Obama has the edge over 'angry' McCain

THE words were sombre, even dull, but the body language told of the hostility building between Barack Obama and John McCain in their second US presidential debate on Tuesday.

It was there in the gestures, the digs and then, right at the end, the sudden rebuff: with the debate over, and their wives on stage, Mr McCain tapped his rival on the back. Mr Obama turned around to offer his hand, but it was not reciprocated, with Mr McCain instead pointing to his wife, Cindy, an off-camera brush-off that spoke volumes.

Fears of making a gaffe in front of an audience which Nielsen Media Research put at 63.2 million, and the constricted setting, a town hall-style meeting at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, saw both men refrain from the furious mud-slinging their campaigns have indulged in this week. But the digs were there.

Mr McCain, burnishing his credentials as a maverick willing to vote against his party, pointed to an energy bill he opposed: "It was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it?" he said. "That one." With a grimace, he pointed at Mr Obama, who looked daggers back.

The McCain campaign has referred to Mr Obama as "the one", alluding to his messianic status among supporters.

Mr Obama retorted: "Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang 'bomb, bomb, bomb Iran', who called for the annihilation of North Korea."

When it came to the economic crisis, Mr McCain accused his rival of taking financial contributions from the disgraced mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "There were some who stood up against it," he said. "And others who took a hike."

Mr Obama hit straight back, pointing out Mr McCain's campaign manager worked as a lobbyist for one of the companies.

"Body language counts," said Evelyn Leopold, a New York commentator. "McCain came across as tired and angry, especially when he said 'that one' in referring to Obama. And Obama looked cool and professorial, sometimes too professorial."

Neither man wanted to deal with how their promises of tax cuts and spending plans would need to be tempered by what some analysts fear may be a looming economic depression.

Confronted with the question, Mr McCain reached for the flag: "We can attack energy and healthcare at the same time," he said. "We're Americans."

Mr Obama outlined a rescue package, including tax cuts for the middle-classes paid for by the rich, cash for homeowners to pay their mortgages and new public works. How that will be paid for, with falling tax revenues and a ballooning deficit, he did not say.

Of the two, Mr Obama looked the more sombre: when Mr McCain spoke, he fixed him with a stare, arms folded, either standing by the side of the stage, or sitting on one of the precarious bar stools provided for both men.

When it was Mr Obama's turn, Mr McCain wore a fixed smile, looked the other way or took notes.

The digs spilled over into foreign policy.

"He does not understand our national security challenges," Mr McCain said. "We don't have time for on-the-job training, my friends."

But on the hunt for Osama bin Laden on the Afghan-Pakistan border, the roles were reversed: "If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them (sic] out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out," Mr Obama said. "We will kill bin Laden; we will crush al-Qaeda."

Mr McCain shot back, saying Pakistan was an ally whose co-operation was important: "He said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable."

The result was a foreign- policy draw, and that suits Mr Obama: while voters prefer him on matters economic, they have in the past preferred Mr McCain, a war veteran, on national security.

For days, rival campaign adverts have accused Mr Obama of siding with the former terrorist Bill Ayers and Mr McCain of supporting the banking fraudster Charles Keating. But none of the questions broached the subject. The result was a bore draw.

Snap polls gave Mr Obama victory, with CNN handing him 54 per cent to Mr McCain's 30 per cent, but Mr Obama's real victory was in seeing both candidates ending the debate roughly where they started.

That is bad news for Mr McCain. He is lagging in the polls and this debate was his chance to produce some new policy or flash of wit that would turn things around.

Mr McCain could get no traction, despite the intimate town-hall setting that was supposed to suit his folksy charm. Mr Obama may have been more stern, at times appearing more like a lecturer than a candidate, but in these difficult times that approach seems to work.

The same CNN poll found that voters felt Mr Obama was more likeable, by 65 to 28 per cent, and better qualified to lead, 64 per cent to 51. "If last night was the arena of McCain's choice, he's in deep trouble," said Charles Hurt, of the New York Post.



WHAT THEY SAID

1 John McCain expressed incredulity Barack Obama would state publicly that he would attack al-Qaeda in Pakistan under certain conditions. "Senator Obama likes to talk loudly," Mr McCain said in response. "In fact, he said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable."


2 Mr Obama said: "I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild and prosperity would rain down on all of us."

3 Mr McCain said one way out of the financial crisis was to "stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us".


WHAT THE TRUTH IS

1 In an October 2007 interview with Military Times McCain's position was indistinguishable from Obama's. Asked if "you'd go get him" if US forces had a fix on bin Laden in Pakistan, McCain said: "Sure. Sure. We have to."

2 McCain supported tighter rules and accountability on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years before the start of the financial crisis prompted in part by the giant mortgage underwriters. Obama was not a leader in that unsuccessful effort.

3 McCain was referring to purchases of oil from countries hostile to the US. The figure is inflated and misleading. The US is not spending nearly that much on oil imports and roughly one-third of what it does spend goes to countries such as Canada, Mexico and Britain.