Just a heads-up: I will be liveblogging tonight’s debate. Obviously, McCain will be attending the debate tonight, and I am very excited, despite my support for McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign. He’ll be returning to Washington after the debate to continue working on the financial crisis in Washington.

Obviously, I think McCain will do far better than Obama. First and foremost, McCain is much better at thinking on his feet. Obama has proved multiple times that without a teleprompter, he’s useless and prone to gaffes and misspeaking. McCain, however, has shown that he thrives in this kind of environment and can respond quickly to tough questions. Second, foreign policy and national security is McCain’s forte. Obama, to this day, will not admit that he was wrong about the surge, something McCain has advocated for from the very beginning. Obama’s inexperience and lack of knowledge on foreign policy will be working against him here.

But, we’ll see. Can’t wait for the debate to start, and make sure to stay here for updates throughout the night!

8:50: I’ll be watching the debate on Fox News. It hasn’t started yet, but they’re warming up. Chris Wallace is talking about how tense the atmosphere in the room is. The stage is very small, and Obama and McCain will literally be right in each other’s faces.

9:00: And… we’re off! The debate begins!

9:02: Jim Lehrer from PBS is moderating.

9:03: McCain and Obama are onstage, shaking hands. Rather awkwardly, it seemed to me.

9:04: Obama given the first response: where do you stand on the current economic situation? “We are at a defining moment. … We are going through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. … We have to move swiftly and we have to move wisely. We’ve gotta make sure that we have oversight over this whole process. We’ve gotta make sure that taxpayers have the possibility of getting that money back. We’ve gotta make sure that none of that money is going to pad CEO bank accounts. We’ve gotta make sure that we’re helping homeowners.” How is he going to do that? “8 years of failed policies by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain.” Yawn.

9:07: McCain’s turn. Gives prayers to Ted Kennedy, who is in the hospital because he had a seizure today. Gives a lot of lip service to the bipartisan spirit in Washington in dealing with this crisis. Come on, McCain, who are you kidding? “This isn’t the beginning of the end of this crisis. This is the end of the beginning, if we come up with a package to keep this institutions stable.”

9:08: Both asked if they favor this plan. Obama kind of dodging the question… “We haven’t seen the language yet. How did we get into this mess?”, etc. Did not say whether he supports it or not. Asks how it is that we shredded so many regulations. Says more regulations are needed. This means, more government!

9:09: McCain asked if he will vote for the plan, McCain says he hopes so. Mentions how he warned about this in the past. Says we’ve lost our sense of accountability. We need to hold more people accountable in Washington and on Wall Street. Greed and corruption have been rewarded. Says as President, he promises that people will be held accountable.

9:11: Obama says we need more responsibility, but not only in a crisis. Jim Lehrer is trying to get McCain and Obama to engage each other, but neither seems particularly willing.

9:13: McCain asked to tell Obama what his disagreements are. Does not directly address Obama. Says he has a fundamental belief in the United States of America and we can get through this.

9:14: McCain — is there a fundamental difference as President in what your approach to a financial crisis would be than Obama’s? McCain says we have to get spending under control. Mentions earmarks as a “gateway drug”. Talks about evils of porkbarrel spending. McCain is a fiscal conservative through and through, that is a fact. Says as President of the U.S., he will veto every single spending bill across his desk. Even brings out the pen. Says he will make it famous. Says Obama has asked for $932 million in porkbarrel spending.

9:16: Obama says earmark process has been abused. Earmarks account for $18 billion in last year’s spending. McCain is proposing $300 billion in tax cuts “for the rich”. CEOs of Fortune 500 companies getting tax cuts. Says we should grow the economy from the bottom up. Calls for a tax cut for 95% of working families.

9:17: McCain says Obama didn’t see the light of suspending porkbarrel spending until he was running for President. Says that perhaps $932 million isn’t a lot of money to Obama. Money trickles down. Has fought against porkbarrel spending his entire career. Didn’t win Miss Congeniality. Obama is also proposing $18 billion in new spending. Says he wants to cut spending and keep taxes low.

9:19: Obama cuts in. Wants to close corporate loopholes. Make sure that we have a healthcare system that allows everyone to have basic coverage. No one is denying $18 billion is significant amount of money. Eliminating earmarks alone is not a recipe for getting the middle class back on track. It is a continuation of the last eight years.

