Debate

Thoughts on last night's debate:

• McCain seems dated. Not in the sense that he is old, but rather in the sense that his policies seem out of touch with reality and with current events. His mannerisms remind me of a doll that desperately needs some oil on the hinges.
• Obama seems to accept the reality of the world. He notes that since we're running a deficit, we need to balance spending with tax revenue (I certainly don't want tax increases, and I never will, but we desperately need take an objective look at the facts). He accepts global warming as a man-made problem and as a challenge that could boost the struggling economy. He wants to talk to other countries, in the sense that not talking doesn't move anything forward (and without preconditions is perfectly fine -- it's not as if the president endorses another country's policies if he or she goes to talk to them).
• While I definitely don't want the government running a "Manhattan Project" on creating new energy technology, it would be good to give small companies really good incentives to continue doing what they're doing. Additionally, making it economically feasible for consumers to purchase items like solar panels will hopefully increase demand for alternative energy technologies and drive improvements within the industry.
• I am wary about a national health care system. In a sense, I agree with both candidates -- health care is a right because it is our responsibility to care for each and every citizen. However, we need to do it right the first time -- creating a poor national health care policy will be increasingly difficult to change as it becomes entrenched in bureaucracy. We need to have doctors, nurses, insurance companies, hospitals, etc. sit down at a table and figure out something that works. Systems in Canada and many in Europe seem deprecated and not all that efficient.
• We need a new spending plan that will succeed in halting or decreasing any additions to our national deficit. We do not want to owe China trillions of dollars, or for that matter, any country. Let's get back to a surplus and start paying down our debt. I thought that McCain's "spending freeze" is a terrible way to deal with the problem, since it does not address spending distribution within the government. Obama's "scalpel" analogy was very poignant. In addition, I'm not sure how McCain's continuation of Bush's tax cuts will help us decrease the deficit. Compounding the deficit problem is social security and medicare. If I remember correctly, by 2017 social security funds will run out and we'll need to start borrowing money to pay back workers that have invested in the program. There is no "easy" solution to social security.

Who won? While I thought the first debate was a wash, I thought Obama's policies were on point while McCain's policies were just not what we need. Considering the fact that McCain is said to be better at the town hall format, he simply didn't live up to his name; it's not because he hasn't done good things for this country, it's simply because his ideas do not adequately address the pressing issues ahead of us.

However, I still have my doubts about Obama. He does not have the past to back up his views. He did tend to vote "present" a lot. Nonetheless, we need a new, unique vision for the country, and in that respect, we have to hope that Obama will deliver.