John Berman has been at ABC since 1995, and allowed to appear on television since 2001. He covered the 2008 campaign extensively, following John McCain and Mitt Romney during the primaries and then Barack Obama in the general election. He also spent more than 20 months chasing George W. Bush around the country as a producer from 1999 until 2001, earning the clever nickname, "Pain in the Ass," from our 43rd president. He is a frequent and sometimes welcome contributor to all of ABC's broadcasts.
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LIVE DEBATE BLOG
October 07, 2008 9:03 PM
That's it for tonight folks -- two down, just one to go. Check back for more analysis tomorrow morning, as always, in The Note.
9:28 pm CT: Before the dizzying spin begins -- I find it hard to declare a winner. Tie goes to the frontrunner, perhaps, in the conventional wisdom? I don't see McCain hitting things that shake it all up.
9:27 pm CT: From Ron Claiborne: For those who care about debate style: Obama watches McCain raptly whenever McCain speaks. McCain again is having a hard time looking at Obama when he speaks.
9:25 pm CT: McCain makes actual physical contact with an actual real-life voter.
9:23 pm CT: Why do politicians like saying "petrodollars"? And who cares whether candidates think Russia is an "evil empire"? Red Sox fans think the Yankees are an evil empire -- and, as it pains me to point out, the Yanks haven't won in a while.
9:17 pm CT: I'm not seeing any big breakthrough moments -- McCain is better relating to the audience, but Obama is having what qualifies as emotional connections. Maybe it's the format -- but I'm not seeing anything that changes any trajectories so far. (Anyone else ready for this format to be retired?)
9:14 pm CT: From a colleague: No winners in this debate. But there is one loser…Tom Brokaw. What is he doing here?
My take -- he's enforcing silly rules, or trying to. Then asking follow-ups that tend toward less light, not more.
Watch for this line from GOP mouths -- this wasn't a "real" town hall, and that's why McCain didn't "win."
9:12 pm CT: Getting some e-mails on something I missed earlier -- McCain didn't really engage on the "sacrifice" question, while Obama did, evoking the post-9/11 period.
9:11 pm CT: Then McCain attacks Obama for being a hawk -- "Sen. Obama likes to talk loudly."
9:10 pm CT: "We will kill bin Laden, we will crush al Qaeda." Those were Obama's lines.
9:08 pm CT: I can't imagine a single voter caring about the debate that just played out on Iraq. Not that it's unimportant, just that it's played out.
9:06 pm CT: The word "Ayers" has not been uttered tonight. Neither has the word "Keating."
9:05 pm CT: A friend who's keeping track notes that, more than an hour in, there have been six questions from people in the auditorium. Six.
9:03 pm CT: ABC's Ron Claiborne, on the "That One" line: "Tonally, seemed dismissive, maybe even contemptuous. It could provide Obama camp with an opportunity to onsinuate more than that, even racially-charged, a version of the phrase "you people." Obama press people quickly noted it in e-mail to reporters."
They did. One Obama supporter e-mails me to call it his "get off my lawn" moment.
9:02 pm CT: Obama finds a good stride talking about McCain's "wrong judgment." This was one of his better moments at the first debate, too.
Also, John McCain is taking a lot of notes. Seems like he's scribbling something every time the camera cuts to him.
8:59 pm CT: McCain: "America is the greatest force for good . . . " I don't think many listeners would disagree. I don't know, I legitimately don't, whether people want to hear about it at this precarious time. Maybe McCain is onto something -- it reminds me of Romney at his best in the primaries. But it does muddle a bit the I'm-not-Bush message.
8:58 pm CT: Don't hate on Delaware -- that's where Biden's from . . .
8:56 pm CT: An emotional connection, by Sen. Obama, on healthcare -- talking about his mother's struggles with insurers toward the end.
8:55 pm CT: Is health care a privilege, a right, or a responsibility, Brokaw asks. And America answers: Who cares? I just want to make sure I have it, for less money.
