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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican counterpart John McCain during third and final debate on Wednesday (AP)
Last update - 15:09 16/10/2008
VIDEO / McCain, Obama get tough and personal in final debate
By The Associated Press
Tags: John McCain, Israel news 

Republican John McCain assailed Barack Obama's character Wednesday night as he tried to distance himself from the unpopular President George W. Bush, hoping to turn the final presidential debate into a lauching pad for a political comeback.

Behind in the polls going into the third presidential debate, McCain came out fighting and repeated to Obama's face some of the most negative campaign allegations about the Illinois senator. An unruffled Obama parried each charge, and leveled a few of his own.

Neither candidate brought new proposals for moving the country out of its
d
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eepening financial crisis, even though polls show voter economic anxieties far overshadow all other issues, even the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The nationally televised debate was the last opportunity for Americans to measure the credentials of the candidates in a side-by-side setting, offering McCain his best remaining chance to gain ground on Obama.




The 90-minute encounter, with the candidates seated at a round table at
Hofstra University, was their third debate, and marked the beginning of a
20-day sprint to Election Day. Obama leads in the national polls and in
surveys in many battleground states, an advantage built in the weeks since the nation stumbled into the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

With few exceptions, the campaign is being waged in states that voted
Republican in 2004 - Virginia, Colorado, Iowa - and in many of them, Obama holds a lead in the polls.

McCain played the aggressor from the opening moments of the debate, accusing Obama of waging class warfare by seeking tax increases that would spread the wealth around. The Democrat denied it, and countered that he favors tax reductions for 95 percent of all Americans.

In their fiercest encounter of the campaign, McCain heatedly demanded that Obama explain his relationship with a Vietnam war-era radical.

Obama brushed off the attack, saying he was 8-years-old when William Ayers, a founder of the radical Weather Underground, was involved in anti-war activities including the bombing of federal buildings.

McCain, the 72-year-old veteran Arizona senator defended his harsh campaigning, acknowledging this has been a tough campaign and its negative tone could have been avoided through a series of town hall meetings with Obama that he proposed.

Obama responded that 100 percent of McCain's ads had been negative and that he did not think the American people cared about the personal attacks.

"That's not true," McCain retorted.

"It is true," said Obama, seeking the last word, adding later that U.S. politicians must learn to disagree without being disagreeable.

At one point McCain told Obama: "You didn't tell the American people the truth about a key campaign pledge about taking federal funding" to finance his campaign. As a result, Obama has raised far more money than McCain, although the difference has been somewhat neutralized by an advantage the Republican National Committee holds over the Democratic Party.




"He signed a piece of paper earlier in the campaign pledging to accept federal financing," McCain said. He added that Obama's campaign has spent more money than any since Watergate, a reference to President Nixon's 1972 re-election bid, a campaign that later became synonymous with scandal.

Obama made no immediate response to McCain's assertion about having signed a pledge to accept federal campaign funds.

McCain is currently running all negative ads, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But he has run a number of positive ads during the campaign.

McCain opened the debate by saying that ending home mortgage foreclosures was the key to putting a floor under the U.S. economic crisis. He attacked Obama for planning to raise taxes.

Obama countered, as he has throughout the campaign, that he would cut taxes for 95 percent of earners while raising them for the richest Americans, those making more than $250,000 a year.

When questioned on what programs the candidates would have to cut given the current economic downturn, McCain said he would impose a spending freeze and knew how to cut millions out of Pentagon spending.

Obama sought again to tie McCain to the unpopular administration of President George W. Bush, recalling that there was a federal budget surplus when the Republican took office from former President Bill Clinton.

McCain quickly retorted, "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

Obama shot back that on the economy McCain was proposing to continue Bush's policies.

"If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people - on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities - you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush," he said.

McCain also demanded to know the full extent of Obama's relationship with
ACORN, a liberal anti-poverty group accused of violating federal law as it seeks to register voters, and insisted Obama disavow last week's remarks by Democratic Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement who accused the Republican ticket of playing racial politics along the same lines as segregationists of the past.

On the economy, both men stayed with plans they laid out this week for helping move the country out of its financial crisis. More than 80 percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track.

McCain has unveiled a $52.5 billion economic plan that calls for halving the tax rate on capital gains and reducing the tax on early withdrawals from retirement accounts, among other measures.

