Debate Reflection

Describe the 2008 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates in their historical context.

 

The main topics of the 2008 debates were mostly based on the economic crisis, Wall Street and the $700 billion bailout. The McCain v. Obama debates were not that different from each other, the candidates were just kind of saying the same thing. McCain would say what bad choices Obama has made in the past like, “We had an energy bill before the United States Senate. It was festooned with Christmas tree ornaments. It had all kinds of breaks for the oil companies, I mean, billions of dollars worth. I voted against it; Senator Obama voted for it.” Obama would do the same, “Over 26 years, Senator McCain voted 23 times against alternative energy, like solar, and wind, and biodiesel.”   The Lincoln and Douglas debates were based on slavery and whether or not whites would remain the dominate race.  The format that they used is now different then how it was during the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The Lincoln Douglas debates was 60 Minutes for person A to make their point, 30 minutes for person B to respond to what person A said, 60 minutes for Person B to make their point and than 30 minutes for Person A to respond to what person B has said. The McCain v. Obama debate is now divided into about 9 minute segments and about 2 hours long.