Da Bate

trsnacript

Obama didn't do his best, and McCain got some zingers.

Here are some arguments Obama should have said. I sent this to the campaign.

(1) In response to McCain's claim that meeting with Iran without preconditions rewards their rogue behavior, Obama should have said that the exact opposite is true. Cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea only proves to the people of those nations that the United States really is their enemy. This only strengthens the hard line. Calling them rogue nations, evil, and threatening retaliation helps those leaders make the case that they need more military spending in order to defend themselves.

While the US refused to meet with China after Mao took over, the Chinese leadership AND public viewed the US as an enemy. When Nixon visited, the rhetoric changed almost overnight. Why? It is difficult for their leaders to cast as an enemy someone that they are willing to meet with and have a nice banquet with. The people you are really trying to negotiate with are the people of those nations. By talking to the leaders, you are making clear to the people that there is an alternative. There is also greater chance of clearing up misunderstandings if you talk to them.

(2) Also, while it's important that Obama had the foresight and judgment to oppose the Iraq war in the beginning, McCain has a point that now we need to talk about what to do about Iraq now. In order to talk about that, we have to talk about what exactly is the real end goal. Obama tried to but ultimately failed to directly bring up what exactly does it mean to "win" in Iraq.

McCain kept bringing up the success of the troop surge. Obama conceded that the surge may have helped bring down the violence, but he never challenged how sustainable it was, and what he would do differently. For example, if you have a bunch of crime in your city and you impose martial law and bring in a lot of cops. Yes, crime is going to go down. But how long are those cops going to be there? Are they going to have to stay there forever? How much is that going to cost?

(3) Along these lines, Obama did not point out that all of McCain's solutions to national security problems are military solutions and furthermore, reactions to how to deal with crisis. How does one manage foreign affairs such that it doesn't have to come to a crisis? Obama's greatest strength is having a comprehensive strategy, and at some point he did mention the need for that, but he did not make it clear how this is a contrast from McCain. Obama tried to say that the main thing that would make America safer is to improve America's standing in the world, which is true, and it is his best point that he made during the debate, but he did not quite tie it in as a response to McCain's arguments, and he did not really talk about how he was going to do that.

(4) When it comes to dealing with the economy, all McCain has to say is to cut wasteful spending and corruption. Again, it's about the need for a comprehensive solution. The need to improve education, health care system, fund science and technology, and put in place better regulation. Again, Obama talked about it, but did not effectively tie it in to a criticism of McCain. Also, Obama did not effectively make the case for regulation. What is regulation really about? It's about a legal framework so that people can do business, trust in contracts, and be insulated from others' mistakes. It's like maintaining your car. If you make small investments every so often, in the end it is much less costly than getting stranded on the highway when the engine collapses.