8:53 pm CT: In the un-green race to pass out as much paper as possible, the McCain campaign is destroying the Obama campaign once again. Aides scurry about handing out paper copies of the press releases every reporter gets via e-mail, several times over, usually. No Obama paper, as in the previous debates.
8:50 pm CT: Should healthcare be treated as a commodity? Obama talks about what an important and vital issue this all is -- and then . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting. "We have a moral commitment as well as an economic imperative to do something . . . " This might have been a good opportunity to score on an emotional level, not a policy one.
"Do the math," McCain says on his healthcare plan. (Because he didn't right there.)
8:48 pm CT: Who voted for it? "That one!" McCain said, pointing, with that weird smile he sometimes cracks.
8:46 pm CT: Brokaw a stickler for the rules -- how much time being wasted trying to enforce them, though? Enough for an extra question?
8:43 pm CT: Almost halfway in, it's McCain attacking -- with a smile. He's the happy warrior so far, trying to stay optimistic while drawing the distinctions he needs to. No big game-changers yet, though.
8:42 pm CT: McCain calls for an up-or-down vote on entitlement reform. Sounds like something real there.
McCain: "Sen. Obama voted 94 times" to raise taxes. "That's his record." That's a laughable charge and McCain knows it.
8:41 pm CT: From ABC's Bret Hovell: McCain continues to attack Obama in almost every answer and Obama either responds or, sometimes, doesn't. But Obama's not putting McCain on the defensive at any point.
8:39 pm CT: Meanwhile, are all these questions turning into an argument over who's going to raise your taxes?
8:38 pm CT: Obama can tell tired jokes too: "The Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one."
8:37 pm CT: Brokaw slaps down Obama's attempt at a follow-up to the follow-up.
8:35 pm CT: Obama's tax proposals "like nailing Jell-O to the wall." I haven't tried, but that would sound difficult. Cute line. Then the meat -- Obama's tax hike is a hike on small businesses. "I've got some news, Sen. Obama -- the economy is bad."
(Waiting for the oppo research that points out McCain saying the "fundamentals of our economy are strong.")
More from the rah-rah McCain: "Let's not raise anybody's taxes."
8:33 pm CT: Obama raises the "revenue side," gingerly. That means taxes. He's engaging on the issue here, to his credit on an intellectual level. This is a key bridge for him to build -- he needs voters who are hearing a whole lot about his tax hikes to think about this as leveling the playing field, not making people empty their pockets.
"Those of us like myself and Sen. McCain who don't need help" -- that's similar to a Kerry line in 2004.
8:29 pm CT: McCain doesn't get real specific on cuts either -- in fact, tonight he just proposed a new spending program inside the Treasury department at the same time he's talking about his "spending freeze." Did you feel that thaw? By the McCain campaign's own count, this new program would cost $300 billion. With a B.
"We're not rifle shots here. We're Americans!" McCain says. (Sorry, but this one seems forced.)
8:25 pm CT: "We're going to have to prioritize," Obama says. Top of the list is energy, and energy independence. "And we can do it." Health care grabs No. 2. Then No. 3 is education. But wasn't the point of the question what you can't have?
8:23 pm CT: ABC's Bret Hovell points out that that is indeed a new McCain proposal: To have the Treasury department have the ability to buy up struggling home loan mortgages and renegotiate them at the new value of the home so that people can make their payments.
An intriguing debate tactic, to have that in his hip pocket.
But, from ABC's Ron Claiborne: How is this different than his HOME program to buy up subprime mortgages taken out since 2005 by "credit worthy' homnowners facing foreclosure and give them a new loan, fixed, based on current home value? He says 400,000 people would be eligible for that. Is he saying now -- can we infer -- he's talking about ALL troubled loans, a much bigger program? If so, that would be a change from his position last spring when he said people who got in over their heads and shouldve known better and speculators shouldn't be helped.
8:20 pm CT: Again, that would be McCain saying a voter's name, instead of starting an answer, "well, look." For what it's worth. And McCain calls out for bipartisanship -- this is reaching to the center, really a key goal of his tonight. Your contrast: Obama blamed George Bush, McCain said bipartisanship. WAIT -- spoke too soon -- this was really to set up a he's-a-liberal attack.
8:19 pm CT: Obama says there's "blame to go around," and then applies it in one direction. "Sen. McCain voted for four out of five of those George Bush budgets," he says. (That was an unprovoked jab, it seems.) Then comes more laundry list out of Obama, nothing really outstanding there.
8:18 pm CT: So far, both are playing populist cards. In the early discussion on the economy, I don't see either one distinguishing himself on the big question of the moment.
8:17 pm CT: Obama says he wants to "change the culture in Washington." That and other bromides are sure to fix everything, right?
8:14 pm CT: Obama needs to correct McCain's statements, "not surprisingly." (Was that necessary?) But he's not staying above the fray -- this isn't above-it-all Obama tonight early on.
8:11 pm CT: Now both candidates are touting the bailout package. (And why is McCain still talking about how he suspended his campaign for this.)
First attack -- Senator Obama and his friends, and his cronies, who defended Fannie and Freddie. This one is a bank shot, sort of hard to explain (lots of meanwhiles). But it looks like McCain is jumping at opportunities tonight, even when they're not directly offered. "Others took a hike," McCain says.
And -- McCain right up in voters' faces. Really moving in close.
8:08 pm CT: "Not you, Tom." (What did Brokaw do to deserve that dig?) McCain drives the right NUTS by mentioning Warren Buffet for treasury secretary. (They'll be much happier about Meg Whitman.)
Obama: "Warren would be a pretty good choice." So far, the Sage of Omaha is winning the debate.
ABC's Jennifer Parker points out that McCain is mentioning voters' names -- strong connections with the audience.
8:07 pm CT: McCain is roaming the stage, playing to his strength. And comes out with a policy proposal to help people stay in their homes -- a strong lead answer, to have a meaty response to that. McCain looks confident early.
8:06 pm CT: McCain: "Sen. Obama, good to be with you at a town hall meeting." Took approximately two sentences for the first dig.
8:04 pm CT: Obama leads off -- "worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a lot of you, Ithink are worried." He looks back from the beginning -- "final verdict" on Bush-era policies. But he was asked about what to do next -- and leads with the bailout package. (I didn't think either of them would want to tout that tonight.)
But Obama is the first to talk about tax cuts tonight -- will be interested to see how McCain hits back on that point. He also says "middle class" first.
8:02 pm CT: John McCain quick to make eye contact from the start -- he won't want that storyline to repeat itself.
October 7, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (480)
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there is a lot of talk about home loans, business loans, etc. no one is talking about credit card debt and the high percentages that credit card lenders charge users. knock that percentage in half or even to a quarter of that amount and it would help immensely. if loans are 5-6% (and savings accounts are under 4%) why are credit cards still sticking to 20-36%? that just doesn't add up. you want to help an ordinary family pay their bills?? talk about real debt that ordinary families pay every day. home payments and credit card debt and health care. it's all bundled together hand in hand.
Posted by: annette | Oct 7, 2008 9:20:02 PM
Obama used funding from Fannie May to start up his campaign! I hope McCain calls he out on it!!!!
Posted by: KT | Oct 7, 2008 9:20:16 PM
People below middle class receive tax cuts a lot already...the tax they pay out is minimum. but i guess it depends on what you define as below middle class....state a dollar figure please
Posted by: Beverly | Oct 7, 2008 9:20:16 PM
What did he say?
Posted by: Karl | Oct 7, 2008 9:21:28 PM
Obama still talking about Bush. Obama is not cutting a dime. liar
#1 liberal
Posted by: geevill | Oct 7, 2008 9:22:27 PM
KT
go read the article from the AP showing that isn't true. The AP doesn't publish lies.
