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Intense forum covers bailout, Iraq War, foreign policy


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POSTED: Saturday, September 27, 2008

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — In a faceoff that returned again and again to judgment, John McCain portrayed himself as a battle-tested elder running against a naive rookie, while Barack Obama suggested the Republican is a hothead who made the wrong choices on the Iraq war, corporate taxes and more.

 

     
  • Presidential Debate Gathers Students

 

  ;[Preview]
 

The Presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain had dozens of students in tuned at UH Manoa’s Student Center.

 

Watch ]

 

 

 

 

  Now they take the themes from an intense first debate back to the campaign trail, looking for some edge in a tight presidential race. With 38 days left, McCain is headed for Washington and the dispute over a Wall Street bailout, while Obama plans to visit Republican-leaning states where the Democrat thinks he can make inroads.

 

The debate presented a huge opportunity for the candidates to deliver their message to millions of Americans — or make an embarrassing blunder.

Interest in Friday's debate was amplified by suspense about whether it would even take place. McCain had said he wouldn't take part unless the financial crisis was resolved, then reversed course and decided at the last minute to participate without a deal.

McCain, 72, frequently referred to his age and experience.

Sometimes he joked — at one point he waggled his eyebrows and quipped that the moderator didn't think he could hear the question — and other times he went out of his way to mention the foreign countries he has visited and the years he has spent on Capitol Hill.

“;I have a long record and the American people know me very well,”; he said.

But Obama, a 47-year-old serving his first term in the Senate, challenged McCain frequently and offered himself as someone who can be trusted to make sound choices.

Obama noted that he opposed invading Iraq, while McCain supported it. He said McCain has voted with the unpopular President Bush 90 percent of the time. He argued McCain backs corporate tax breaks and lax regulation that have contributed to the Wall Street economic crisis.

“;We have to recognize that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain,”; Obama said.

Obama sought to connect with voters who might have doubts about a relative newcomer to national politics, a black man with an exotic name and background. He talked often about the struggles of ordinary Americans — “;the nurse, the teacher, the police officer who, frankly, at the end of each month they've got a little financial crisis going on.”;

               

     

 

 

DEBATE QUOTES

        About talking with Iran:

       

John McCain: ”;What Sen. Obama doesn't seem to understand that if without precondition you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking corpse, and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. This is dangerous. It isn't just naive; it's dangerous. And so we just have a fundamental difference of opinion.”;

       

Barack Obama: ”;We are also going to have to, I believe, engage in tough direct diplomacy with Iran and this is a major difference I have with Sen. McCain—this notion by not talking to people we are punishing them has not worked. It has not worked in Iran, it has not worked in North Korea. In each instance, our efforts of isolation have actually accelerated their efforts to get nuclear weapons. That will change when I'm president of the United States.”;

       

  On the financial recovery plan:

       

McCain: ”;It has to have accountability and oversight. It has to have options for loans to failing businesses, rather than the government taking over those loans. We have to—it has to have a package with a number of other essential elements to it. And, yes, I went back to Washington, and I met with my Republicans in the House of Representatives. And they weren't part of the negotiations, and I understand that. And it was the House Republicans that decided that they would be part of the solution to this problem. But I want to emphasize one point to all Americans tonight. This isn't the beginning of the end of this crisis. This is the end of the beginning, if we come out with a package that will keep these institutions stable.”;

       

Obama: ”;I've put forward a series of proposals that make sure that we protect taxpayers ... Number one, we've got to make sure that we've got oversight over this whole process; $700 billion, potentially, is a lot of money. Number two, we've got to make sure that taxpayers, when they are putting their money at risk, have the possibility of getting that money back and gains, if the market, and when the market returns. Number three, we've got to make sure that none of that money is going to pad CEO bank accounts or to promote golden parachutes. And, number four, we've got to make sure that we're helping homeowners, because the root problem here has to do with the foreclosures that are taking place all across the country.”;

       

  On congressional earmarks:

       

McCain: “;You've got to look at our records. That's the important thing. Who fought against wasteful and earmark spending? Who has been the person who has tried to keep spending under control? Who's the person who has believed that the best thing for America is—is to have a tax system that is fundamentally fair? And I've fought to simplify it.”;

       

Obama: ”;Absolutely, we need earmark reform. And when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely. But the fact is that eliminating earmarks alone is not a recipe for how we're going to get the middle class back on track.”;

       

  On the war in Iraq:

       

McCain: “;The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. ... Sen. Obama said the surge could not work, said it would increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure. Recently on a television program, he said it exceeded our wildest expectations.”;

       

Obama: ”;The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong. You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong.”;

       

       

In a long exchange with McCain over the Iraq war, Obama tried to avoid being seen as soft or reluctant to use force when necessary.

An early opponent of invading Iraq, he stressed that his position was prompted partly by worries that it would distract from hunting down Osama bin Laden, and he said withdrawing from Iraq now would free up resources to re-energize that hunt.

Obama suggested McCain might overreact to national emergencies, noting that the Arizona senator has talked about “;extinction”; for North Korea and joked about bombing Iran.

McCain accused Obama of seeking to “;snatch defeat from the jaws of victory”; in Iraq. He said the “;surge”; of U.S. troops has reduced violence there and withdrawing would destabilize the country and the entire region.

Asked what lessons he had learned from the long war, McCain said, “;that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict.”;

On Iraq and many other issues, McCain said Obama was naive, experienced, confused. He criticized Obama for saying he would meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without precondition. “;This is dangerous. It isn't just naive; it's dangerous,”; McCain said.

The two bickered at times, talking over one another and throwing accusations of twisted words and false statements. But Obama sometimes acknowledged agreements with McCain — concessions that might reinforce Obama's claim to be a politician who can find common ground and reduce confrontation in Washington.

The stakes were high as the two rivals walked on stage. The polls gave Obama a modest lead and indicated he was viewed more favorably than his rival when it came to dealing with the economy. But the same surveys show McCain favored by far on foreign policy.

The candidates stood behind identical wooden lecterns on stage at the performing arts center at the University of Mississippi for the first of three scheduled debates with less than six weeks remaining until Election Day. The two vice presidential candidates will meet next week for their only debate, and Obama and McCain each put in a plug for his own running mate.

But there was a difference: Democrat Joe Biden made the round of post-debate television shows. NBC and CNN said they invited McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has granted only three interviews since joining the ticket a month ago, but she declined.

Moderator Jim Lehrer's opening question concerned the economic crisis. While neither man committed to supporting bailout legislation taking shape in Congress, they readily agreed lawmakers must take action to prevent millions of Americans from losing their jobs and their homes.

Both also said they were pleased that lawmakers in both parties were negotiating on a compromise.

Neither could offer specifics about how the potential $700 billion price tag of a Wall Street bailout might affect their ability to implement all the campaign promises they've made.

McCain jabbed at Obama, who he said has requested millions of dollars in pork barrel spending, including some after he began running for president. As he does frequently, the Republican vowed to veto any lawmaker's pork barrel project that reaches his desk in the White House.

McCain said a freeze on most government spending was worth considering, except for veterans, defense and “;some other vital issues.”;

Obama said the problem with that was that some programs needed more money. He mentioned early childhood education as an example.

“;The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel,”; he said.

The presidential hopefuls are scheduled to debate twice more, at Belmont University in Nashville on Oct. 7 and at Hofstra University in Hempsted, N.Y., on Oct. 15.

Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy contributed to this report.