Editorial: A heaping helping of blah, blah, blah, 'or something like that'
Tuesday, October 7, 2008; 11:38 PM
With no notes in the thick of the battle, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain went toe-to-toe in Nashville last night with a largely emasculated Tom Brokaw holding sway -- the campaigns agreed that there would be no follow-up questions, though Brokaw did throw in a few over the course of the evening.

There were, as usual, a number of bizarre exchanges.

Question to McCain: How will ordinary people benefit from the bailout package?

John McCain: Barack Obama is friends with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Then, McCain used Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy in the same sentence. In a positive light. And the Great Communicator rolled over in his grave.

Then there was Obama, looking blankly at the camera for a long, awkward instant during an exchange on energy.

Most troubling about this debate -- beyond the fact that John McCain doesn't believe that health care should be a right to all Americans -- was the inability of either candidate to call on the American people to make substantive changes in their lives. When asked what kind of sacrifice Americanswould have to make, McCain said, "What we're going to have to eliminate earmarks." Earmarks, John? People are going to have to give up their pork?

Whatever heat George Bush took for asking Americans to go out and shop, McCain deserves about the same level of derision.

Obama wasn't any better. While there's nothing wrong with the Peace Corps, his response focused around the organization and so went out with a whimper. When the Peace Corps was started by President John F. Kenndy, it was a bold gesture of America's commitment to improving the world. Today, it's a retread idea.

But one moment that will stand out in our minds will be McCain's characterization of Obama's thinking on nuclear power. "Barack Obama believes we should have nuclear power only if it's ..." he trailed off. Then he rushed in: "is disposable. Or something like that."

There's just too much "something like that" in these debates.

Here's a debate we'd like to see. Hold the debates in a bunker -- no audience, no time limits, no rules -- and let the candidates say their piece. Let a panel of experts on each issue analyze the tape.

Film the analysts' truth-squading and edit it into the film. And then air the debates 24 hours a day on public television.

Without context, there's just too much "something like that."


The editorial board is composed of David Grant, Laurel Colella, Jackie Peters, Sally Bull and David McIlroy.

You might be interested in... Related Topics: brokaw, obama, mccain, debate, editorial
Posted by: Kyle Minor at Oct 8 Part of the issue is that health insurance and health care are two VERY different things. Health care is what the doctor provides to you when you show up to see him - and generally speaking, emergency care can be obtained for free if the recipient of the care is unable to pay for it. Health insurance is what pays for the care you receive - and it is able to do so because of a 'bet' you make with the insurance company. You bet that you're going to be sick, and they bet that you won't. But that's all technicalities - the real issue here is 'what constitutes a right.' I have a right to life, primarily because my right to life doesn't interfere in any way with anyone else's. I don't have a right to ice cream, however, because someone else has to make the ice cream. I can't just demand it from him. Health care works the same way - you can't just walk up to someone on the street and demand that they treat you. Health care is a service, and consequently the people who provide it need to be paid for that service. The only way to make health care a right is to force doctors not to receive money for their services - in which case, we will no longer have doctors. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Chip at Oct 8 I agree with Jason about it's being compassionate to want to provide health care, but I applaud Senator McCain for not pandering and declaring it a right. If health care becomes a right, what's next? Food? Clothing? Shelter? People need and should have all of these things, but are they rights? What concerns me is that as soon as something becomes a right it's a short trip to entitlement and the next thing you know it finds its way into the budget. You have the right to pursue these things - the Declaration affirms our right to the PURSUIT of happiness, not its attainment. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Jason T at Oct 8 Touché, Lisa. Touché. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Lisa at Oct 8 "Most troubling about this debate -- beyond the fact that John McCain doesn't believe that health care should be a right to all Americans -- was the inability of either candidate to call on the American people to make substantive changes in their lives." Isn't that a bit contradictory? Flag Abuse
Posted by: DW at Oct 8 Good call. Neither candidate made a habit of answering the actual questions asked. Neither said anything of real substance for most of the night, and yet somehow they kept going over the allotted time limit to communicate all their fluff. Not a good showing for either, for sure. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Jason T at Oct 8 You find that troubling, eh? I'm not denying that it's very compassionate to want to give everyone the gift of good health, but that doesn't make it a right. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at Oct 8 Health care isnt a right to all americans. You have the right to choose your health care. Flag Abuse
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