A civil but uninspiring debate

Last night's presidential debate was more civil than I had expected, more civil than we had been led to believe it might be. McCain, who had hinted the "gloves" would "come off," didn't throw any roundhouse punches, just a few jabs at "that one," the opponent whose name he couldn't bear to say.

For voters, there was little new. Some of the statements were nearly verbatim repetitions of what they had said in the first debate. McCain offered a new proposal to have the Treasury buy up troubled mortgages and then renegotiate the mortgages at the new, reduced value of the property. But the Obama camp is saying today that the McCain proposal is not really new; it's a part of the $700 billion bailout ... er, rescue ... that Congress has already passed.

What has to be disappointing for voters is that neither candidate seems capable or willing to acknowledge just how much the economy has changed since they developed their official economic platforms months ago. The Dow was down 508 points Tuesday and is down nearly a third this year. But when asked in this debate and in the previous one what they would be willing to give up in their ambitious spending plans, both candidates seemed flummoxed. Oh, they'll cut earmarks and pork barrel spending, but they won't postpone health care or tax cuts or entitlement reform.

When asked what they would ask Americans to sacrifice, McCain didn't seem to understand the question and went off on his riff about earmarks. Obama had one of his better moments, criticizing George W. Bush for failing to ask for sacrifices after 9/11, telling Americans instead to "go shopping." But he gave no real specifics about what sacrifices he would expect now.

Overall, Obama seemed to come out ahead in this debate, partly because of the so-called "town hall" format that had the candidates leaning on stools and strolling around the stage. This is the format that was supposed to favor McCain's more casual, "my friends" style. McCain rarely sat during the debate, standing stiffly or walking around as Obama spoke. He seemed to be trying to prove he was just as young and fit as Obama. But he's not. He's 72 and has numerous infirmities owing to his war injuries and torture in a Vietnamese prison. He walks with a slight limp, and he can't raise his arms above his shoulders. That combination makes him look old and stiff, especially in a debate format that has him limping about the stage and waving his arms in shortened arcs.