9:20: McCain is asked to directly respond. Obama finds the business tax objectionable. McCain says we have the highest business taxes in the world. He wants to cut that business tax so that businesses will remain in the US and create jobs. It’s more than $18 billion in spending. Obama is only a recent convert. “The point is, I want people to have tax cuts. I want every family to have a $5,000 refundable tax credit.” The worst thing we could do is raise taxes. A lot of people would be interested in Senator Obama’s definition of rich.

9:22: Obama cuts in again. If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see one dime worth of tax increase (did anyone mention to Obama that most small business owners would be getting tax increases then?). McCain doesn’t want to close the loopholes. McCain intends to for the first time in history tax health benefits. Employers will have to pay taxes on health care. Not a good deal for the American people.

9:23: McCain: This is a classic example of walking the walk and talking the talk. Mentions an energy bill that was “festooned with Christmas tree ornaments”. McCain voted against, Obama voted for. Asks people to look at their records, who has voted against wasteful spending and who hasn’t. Let Americans choose whether they want an existing tax code or a new tax code. Obama has shifted on a number of occasions, has voted to increase taxes on people who make as low as $42,000 a year. It’s a fact, look it up.

9:25: Obama says immediately that it just isn’t true. Mentions giving money to oil companies.

9:25: McCain breaks in, says that he already gave to the oil companies.

9:26: New question to Obama: as President, whatever financial rescue plan comes about, what will he give up as terms or priorities to make way for the financial rescue plan? There are a number of things we will have to give up, doesn’t yet know what we will have to give up. Talks about energy independence and alternative energy. We have to be competing in education. China has a space launch and space walk. (How is that relevant to education? We’re in space too, Obama.) Infrastructure is falling behind. We need a new electricity grid. Didn’t answer the question at all — he didn’t mention anything about cutting some plans out to make room for the financial rescue plan.

9:28: Same to McCain. We have to cut spending. Senator Obama has the most liberal record in the Senate. “It’s hard to reach across the aisle when you’re that far to the left.” Eliminate ethanol subsidies. Costs are out of control. We need to understand that defense spending is very important and vital, but we need to get the costs under control. Saved the taxpayers $6.2 billion by fighting a contract being Boeing and DoD, and six people ended up in prison. He knows how to do this, he says. Examine every agency in gov’t, whoever isn’t doing their job will be canned. Every agency will be scrubbed.

9:30: Obama says there are things that will need to be delayed. Asks what. Obama responds that we need to be investing in energy. Huh?! But we need to make some cuts. Audio is going in and out now. Lobbyists are able to shape how Medicare works. Have to change the culture. Says he only comes across as liberal because he opposes George Bush’s policies.

9:32: Lehrer is asking how this will affect their approach in major ways. McCain says, how about a spending freeze on everything except national defense, veterans, and several other major things. Obama says McCain is using a hatchet to do a job that needs a scalpel. Mentions early education. Says we are spending too much money in Iraq, that we need to look at bringing the war to a close. McCain says we’re sending too much money overseas to countries that don’t like us, money ending up with terrorists. Says we need offshore drilling and nuclear power which Obama opposes. Nuclear power is important for eliminating dependance on foreign oil.

9:34: Obama: there is no doubt this will affect their budgets. Let’s assume that eventually taxpayers will get the $700 billion back. If we’re lucky and do it right that could happen. But in the short term we may not see that money for a while. He will have to make “some tough decisions”. We need to know our priorities.

9:36: McCain: I want to make sure we’re not handing over healthcare to the federal gov’t, which is what Obama wants to do. It’s family decision, not gov’t decision. Obama wants $800 billion in new spending. McCain wants some spending, like for veterans. We need spending restraint and lower taxes to repair this economy. We’re in this position because spending is out of control. He knows it can be brought under control because he’s fought it his entire career.

9:37: Obama cuts in. Your President, who he agrees with 90% of the time, has overseen the orgy of spending. To stand here after eight years and say you’ll lead controlling spending is kind of hard to swallow.

9:38: McCain: it’s well known that I’m not Miss Congeniality in the Senate. Opposes the President on spending, torture in Gitmo, how to handle the Iraq war, he’s a real maverick and has a maverick of a partner as well.

