The Third Debate: What Would Joe the Plumber Do?

This morning most of the pundits are saying the last presidential debate was sharper in tone but just highlighted the well-established differences between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama in substance. When it comes to the issues, the main innovation was the laser-like focus on an Ohio plumber as the stand-in for the electorate. But this debate did get into important questions that have been underexamined so far, like education and abortion.

So, with full knowledge of the irony involved, I'm going to repeat my defense of repetition: all of the talking points from Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama are old news to those who've been following this long, long campaign. But for the large number of voters who are only paying casual attention, repeating the basic points is important. These fundamental arguments about policy often get buried under a pile of media coverage of tactical decisions. By the time a campaign reaches the final weeks, everyone in the media assumes the public has actually been reading and remembering all the stories they've filed on this stuff over the past year and a half. And that's a bad assumption.

There are some things the candidates didn't say (click here for video of the debate along with our frame-by-frame comments) in their final appearance together and there are some key facts that voters need to know. The election's less than three weeks away, and if you're looking to get up to speed on the problems facing the country, have a look at our Voter's Survival Kit.

Some key points:

• On the economy, both candidates continue to do something that is quite frustrating, which is mixing up the short-term problem – how we deal with the current financial crisis and looming recession – with how we deal with creating a sound economy in the long run.


• In all three debates, the moderators have done their best to pin the two men down on fiscal responsibility, but none have succeeded. The fact is that the next president will be facing an extremely constrained budget, and will have to govern accordingly. Money’s going to be tight.


• Here’s something Obama and McCain agree on: that the United States can eliminate some sources of foreign oil in 10 years. Note that neither one endorses complete energy independence, and most experts would agree that can’t be done, at least not anytime soon. Even eliminating imports from the Middle East and Venezuela, which both candidates endorse, would be a challenge. Those regions supply about one-quarter of U.S. oil imports.


• The candidates had quite a lot to say about trade, which is one of the classic cases where leaders have very different views than the public. Most economists say global trade is a good thing, but the American public isn’t so sure. In Public Agenda’s Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index, we found huge numbers of Americans (41 percent) aren’t sure whether the U.S. or foreign countries benefit more from trade. About as many (42 percent) say other countries benefit more, and only 14 percent think the U.S. benefits more.


• We heard a little about education in this debate, including math and science education, which hasn't gotten much attention in this campaign. Education and business leaders are deeply worried about math and science education, but our research shows the public hasn’t caught up with them yet. Most parents think the amount of math and science their child gets is about right, which is the last thing most business leaders would say.

UPDATE: Here's our video commentary on the debate: