Obama, McCain Trade Jabs Over Taxes, Tone of Campaign

The final debate of the 2008 election campaign was a tension filled debate to say the least. Obama and McCain talked about many issues such as taxes, abortion, the negativity of the campaign, etc. The beginning of the debate surrounded a man dubbed “Joe the Plumber” (whose real name is Joe Wurzelbacher) who attended a town hall meeting in Ohio where he asked Obama about raising taxes for people who earned over 250,000 a year. Obama responded by stating McCains tax plan will give tax cuts to big corporations while Obama’s tax plan will cut taxes for the middle class, “Perhaps Joe will pay more now, he said, but his tax plan would have helped him when he was just getting started.”

One of the key things most people remember from the final debate is where McCain boldy disputed Obama’s constant attack on McCain by claiming he is just like President Bush by exclaiming “"Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush….. you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." Obama responded by saying on the core economic issues that matter most to the American people McCain has strongly supported President Bush on.

McCain and Obama also talked about how the campaign has turned negative. McCain also raised suspicions about Obama’s ties with William Ayers and a organization called ACORN.

Personally, I feel whole debate was about John McCain taking jabs at Obama. As in other debates I felt I didn’t really learn anything new or feel swayed any particular way. More than anything I learned more about their personalitys. I feel like for McCain this debate was the last one for him to prove himself as someone who could lead America. I could tell he knew this was the last time he’d be able to win people over, and he really gave a lot.

Questions to consider:

Who do you think won the debate?

What did you think of John McCains use of “Joe the plumber”? Did it work for him or did it end up hurting him in the end?



What did you think about what he told Obama that he “was not President Bush and if he wanted to run against President Bush he should have run four years ago?”




What did you think of Obama’s reactions? Should he have been more aggressive?




Do you think this debate helped sway undecided voters?




Do you think this campaign has turned into a negative campaign?