Obama's $60 billion proposal includes an extension of unemployment benefits, a 90-day freeze on home mortgage foreclosures, penalty-free withdrawals from retirement funds and a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each new job created. Both candidates call for doing away with the tax on unemployment benefits.

Asked about running mates, both presidential candidates said Democrat Joseph Biden was qualified to become president, although McCain qualified his judgment by adding the words "in many respects."

McCain passed up a chance to say his own running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin, was qualified to sit in the Oval Office, though he praised her performance as governor. Obama sidestepped when asked about Palin, saying it was up to the voters to decide.




McCain used the opening moments of the debate to accuse Obama of waging class warfare by advocating tax increases designed to spread the wealth around. The Democrat denied it, and countered that he favors tax reductions for 95 percent of all Americans.

"Nobody likes taxes," Obama said in an exchange early in the 90-minute debate. "But ultimately we've got to pay for the core investments necessary for the economy."

"If nobody likes taxes, let's not raise anybody's, okay?" McCain retorted with a laugh.

McCain's allegation stemmed from one of Obama's campaign appearances last weekend. In Ohio on Sunday, Obama was approached by one man who said, "Your new tax plan's going to tax me more."

A video clip caught by Fox News shows Obama replying, "It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too. And I think that when we spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

McCain referred repeatedly to that voter, Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toledo, Ohio.

Wurzelbacher watched Wednesday night's debate and said he still thinks Obama's plan would keep him from buying the small business that employs him.

Even so, Wurzelbacher declined to say who was getting his vote. He said he was surprised that he was called Joe the Plumber repeatedly during the debate.

"It's pretty surreal, man, my name being mentioned in a presidential campaign," he said.