9:39: To McCain: what are the lessons of Iraq? You cannot have a failed strategy that will cause you to lose the conflict. War was mishandled. Went to Iraq in 2003 and said we needed to change the strategy, and fought for a surge. Finally we did it, and his strategy succeeded, and we will come home with victory and honor. Now that we will succeed, we will see a stable ally in the region and fledgling democracy. Consequences of defeat would have been a wider war and we might’ve had to come back. Thanks to Petraeus and the troops who serve under him we have succeeded.

9:40: Same to Obama. He has a fundamental difference. First question is should we have gone to begin with. He opposed it from the beginning when it was politically risky to do so. We hadn’t finished the job in Afghanistan. We haven’t caught bin Laden. It was going to be a distraction. He wish he had been wrong for the sake of the country. We’ve spent over $600 billion and lost over 4000 lives and 30,000 wounded. Al Qaeda is resurging stronger now than any time since 2001. We took our eye off the ball. We’re spending $10 billion a month when Iraq has a $79 billion surplus.

9:43: McCain: Senator Obama said the surge would not work, and exceeded our wildest expectations. After conceding that, he still said he would oppose the surge. He didn’t go to Iraq for 900 days. Never asked for a meeting with Petraeus. He’s never had a hearing for a committee with NATO.

9:43: Obama says he’s proud of his selection of Joe Biden. Random. Our troops have done a brilliant job. That was a tactic designed to contain the damage of the previous four years of mismanagement of this war. McCain pretends the war started in 2007. Said we’d be greeted as liberators, he was wrong. Stuttering a lot. McCain is smirking.

9:45: McCain said Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy. Two Fourth of July’s ago he was in Iraq with Petraeus and Graham to take part in a reenlistment ceremony. Troops said let us win. We don’t want our kids coming back here. And we’re winning. Obama refuses to admit we are winning in Iraq. There is social economic progress. It wasn’t a tactic, it was a strategy. That same strategy will be employed in Iraq by this same general. Obama voted to cut off the funds for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

9:47: Obama cuts in. McCain opposed funding for troops b/c it had a timetable. The difference was the timetable, not funding the troops. We have seen Afghanistan deteriorate and worsen. McCain says we’ve been successful in Afghanistan. We can’t end the war in Afghanistan if we don’t give Iraq back their country. In sixteen months we should be able to reduce our combat troops and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan.

9:49: McCain: Admiral Mullen and General Petraeus said that Obama’s plan is dangerous. Bin Laden and Petraeus have one thing in common: they said Iraq is the central battleground. Surge didn’t exceed McCain’s expectations, because he knew it was a good strategy. Obama’s plan will make things more complicated.

9:50: Obama asked about Afghanistan. Should more troops be sent there, how many, and when? As quickly as possible, but doesn’t say how many. Now says 2-3 additional brigades to Afghanistan. 4 times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan. That is a strategic mistake. We have to press the Afghan gov’t to make certain that they are actually working for their people. We have to deal with a growing poppy trade that has exploded. We’ve got to deal with Pakistan.

9:52: McCain: we won’t repeat the mistake of washing our hands of the region when we ran Russia out of Afghanistan. We can’t ignore the lessons of history. If you’re gonna aim a gun at somebody, you better be prepared to pull the trigger. He’s not ready to cut off aid to or attack Pakistan, as Obama apparently wants to. Obama wants to launch military strikes at Pakistan — you don’t do that, you don’t say that out loud, McCain says. He can see how tough the terrain is in Afghanistan. There has to be a new strategy, the same strategy Obama denied in Iraq. It will be tough. But we need the cooperation of the people. Bombing of the Marriott shows that the terrorists don’t want the new gov’t. He will employ additional troops, but it’s not just the troops that matter. We need a strategy. He will work with Pakistan and won’t publicly state that he wants to attack them.

9:55: Obama: if the US has bin Laden in our sights, and Pakistan is unwilling to act, we should be willing to “take them out”.

