up 30 percent on American families.” We can’t just give universal health care. "Free" health care isn't really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc. Our government is already in a giant debt problem. We should be working at eliminating that before we add more to it.

Overall, my first experience of watching a political debate on TV was very interesting. My views of both candidates absolutely changed and I am glad that I had to chance to become and even more informed citizen.