Final Presidential Debate Wrap-up and Highlights

Although FOX news declared McCain the winner of the debate, they were the only major outlet to do so. The CBS poll showed 53% of undecided voters giving Obama the win and just 22% naming McCain the winner. The CNN/Opinion Research poll reported 58% of debate watchers declaring Obama the winner and 31% saying McCain won. But while Obama was the clear winner, many are saying that McCain gave a strong, and perhaps his strongest, debate performance of this election season.

MSNBC counted 21 attacks made by Senator McCain which is sure to rally his base, but Independents are more likely to favor Obama's performance, during which he only went on the offense seven times. So just what did the candidates have to say tonight, and perhaps more important, how did they say it?

Moderator Bob Schieffer of PBS opened the debate with each candidate's economic proposal, McCain's including tax cuts on capital gains and write-offs for stock losses, Obama's including middle- and lower-income tax cuts, tax breaks that create jobs andnew spending for public works projects that create more jobs.

McCain laid total blame for the current economic crisis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Obama laid out a strategic four-step plan to fix the economy which he noted was fundamentally weak even before the current crisis. 

Schieffer asked which programs the candidates would consider trimming, postponing or eliminating. Again, Obama had specific plans: structure the bailout properly, reinstitute a pay-as-you-go program matching every spent dollar with a cut one, going through the budget line by line eliminating programs that don't work and making ones that do work better and more efficiently, and insisting that corporations, government and individuals stop living beyond their means.

McCain first said, simply, "Homeownership." He also said he would institute a total spending freeze and take a "scalpel" to the budget. He then resorted to blame (again), attacking Obama for earmarks. Obama explained that earmarks account for only one-half of one percent of the federal budget, and that Bush administration policies had inherited a surplus yet will leave office with a $5 trillion national debt. Obama reminded viewers that McCain supported four of Bush's five proposed budgets and said "pursuing these failed policies won't work."

McCain shot back with appeared to be a prepared one-liner: "I'm not Bush and if you wanted to run against him you should've run four years ago." He then said, "We can take a hatchet to this budget." This doesn't quite gel with what he said later in the debate about increasing research for special needs (like Downs Syndrome with which Palin's fifth child was born as well as autism). It also contradicts his plan to build 45 nuclear plants during his first year in office (which he shared later in the evening).

When McCain attacked Obama for not standing up to party leaders, Obama cited several issues on which he had, in fact, went against party leaders as well as trial lawyers, normally a Democratic stronghold, including tort reform, clean coal mining, teacher pay for performance and charter schools.

Schieffer brought up the negativity of both campaigns, but a recent poll showed that two-thirds of the American people believe that McCain's campaign is too negative compared with only one-third who believe the same of Obama's campaign. When taken to task for supporters who have called out epithets such as "kill him" and "terrorist" at McCain or Palin rallies, McCain claimed he'd repudiated 100% of all negative things said about Obama and then complained that Obama hadn't repudiated comments John Lewis made about McCain and Palin. Obama said a statement was put out by his campaign regarding Lewis the very next day after Lewis' remarks, and that Lewis himself had said he'd gone too far.

McCain said he was "very proud of the people who attend our rallies" and that "they are patriotic." (Incidentally, Mrs. Palin has yet to address the dangerous remarks made about Senator Obama at her rallies.)

At some point, McCain brought up Obama's "association" with William Ayers as well as allegations about ACORN. Obama was eloquent in putting these matters to rest. He was forthright about the exact nature of his relationship (or, more specifically, his lack of one) with Ayers. He also took the time to explain that ACORN is a company that hires people to register voters and pays them according to how many registrations they bring in at the end of the day. What has been happening at ACORN with regard to phony registrants is a matter of employees are likely making up the phony registrations in order to increase their very limited wages. If the registrations are made-up names, it seems implausible that any fraudulent votes would be cast as these people obviously don't even exist. 

Obama hit a high note when he offered up the names of the people with whom he actually does associate: Warren Buffett and Paul Voker regarding the economy, and Joe Biden, Dick Lugar and Gen. Jim Jones former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO with  regard to foreign policy. In conclusion, Obama said, "Those are the people, Democrats and Republicans, who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House. And I think the fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Sen. McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me."

When Schieffer brought up running mates, McCain said Palin was "a role model to women, a reformer, understood special needs like autism" and offered a list of platitudes about her understanding special needs families better than "anyone in the country." He said that Biden is qualified but he's been wrong on foreign policy. McCain called Biden's proposal to break up Iraq into three factions a "cockamamie" idea.

Regarding Palin, Obama said she was "a capable politician who has excited the base in the Republican party." He commended her desire to help special needs like autism, but said doing so would require funding which would be difficult to obtain under McCain's proposed spending freeze.

Obama said Biden is "one of the finest public servants in our country" and has the best foreign policy credentials of anybody. Furthermore, he's never forgotten where he came from and has always fought for the "little guy." He said Biden shares his core values and sense of where the country has to go and that they both agree "we need to reprioritize, invest in the American people, give tax cuts to small businesses and to individuals who are struggling, not corporations, and to finally get serious about energy independence."

The candidates also engaged in a Roe v. Wade battle of sorts in connection with possible Supreme Court appointments, McCain trying not to say outright that he would do what he could to overturn it. He also tried to say that Obama favored the withholding of lifesaving treatment for infants, referring to a bill Obama had voted against when he was in the Illinois legislature.

Obama eloquently set the record straight and said was, of course, in favor of lifesaving treatment for infants. The bill McCain referred to was, in fact, one that would have undermined Roe v. Wade and that the lifesaving treatment was already state law. The Illiinois Medical Society and the Organization of Doctors both voted against the bill in question and the Hippocratic Oath directly opposes withholding lifesaving treatment. The purpose of the bill was clearly to strip away a woman's right to choose dressed up with the unnecessary language about withholding lifesaving treatment for infants.

The discussion turned to education and vouchers with McCain remaining combative and Obama continuing to calmly and specifically explain his views. McCain's base will undoubtedly give him an "A" for his aggressiveness, which is what they've been asking for all along. He repeated some version of the old GOP "tax and spend" line throughout the night which, to attentive voters, is little more than a mantra from the past - especially when offset by Obama's pay-as-you-go, job creation and economic stimulus plans. However, the Republican base was likely somewhat energized given that this last debate performance by McCain was probably his best. 

McCain tried to be tough and offensive, but where he did best was in stating his own ideas - when he was able to articulate them cogently. His "attack" moments aren't likely to sit well with independent voters looking for solutions and leadership, which is exactly what Obama conveyed as he consistently took the high road and laid out specifics about his plans and favored policies.

For a full transcript, visit CNN.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Retired from a career in law and banking, Diana Raabe is a freelance writer/editor whose work has been featured on Gather.com for over three years. A member of The Loft Literary Center and the National Book Critics Circle, she blogs at The Raabe Review and, occasionally, Minnesota Campaign Report.