9:57: McCain: I don’t think Obama understands that there was a failed state in Pakistan. The business about bombing Iran: in 1983, as a brand new Congressman, he voted against Reagan, who he admired so much. Tragically he was right with the bombing of the barracks. He supported the first Gulf War and going into Bosnia. It was the right thing to do to stop genocide. He supported Kosovo because ethnic cleansing and genocide was going on. He has a record of being involved in national security issues. He had a townhall meeting in New Hampshire. Talks about the bracelet he wears from Matthew Stanley’s mother, a soldier who died in Baghdad. He wears the bracelet every day. Mom asked him to do everything in his power to make sure her son’s death was not in vain. Talks about how troops all say they don’t want defeat. He knows what it was like to be defeated. In Vietnam they were defeated through no fault of their own. We will win this one and won’t come in in defeat and dishonor.

10:00: Obama — I’ve got a bracelet too! This mom asked him to make sure another mother’s going through what I’m going through. We took our eye off Afghanistan. Nobody’s talking about defeat in Iraq.

10:02: McCain: You would think that with Obama’s concern, he would go to Afghanistan. He’s visited Afghanistan. He knows what our security requirements are. We will prevail in Afghanistan. We need the new strategy. If we suffer defeat in Iraq, which Petraeus says we will with Obama’s plan, it will have a calamitous effect. Obama doesn’t understand they are linked together.

10:03: McCain asked about his thoughts on the threat from Iran. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it’s a threat to Israel and the region. The other countries in the region will feel a requirement to get nuclear weapons as well. We can’t have a second Holocaust. We should form a league of democracies. Russians are preventing significant action in the U.N. Mentions the league of democracies as well. Could impose significant, meaningful, painful sanctions on Iran. Iran has a lousy gov’t and economy. We can — with French, British, Germans, and others — affect Iranian behavior. But if Iranians continue on their path, it is a threat not only in the region but around the world. Iranians are putting the most lethal IEDs into Iraq.

10:06: Same question to Obama: the single thing that has strengthened Iran has been the War in Iraq. Iran’s influence has grown. They’ve funded Hamas and Hezbollah. We cannot tolerate a nuclear war. It would threaten Israel and also create an environment of an arms race in the Middle East. We need tougher sanctions. Doesn’t think we can impose sanctions without countries like Russia and China. We need tough direct diplomacy with Iran.

10:08: McCain: Obama said he’d talk with Ahmedinejad, Chavez, and Castro without preconditions. Ahmedinejad is in NY talking about wiping Israel off the map. Talking to him is legitimizing his crazy theories. It legitimizes his illegal behavior. He’ll sit down with anybody but there will be preconditions. Obama said without preconditions.

10:09: Obama: First of all, Ahmedinejad is not the most powerful man in Iran. McCain laughs. Without preconditions means that we don’t do what we’ve been doing, which is until you agree to do exactly what we say we won’t have contact with you. It may not work, because Iran is a rogue regime. He was called naive when he suggested we look at exploring contacts into Iran, and now President Bush is doing just that. It may not work, but if it does we will have strengthened our ability to impose tough sanctions. McCain’s own advisor Dr. Kissinger said we should meet with Ahmedinejad.

10:12: McCain: I’m not going to set the White House visitor’s schedule until he’s President. He doesn’t even have his own seal yet. Kissinger did not approve meeting with Ahmedinejad without preconditions. North Korea is the most oppressive regime on the planet.

10:14: Obama butts in. McCain keeps talking about the meeting without preconditions, it’s a mischaracterization. We do not expect to solve every problem before we initiate talks.

10:15: McCain butts in. Let me get this straight: we sit down with Ahmedinejad, and he says “I’m going to wipe Israel off the map” and we say “No you’re not”? Oh, please. Obama is parsing words.

10:16: New question. Obama asked about Russia. Potential enemy or potential partner? Our approach needs to be evaluated. An aggressive Russia is a threat to the region. The actions in Georgia were unwarranted. We must have a unified alliance and need to explain that they can’t be a superpower and act like a dictatorship. Can’t return to a Cold War posture.

10:18: Same to McCain. Obama doesn’t understand the situation. This is a KGB-run gov’t. Looked in Putin’s eyes and saw three letters: KGB. The Cold War will not happen. Energy is an issue as well. It’s not accidental that countries flew to Georgia to show support and concern. The Russians should understand that we would support the inclusion of Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO. The Russians are in violation of their ceasefire agreement. In Georgia there was a huge poster of Vladimir Putin that said “Our President”. Their intentions are very clear. We want to work with the Russians, but they need to respect international boundaries. A lot of this has to do with the Ukraine.

