The final debate: The preview
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 9:20 AM by Carrie Dann
Long Island’s Newsday previews tonight’s debate. "McCain, down in the polls, has said that he will take the character fight directly to Obama, who has largely dismissed McCain's charges and has chosen instead to focus on the economy. The debate will focus on domestic issues, which polls show favor Obama."
Video: NBC News political director Chuck Todd discusses the latest poll results and weighs in on what Sen. John McCain needs to do to win key battleground states.
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AP's Sidoti says, "Their face-off comes as Obama widens his lead in typically Democratic states and campaigns with an air of optimism about his prospects, while McCain seeks a way to gain ground and finds himself defending traditionally Republican states with less than three weeks left in the race."
The New York Daily News calls tonight "do or die" for McCain. The News's DeFrank looks at six scenarios that could change the direction of the race, including a stock market recovery, crisis abroad, a "big-time Obama goof," a "bold McCain gesture" (like "dumping Sarah Palin" or announcing Democratic secretaries), if younger voters stay home, or a terrorist attack.
Will McCain bring up Ayers? "McCain appeared to take the bait yesterday. 'I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised I didn't have the guts to do that, because the fact is the question didn't come up in that fashion,' McCain told a St. Louis radio station. 'I think he's probably ensured it will come up this time.'"
The New York Times’ Nagourney says that as McCain and Obama “prepare for their third and final debate Wednesday at Hofstra University on Long Island, it appears there might be a more instructive prism through which to judge these encounters: not as a competition between two men but as a prolonged tryout for Mr. Obama. Unlike Mr. McCain, a fixture in American politics for nearly a generation — he has appeared on ‘Meet the Press’ 51 times, second only to Bob Dole among politicians, while Mr. Obama has appeared 8 times — Mr. Obama entered these debates at once famous and unknown. Polls suggested that he stirred an ambiguous and slightly suspicious response from much of the public, an impression Mr. McCain has sought to encourage.”
“[I]t could turn out that the Obama candidacy has become what many Democrats and had hoped and Republicans feared: a reprise of Ronald Reagan’s candidacy in 1980. Mr. Reagan struggled until he met President Jimmy Carter in their only debate at the end of the campaign and voters decided they were comfortable enough with Mr. Reagan to take a chance on a relative newcomer to politics.”
Newsday reports on the $3.5 million price tag to Hofstra for tonight's debate. "Corporate sponsors of the Commission on Presidential Debates will help pay for much of tonight's showdown - a relationship that has drawn sharp rebukes from good government groups. But local donors played a critical early role, providing an infusion of cash and confidence that can often make the difference in whether an institution gets a debate, say current and former debate hosts."
