McCain vs Obama Round 2

Did the gloves come off? No. Senator McCain missed several opportunities to make his points and put Senator Obama on the defencive. One point was each time Senator Obama made reference to his income tax plan for America. Here is the Transcript of second McCain, Obama debate from which these quotes are taken.

So let's be clear about my tax plan and Sen. McCain's, because we're not going to be able to deal with entitlements unless we understand the revenues coming in. I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans, 95 percent. [Emphasis mine]

At this point Senator McCain could have pointed out that according to the IRS figures, 40% of the Americans who file tax returns pay no taxes. Therefore these 40% are really part of an Obama Spend Program, not a tax cut. You can't cut income taxes for those who don't pay an income tax. The Obama Tax Cut Plan is a Redistribution of Income.

Consider next this exchange.

Brokaw: Sen. Obama, let me ask you if -- let's see if we can establish tonight the Obama doctrine and the McCain doctrine for the use of United States combat forces in situations where there's a humanitarian crisis, but it does not affect our national security.

Take the Congo, where 4.5 million people have died since 1998, or take Rwanda in the earlier dreadful days, or Somalia.

What is the Obama doctrine for use of force that the United States would send when we don't have national security issues at stake?

Look closely at Senator Obama's reply.

Obama: Well, we may not always have national security issues at stake, but we have moral issues at stake.

If we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in?

If we could've stopped Rwanda, surely, if we had the ability, that would be something that we would have to strongly consider and act.

So when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us.

And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible. [Emphasis mine]

Senator McCain should have replied along these lines.

McCain: Senator Obama some will say we did intervene when we found out about the Holocaust. It was called World War II. And I am glad to hear you state that when genocide is happening we should not stand idly by, because I believe Saddam Hussein's genocide of the Kurds means we were right to go into Iraq. We may disagree on the reason for the Iraq War, but it is encouraging that you agree that we should have intervened.

There were other opportunities. The next 27 days will tell.