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  • McCain takes swipe at Bush, pledges to recover Americans' trust
  • Obama and McCain continue to trade blows day after first debate
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      1.   OBAMA WILL BE A GREAT PRESIDENT 05:17  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      2.   Indrajaya - Which Debate did You See? 06:05  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/10/08
      3.   Obama is dangerous for Israel 06:10  |  Scott 16/10/08
      4.   ruthlessly wealthy and the relatively uneducated=republican base 06:37  |  Akiva P 16/10/08
      5.   # 2, MARK OF LEWISTON 06:55  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      6.   The Fat Lady Sang Tonight. It`s Over. 07:11  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 16/10/08
      7.   Not only will McCain and Palin lose the election... 07:45  |  Natallie Durson 16/10/08
      8.   "President Obama",... get used to it. 08:37  |  Akiva P 16/10/08
      9.   GO Bama 08:40  |  isaac 16/10/08
      10.   A Richard Nixon moment 08:50  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      11.   For Natallie Durson # 7 09:33  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      12.   CNN, CBS poll reactions to debate 09:36  |  guitarninjateck 16/10/08
      13.   The bitter ol man 09:42  |  Hans 16/10/08
      14.   # 13, HANS 09:56  |  Indrajaya 16/10/08
      15.   # 12, GUITARNINJATECK 10:00  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      16.   # 8, AKIVA PATISH TZIONI 10:07  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      17.   America`s hour of need. 10:19  |  Colin 16/10/08
      18.   Going the wrong way - you must see... 10:30  |  Maureen Ann 16/10/08
      19.   A study in contrasts 11:01  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      20.   The body-language analysts must have had a "field day" yesterday 11:12  |  Swiss (Dino) 16/10/08
      21.   Thanks, Maureen Ann for a wonderful link 11:13  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      22.   The two highlights of the debate. 11:15  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 16/10/08
      23.   Indeed, `sit` is what Palin can do best 11:17  |  Edith 16/10/08
      24.   #7 12:11  |  Bruni 16/10/08
      25.   Commander in Chief 12:30  |  Sherlock Holmes 16/10/08
      26.   "McCain and the making of a financial crisis" 13:13  |  Alicia 16/10/08
      27.   Mark of Lewiston: Confidence not Policy 13:57  |  Ronnie Wolman 16/10/08
      28.   # 20, SHERLOCK HOLMES 15:36  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      29.   The body language analysts must have had a field day yesterday 16:04  |  Swiss (Dino) 16/10/08
      30.   # 16, MAUREEN ANN 16:30  |  indrajaya 16/10/08
      31.   just watched it on Youtube 16:42  |  Jo 16/10/08
      32.   27 Ronnie - You May have a Point 17:47  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/10/08
      33.   What do the bookmakers say? 18:10  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      34.   #11 Clickfool 18:35  |  Lickmann 16/10/08
      35.   For Jo, on YouTube # 31 18:41  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      36.   15 Indrajaya - Religion and Race are Immaterial 18:52  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/10/08
      37.   An Obama victory is good news for Israel 19:00  |  Melvin Levi-Marks 16/10/08
      38.   Ronnie sees Obama as opiate for the masses 19:04  |  x-ray 16/10/08
      39.   For Lickman # 34 19:31  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      40.   The Debate 20:05  |  Evan Williams 16/10/08
      41.   Thanks Maureen Ann #18 20:27  |  Linda Fortier 16/10/08
      42.   Mark of Lewiston: Less Toys 20:31  |  Ronnie Wolman 16/10/08
      43.   Is OBAMA TRAITOR to the U.S. or ISLAM? 20:35  |  Barry S. Roffman 16/10/08
      44.   X-Ray: Seeing through the ideologues 21:24  |  Ronnie Wolman 16/10/08
      45.   Clicky ....fearful? Please!!! 21:27  |  Lynn 16/10/08
      46.   #18 MaureenAnn: reminds me of Einstein pic, also showing tongue! 21:31  |  Alicia 16/10/08
      47.   Barry S. Roffman of..er..Satellite Beach... 21:38  |  Ronnie Wolman 16/10/08
      48.   Evan Williams# 40 21:57  |  Evan Williams 16/10/08
      49.   For Lynn # 45 22:19  |  Clickfool 16/10/08
      50.   Greed: Give them an inch 22:36  |  Ronnie Wolman 16/10/08
      51.   Can John McCain find his way off the stage? 22:51  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 16/10/08
      52.   Mr. Wolman, hello, ol` friend! 22:54  |  Akiva P 16/10/08
      53.   indrajaya of jakarta 22:59  |  Akiva P 16/10/08
      54.   Average Joe, the plumber 23:20  |  allang 16/10/08
      55.   # 46 Alicia, do you really believe that facial expression...... 23:31  |  Swiss (Dino) 16/10/08
      56.   #Linda Fortier. Not photo shopped. 23:53  |  Maureen Ann 16/10/08
      57.   #49 Clicky....isn`t globalization just grand? 00:02  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      58.   #50 Ronnie Wolman....in other words 00:05  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      59.   Allang: The Candlestick Maker 00:05  |  Ronnie Wolman 17/10/08
      60.   #44 Ronnie Wolman....that "old man" 00:09  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      61.   #54 allang....yes, some do make the "magic" 00:16  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      62.   # 46, ALICIA 00:18  |  indrajaya 17/10/08
      63.   #49 Clicky....just an additional thought 00:28  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      64.   #57 Lynn. Globalization or American extreme capitalism? 00:48  |  Maureen Ann 17/10/08
      65.   # 59 Ronnie Wolman 00:59  |  allang 17/10/08
      66.   "photo" of McCain lost on stage is a fake. 01:15  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      67.   Lynn:You`ve reversed the definitions of regulate and deregulate.. 01:34  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      68.   # 61 Lynn 01:36  |  allang 17/10/08
      69.   Allang: Freedom has to be regulated 01:50  |  Ronnie Wolman 17/10/08
      70.   # 64 Maureen Ann...what`s your point? 02:30  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      71.   #64 Maureen part II 02:38  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      72.   # 67 Leeza...sorry little sister 02:40  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      73.   # 67 Leeza....BTW 02:50  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      74.   # 61 Lynn 03:13  |  allang 17/10/08
      75.   #68 allang...how is it greed? 03:38  |  Lynn 17/10/08
      76.   Lynn, dear, think before you run off at the mouth 03:49  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      77.   #61.$250,000 income. 03:55  |  Evan Williams 17/10/08
      78.   Welcome to investigation of Acorn 03:55  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      79.   Evan Williams 05:11  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      80.   # 76 Leeza..... Manhattan memoirs 05:23  |  allang 17/10/08
      81.   allang 06:49  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      82.   allang.... 06:52  |  Leeza Cohen Coleman 17/10/08
      83.   SOCIALISM IS IMMORAL 05:10  |  Johnny 19/10/08
      84.   Socialism - Response to Johnny 14:19  |  marc 19/10/08
      85.   Marc 23:46  |  Johnny 19/10/08
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