So I just finished watching the second debate between McCain and Obama and I have to say that I'm impressed with McCain. I'm not a big McCain fan. While I'm a Republican from Arizona, I really haven't been that impressed with our senator. He was my last choice in the primary (I liked Romney - who would do really well at dealing with our economy) and it was disappointing to see him win. But he's getting better.
On the other hand, I've always liked Obama. His calls for hope and change are infectious. He's smart and charismatic. He had my vote. That is, until the specifics came out. His policies are change in all of the wrong directions.
To shore up the economy, he would expand government and increase regulation. His logic is that any business left to itself will crumble. However, I have to point out that one of the most regulated economies in the world is that of the former Soviet Union. When pitted against a far freer economy (the US economy) it could not compete and collapsed. The cold war ended with an economic, not a military victory. However, Obama's plan is model our economy more like the old Soviet economy with stricter goverment control and less freedom. His stance would stifle innovation, make it harder to start a new business, reduce choice in the marketplace, and hobble our economy. It sounds nice now but I just don't see it working in the long run.
McCain's plan for eliminating some of the tax and regulation burden that businesses are under allows them to innovate figure out their own ways out of this mess. I've already been hearing about how smaller banks and filling in the lending gaps from the larger banks. The real beauty of a capitalist economy is that it's self correcting. It hurts because it lets businesses fail but it always finds a way to supply the demand. The big goverment plan tries to make sure that nobody gets hurt but it also stifles creativity and, in the end, people usually get hurt anyway.
On foriegn policy McCain was excellent. He came off as experienced and capable while Obama came off as hopeful and perhaps a bit naive. I know Obama supporters will disagree with me on this but he said nothing of substance apart from saying he'd send troops into Pakistan to get bin Laden and that he was confident that he could talk Iran and North Korea out of their nuclear programs. Somehow, I just don't see that happening.
However, there was nothing overwhelming on either side. If you're an Obama supporter, you will think he won the debate. If you support McCain, you'll think he won the debate. If you're really concerned about the issues, you'll think we all won the debate as it stayed on the issues and usually on topic.
All in all, a good debate.
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