WASHINGTON: It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for — the last presidential debate.
CBS’s Bob Schieffer will host this evening the third and final debate as Senators John McCain and Barack Obama tackle domestic-policy issues at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., before citizens head to the polls on Nov. 4. Both Obama and McCain are acutely aware that this is their last chance to make a meaningful connection with voters at home, particularly those still on the fence.
Political observers expect this third and final debate to be the most significant and pivotal presidential debate in decades.
Trailing in recent opinion polls and supposedly more at home in a “town hall” style debate format (with an audience that asks some questions), Republican McCain was widely expected to come out swinging in the second parley last Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee.
The debate was watched by a TV audience of over 63 million, some 10 million more than the one tuned in for the candidates’ first debate. After their first meeting in Oxford, Mississippi, McCain took a lot of flak for what appeared to be his deliberate and, to some, contemptuous failure to look directly at his opponent during the 90-minute proceedings.
In their second debate last week, McCain took more flak for referring to Obama derogatorily as “that one.”
Public speaking coach Nick Morgan wrote that whereas both candidates acquitted themselves well, “Sen. Obama looked at his rival when he took him on. And when he wasn’t looking at McCain, he was looking into the camera, talking to America. Sen. McCain, on the other hand, looked like the cranky half of a dysfunctional marriage, the cross one who won’t look you in the eye.”
Prior to the final debate, McCain told his supporters in Arlington, Virginia on Sunday: “After I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we’re going to be going out 24/7.” According to most polls, the Arizona Republican lost both previous debates, including the town-hall debate, which has long been his strong suit, on Oct. 7.
Obama has come across as more reserved throughout the race, which he leads, according to Gallup poll, by 10 percentage points
Most observers believe that the previous two debates proved somewhat disappointing, with no knockout punches delivered. This time they hope the two men will tackle the one subject they’ve both been avoiding: immigration.
With an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, immigration policy has drawn remarkably little mention in this huge general-election campaign — and many on both sides of the political aisle want to see the presidential candidates confront the issue in their final debate.
One year ago, nothing in politics was as explosive as Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s controversial plan to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers’ licenses. The perceived presidential front-runner, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, caught heat for her qualified support. But rival Obama also expressed support — and it seemed then as if any GOP candidate would certainly be using this to drub either Democrat this fall.
But McCain faced fire from within the GOP for having supported President George W. Bush’s sweeping immigration bill last year. Condemned by foes as amnesty for illegal immigrants, the bill died in the same type of opposition that killed Spitzer’s license proposal.
“It’s interesting,” says Patrick Young, director of the Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead. “Essentially, you had the two most pro-immigrant candidates win each of their parties’ nominations.” On the GOP side, he said, “I think it’s been kept off the radar screen to give McCain some sense of cover.” As for Democrats, he observed, “Obama has made maybe only three statements on immigration since he became the apparent nominee in June.”
