Taxes, health: key battlegrounds for Obama and McCain
Barack Obama and John McCain clash on taxes and healthcare in presidential debate
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Wednesday, 08, Oct 2008 07:56
Barack Obama and John McCain have concluded the second of three scheduled presidential debates, exposing "fundamental differences" on taxes and healthcare.
Democratic nominee Mr Obama said he wanted a tax bailout for the middle classes, but his Republican rival said he was not prepared to raise taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
The economy dominated the first half hour of proceedings in the town hall-format debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The build-up to the debate had been dominated by increasingly-barbed comments from the two nominees' campaign teams.
Mr McCain, widely perceived to have lost the first debate, was the more aggressive of the two men in early exchanges, accusing "[Mr] Obama and his cronies" of being responsible for the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 72-year-old also likened Mr Obama's tax policies to "nailing jello to a wall".
But Mr Obama, senator for Illinois, said his Republican rival was tarred by the policies of the Bush administration, with particular attention given to his "bragging" on financial deregulation.
The nominees also disagreed on priorities for any future administration, with Mr Obama listing energy, healthcare and education in that order.
Mr McCain, however, said it was impossible to prioritise one area above another. "We are not rifle-shots, we are Americans," he said.
One of several "fundamental differences" between Mr Obama and Mr McCain came on healthcare, with the Democrat describing universal healthcare as a right and his Arizona senator rival as a responsibility.
"We have a moral and economic imperative to do something about the crisis," Mr Obama said.
On energy, Mr Obama, 47, said five million new jobs could "easily" be created by investment in the green industries. Both candidates repeated their desire to end foreign oil dependency and a commitment to nuclear power.
Foreign policy saw Mr Obama and Mr McCain clash on almost every issue, including the Iraq war, security in Afghanistan, Pakistani sovereignty, Iran's nuclear programme, the case for intervention and the threat of a new cold war.
The increasingly-heated exchanges saw Mr McCain repeat many lines of attack from last week's debate.
"Senator Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge, he was wrong about Georgia, and in his short career he does not understand foreign policy challenges," he said.
"We don't have time for on-the-job training."
In response, Mr Obama, who accused Mr McCain of "cheerleading" for George Bush, said: "Senator McCain says I don't understand, and there is something I don't understand - why we went into a country that had nothing to do with 9/11."
The latest opinion poll conducted on the day of the debate gave Mr Obama a three-point lead over Mr McCain.
The candidates' third and last debate is on October 15th in Hempstead, New York, less than three weeks before Americans go to the polls.