Presidential Debate 2008: John McCain and Barack Obama

When the whole presidential campaign process started, I was feeling Hillary Clinton. I thought she would be exactly what this country needed, but since the world didn't seem to agree with me, I took a look at the other candidates.

While I admit that I tend to prefer democratic candidates over all, it is not because I am consciously loyal to any one party. I have legitimately checked out both candidates over the last several months, and while it seemed again that I preferred the democratic candidate, I waited until tonight to make any final decisions about which candidate would get my vote come Election Day this year.

I have seen each candidate doing interviews, I've read and researched each candidate's platform on the issues which concern me directly, and I've paid attention to the news about the election.

While I didn't initially dislike McCain personally, the debate tonight seems to have cemented my preference for Obama. While each candidate presented viable arguments for the most part, McCain spent most of the time denying every point Obama made by pulling the "naïve" card. It looked to me like he felt that Obama's "number" (i.e. age) was the only thing he could find wrong with some of the arguments. He kept saying things like, "Senator Obama still doesn't quite understand...he doesn't get it." McCain appeared to be sweating under the pressure, grasping for straws.

Obama, on the other hand, debated with grace. Once again, I was impressed with his ability to remain open to change and willing to implement it. Isn't this what we need in our society today, especially with recent news of the failing economy?

It seems that McCain wants things to stay "the way they've always been." He proves this by consistently referring to Obama as inexperienced and incapable. Obama, though, is focused on changing the things that are wrong with our country-from economics, to healthcare, to foreign relations. He presented realistic plans for each, while McCain simply restated that Obama was naïve and implied again and again that things wouldn't or couldn't change.