10:21: Obama says he has no major issues with what McCain said. Stepping away from the computer for a second for a bathroom break. 😉

10:24: We’ve got time for one more lead question segment. McCain says offshore drilling is very important, and it will help at least temporarily relieve our energy requirements. They’re talking at the same time.

10:25: Last lead question. McCain: what is the likelihood of another 9-11? McCain: it’s much less than it was the day after 9-11. We are safer, but a long way from safe. He’s most proud of working across the aisle, but after 9-11 Liebermann and McCain decided they needed a commission, and they were opposed by the administration. They were stymied until the families of 9-11 came. The legislation passed, and they had most of the recommendations from the commission written into law. We have a long way to go with intelligence. We have to make sure that we don’t ever torture a prisoner ever again. We have to work more closely with our allies. He thinks America is safer today than on 9-11, but there is still a long way to go. Since those recommendations, it’s been the largest reorganization of gov’t since DoD created.

10:28: Obama: mentions airport security, transit, ports, and chemical sites. Biggest threat is not a nuclear missile, but in a suitcase. Mentions missile defense, kind of waffling there. Al Qaeda is operating in sixty countries; we can’t focus on just Iraq. We need to go to Afghanistan and Pakistan. How we are perceived in the world will make a difference. We need to restore our standing in the world. Admires McCain for his position on torture.

10:30: McCain says missile defense was a major part in bringing about the end of the Cold War. Obama still doesn’t understand that if we fail in Iraq it would embolden Al Qaeda. They would establish a base in Iraq. It would make all of the sacrifices we’ve made lost, if we follow Obama’s plan. We’ve had great success, but it’s very fragile. It’s the central issue of our time.

10:31: Obama asked if he sees the same connection. Stutters a little. We’ve been solely focused on Iraq. In the meantime, bin Laden is still out there. Al Qaeda is resurging. We’ve got challenges with China where we’re borrowing billions of dollars. They’re active in areas like Latin America and Asia. It’s only matched by our absence. We can’t provde healthcare to people who need it because of the spending in Iraq. We haven’t adequately funded veterans care. No one is talking about losing this war.

10:33: McCain: I’ve been involved in virtually every national defense conflict we’ve had in the last twenty years. I have the knowledge and experience; Obama doesn’t. To cling to the belief that the surge failed and failing to acknowledge that he was wrong shows we need more flexibility. He knows the veterans and he knows them well; he’ll take care of them. They know he’ll take care of them. He has the ability and knowledge and background to make the right judgements. Reform, prosperity, peace. He doesn’t need any on-the-job training.

10:35: Obama: my father came from Kenya. In the 60s he wrote letters to come to college in the U.S. The ideals and values inspired the entire world. No one can say that our standing in the world now is the same. Children around the world don’t look at it the same. Part of keeping America safe is that we’ll invest in issues like education and how ordinary people live out their dreams.

10:36: McCain: when I came home from prison, I saw veterans being treated very badly. It made me sad. I guarantee as President I know how to deal with war and keep our country safe.

10:37: AND THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!

10:38: Shaking hands. Good jobs to each other. Greeting Jim Lehrer and now their spouses. The four of them are shaking hands and talking together, now leaving. Crowd cheering.

Wrap-up:

McCain clearly got Obama frustrated throughout the night. Obama was on the defensive all night. McCain came out swinging, and while there were no knockdown moments, McCain did well with making Obama look naive and inexperienced, and himself looking knowledgeable and experienced. Obama clearly did better on the economic section of the debate than the foreign policy.

Two great quotes for the night, both from McCain:

Let me get this straight: we sit down with Ahmedinejad, and he says “I’m going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth” and we say “No you’re not”? Oh, please.

I’m not going to set the White House visitor’s schedule until he’s President. I don’t even have my own seal yet.

Two bad quotes for the night, both from Obama:

I’ve got a bracelet too!

First of all, Ahmedinejad is not the most powerful man in Iran.

Tonight, I think that McCain won. He was specific and to the point. He came off as experienced and knowledgeable. When asked about programs they would cut, for example, McCain had specifics and laid out a plan. Obama said he didn’t know yet.

And that, my friends, sums up the difference between these two candidates.

Discuss. Who do you think won?