Democrat scores at critical task of connecting with audience
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WASHINGTON - John McCain had two goals in last night's town hall-style debate: To rekindle the straight-talk rapport with average voters that was at the core of his primary campaign, and to raise some fresh doubts about his rival, Barack Obama, who has been leading in recent polls.
But from his first remark, "Senator Obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting" - possibly a simple greeting but more likely a veiled reference to Obama's refusal to accept his proposal for 10 town hall debates - McCain's two goals seemed to pull against each other.
Sometimes sarcastic and sometimes sincere, McCain seemed off-balance in a way that undermined his much-repeated claim of being "a cool hand at the tiller."
Obama, who did not particularly excel at town hall-style debates during the primaries - sometimes seeming lordly or professorial - was better than McCain last night at connecting with audience members on their own terms.
When a voter asked what was in the financial bailout package for him, McCain launched into an attack on the abuses in the mortgage companies
Obama looked the questioner in the eye and said, "Well, Oliver, first let me tell you what's in the rescue package for you. Right now, the credit markets are frozen up and what that means, as a practical matter, is small businesses and some large businesses can't get loans. If they can't get a loan, that means they can't make payroll. If they can't make payroll, they have to shut their doors and lay people off. And if you imagine just one company trying to deal with that, now imagine a million companies all across the country."
Obama's answer had the slightly syrupy quality that made Bill Clinton extremely effective in town hall settings - and sometimes set him up for ridicule afterwards. But such answers are the standard by which town hall debates are judged. Unlike encounters at which both nominees stand behind lecterns, town hall debates test a candidate's ability to frame issues in ways that are meaningful to average people.
McCain, during the primaries, did that and much more - winning plaudits for saying things that most politicians would never say. Sometimes, he openly disagreed with questioners. Sometimes he admitted to weaknesses in himself. Often he challenged conventional assumptions about issues - for example in his politically brave opposition to subsidies for the alternative fuel ethanol.
Little of that McCain was visible last night.
"We in New Hampshire saw him do a lot of these meetings," said Dartmouth College political scientist Linda Fowler. "What was memorable about them was his physical energy, his willingness to say unexpected things. . . . None of that McCain was in evidence last night."
A likely explanation was that, with only four weeks until Election Day, McCain felt pressure to raise doubts about Obama. That required pointing an accusatory finger.
But lines like "Senator Obama would have brought our troops home in defeat," seemed unnecessarily mean when delivered in a friendly setting amid a group of average voters, especially with a confident Obama standing by.
McCain was far better in the rare moments when he bantered with questioners, such as when he told a Naval veteran that everything he learned about leadership came from a chief petty officer.
As in last week's debate, Obama matched McCain point-for-point on foreign policy, and defended himself against McCain's attacks; he fired back with accusations of his own at times, but maintained a more positive tone overall.
Obama called attention to areas where he and McCain agreed, as in the first debate, citing the need to counter Russian dominance in former Soviet satellite states as an example. And he couched his criticisms of McCain and even the Bush administration in gentler terms than his rival.
When asked by moderator Tom Brokaw if healthcare was a privilege, right, or responsibility, McCain chose responsibility. Obama said it was a right.
As at many other points last night, Obama seemed more in touch with his audience.