Posted by: J | Oct 7, 2008 9:22:34 PM
McCain talks about his past but is leaving out his record of voting with the Bush adminstration on all their major policies
Posted by: Colette Pfeffer | Oct 7, 2008 9:22:53 PM
Nothing
Posted by: KT | Oct 7, 2008 9:23:01 PM
isn't McCain part of the Keating 5 of S+L bailout fame??? McCain fought to help Charles Keating, and not the customers of his S+L who lost money when Lincoln Savings collapsed!
Posted by: hyubso | Oct 7, 2008 9:23:09 PM
Pork barrel earmarks??????? How about the bailout that just passed. They all voted on that and it was full of pork barrel items......lies lies
Posted by: David | Oct 7, 2008 9:23:42 PM
This kind of money?!?? McCain barely knows his own finances!
Posted by: Beverly | Oct 7, 2008 9:23:45 PM
Let's DO talk about Obama's voting record shall we??? The record DOESN'T LIE!! Obama is promising the world with OUR tax dollars and he can't deliver anything but higher taxes for EVERYONE!!Ultaliberal Obama will vote to increase our taxes EVERY time!!
Posted by: fairelection2008 | Oct 7, 2008 9:24:17 PM
Way too many republican's here. If you have already made up your mind keep it to yourself McCain's Palin Choice a Profile in Cynicism and yes Beverly Obama used funding from Fannie Mae as he received contributions from the employees unlike McCain from the LOBBYISTS....
Posted by: Jeffrey | Oct 7, 2008 9:24:20 PM
Read the bill on the whitehouse web site!!!It is true!
Posted by: KT | Oct 7, 2008 9:24:59 PM
Mccain wnats to cut social security.. no money for old people, but plenty of money to bail out wall street!!!!
Posted by: hyubso | Oct 7, 2008 9:25:13 PM
How come minumem wage hasn't gone but everything else has.
Posted by: shelly benitez | Oct 7, 2008 9:25:43 PM
Amazing how no one wants to bring up the fact that it wasn't just Wall Street's greed, it was also the greed of many of the middle class americans (who have now become martyrs) and who bought outside their means and in many cases made profits off the sale of their home. No candidate dares speak the truth that this was a product of America's greed, not just Wall Street's greed.
Posted by: brandi | Oct 7, 2008 9:25:58 PM
Obama wants more spending ? That means more Taxes and Bigger Government, Obama is a No talent, no brain, Puppet.The only thing he can do is talk or should I say read in circles
Posted by: James Hatten | Oct 7, 2008 9:26:01 PM
McCain was a part of the Keating 5
Posted by: Beverly | Oct 7, 2008 9:26:01 PM
fairelection, get the facts:
PALIN: Said of Democratic presidential candidate Obama: "94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction."
THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.
Posted by: J | Oct 7, 2008 9:26:08 PM
Obama $1 billion in earmarks including Jeremiah Wright
Posted by: geevill | Oct 7, 2008 9:27:43 PM
I actually have two questions for them.
Why does everything that you pick up in the stores say made in china?
When are they going to bring our jobs home?
Because there are so many people that are struggling that there aren't jobs out there and the state of michigan is very bad shape.
Posted by: kathy smith | Oct 7, 2008 9:28:07 PM
Way to go brandi....i agree
Posted by: David | Oct 7, 2008 9:28:25 PM
more spending does not mean more taxes as long as items not currently working are cut. spending in different areas does not increase taxes. how about the wealthy finally contribute the same percent in tax dollars
Posted by: J | Oct 7, 2008 9:28:34 PM
McCain says that he will reprice mortgages for those that made horrible decisions, which means that home values will fall. What happens to their neighbors, like us, who bought conservatively and put down 20% equity?
Posted by: Stoly | Oct 7, 2008 9:28:41 PM
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