Glancing at the Debate Through Democratic Eyes
Responses from Democratic viewers after the presidential debate
Amber Myers
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: Presidential debate
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During this debate the candidates were asked if health care should be seen as a commodity. Health care is a very important issue to Americans right now, which Obama makes clear at the beginning of his response.
Obama says that Health care is breaking family budgets, many people don’t have it and premiums are rising, as well as co-pays. He continues to say there is a “moral commitment and economic imperative” to fix it. Obama plan states if you already have health care and want to keep it, you can and he will lower the premiums. If you don’t have health care you can get federal insurance. Federal insurance includes the same benefits that he and Senator McCain have because with a larger pool of money coming in the benefits will be cost less for each person.
McCain, however, wants to give everyone a 5,000 dollar tax credit that can taken anywhere. He encourages taking this money across state lines. David Connors, a 27 year-old democrat, disagrees with McCain’s Health Care plan. Connors says “I feel as though McCain does not have a full handle on his plan. Giving a $5,000 credit to Americans is not going to help. Going across state lines for health policies will make it easier for insurance companies to go to states with less regulation, making health care worse in America.”
During the course of the debate on health care McCain keeps accusing Obama of wanting to fine people who don’t have a health care policy. Obama never said there would be a fine, but McCain keeps pushing the issue. After Obama responded to this accusation McCain then says “Did we hear the price of the fine?” Debra Hedin a 48 year-old mother and member of the Working Families party, who was frustrated by his comment answered the question on Obama’s behalf, yelling, “Did he say there was going to be a fine!?” Obama’s response to this question would have been no since he really never said there would be a fine.
“Obama does a nice job connecting to the audience, while McCain does a good job of speaking down to the audience.” Says Connors. An example of this is the fact that McCain says “my friends” at the beginning of almost every response. This not only irritated Connors but irritated others watching the debate as well. Every time McCain uttered the irritating phrase Hedin yelled back as if McCain could hear her, “We are not your friends!”
Eric Hedin, a 45 year-old father and member of the Working Families party agrees that McCain was speaking down to the audience. Hedin said that McCain was attempting to “dumb everything down for us” for example when McCain said to the audience “by the way my friends I know you grow a little weary of this back and forth.” Hedin says that he feels like McCain’s comments are similar to President Bush saying “evil doers” instead of just saying members of Al-Qaeda or terrorists.
Kristen Myers, a 24 Democrat says, “McCain did not do a good enough job of separating himself from the Bush Administration.” McCain’s health care plan is similar to one bush proposed in 2000. McCain also wants to give oil companies and wealthy people tax breaks. McCain and Bush are similar in other policies such as abortion, education, immigration, Iraq, Medicare, social security, taxes, trade and more.
Myers made another evaluation of McCain while watching the debate. She noticed that while Obama stayed calm and collected “McCain lost his cool and gets very angry and I do not want a president who is going to get that angry when under pressure.”
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