Oct 15, 2008 11:53 pm US/Pacific
Obama, McCain Slug It Out In Final Debate
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBS 5 / AP) ―
Republican candidate John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama slugged it out over the faltering U.S. economy, taxes, energy policy and character in their third and final presidential debate on Wednesday evening.
McCain took an aggressive approach, but once again, neither man landed a knockout punch nor committed a major gaffe.
A CBS News instant poll of uncommitted voters who viewed the debate gave the edge to Obama by a margin of 53-22 percent. 24 percent said the debate was a draw. Uncommitted voters also thought Obama won the first and second debates.
Before the debate, 54 percent thought Obama shared their values. That percentage rose to 63 percent after the debate. For McCain, 53 percent thought he shared their values before the debate, and 56 percent thought so afterwards.
As the crucial encounter unfolded, McCain accused Obama of waging class warfare by advocating tax increases designed to "spread the wealth around." The Democrat denied it, and countered that he favors tax reductions for 95 percent of all Americans.
"Nobody likes taxes," Obama said in an exchange early in this last debate. "But ultimately we've got to pay for the core investments" necessary for the economy.
"If nobody likes taxes, let's not raise anybody's, OK?" McCain retorted with a laugh.
McCain's allegation about class warfare stemmed from one of Obama's campaign appearances last weekend.
Obama was approached by a man who said, "Your new tax plan's going to tax me more." Obama replied, "It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too."
McCain referred repeatedly to that voter, Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toledo, Ohio.
Wurzelbacher watched Wednesday evening's debate and told CBS News afterward that he still hadn't decided who he is going to vote for.
The 90-minute debate at Hofstra University focused on the economy and domestic policy. The candidates were seated at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer, CBS News' chief Washington correspondent.
This last debate marked the beginning of a 20-day sprint to Election Day, with Obama building an advantage in the weeks since the nation stumbled into the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Struggling to escape the political drag of an unpopular Republican incumbent, McCain was eager to stress his differences the president, declaring: "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."
Obama brushed aside McCain's claim to full political independence.
"If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people - on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities - you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush," he said.
The two men also traded charges that departed from the core issues of the economy, energy and taxes.
"100 percent, John, of your ads, 100 percent of them have been negative," Obama told his rival, seated only a few feet away at a round table.
"That's not true," McCain retorted.
"It is true," said Obama, seeking the last word.
McCain is currently running all negative ads, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But he has run a number of positive ads during the campaign.
Behind in the polls, McCain played the aggressor early and often.
He demanded to know the full extent of Obama's relationship with William Ayres, who was a member of the violent Weather Underground in the 1960s. McCain's reference to Ayers reprised campaign commercials he has run to try and raise doubts about Obama's fitness to serve.
"The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me," Obama replied.
McCain also said Obama has aligned himself with "the extreme aspect of the pro-abortion movement in America" and had voted present while in the Illinois Legislature on a measure to ban one type of procedure late in a woman's pregnancy.
Obama said the bill would have undermined Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted abortion rights, and had been opposed by the Illinois Medical Society.
"I am completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life, and this did not contain that exception," he added.
Asked about running mates, both presidential candidates said Democrat Joseph Biden was qualified to become president, although McCain qualified his judgment by adding the words "in many respects."
McCain passed up a chance to say his own running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was qualified to sit in the Oval Office, though he praised her performance as governor. Obama sidestepped when asked, saying it was up to the voters to decide.
Obama, like McCain, also praised Palin's advocacy for special needs children. But he quickly sought to turn the issue to his advantage by noting McCain favors a spending freeze on government programs.
"I do want to just point out that autism, for example, or other special needs will require some additional funding if we're going to get serious in terms of research. ... And if we have an across-the-board spending freeze, we're not going to be able to do it," he said.
Obama entered the debate with a wide lead over McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows. The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin, according to the poll.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
