'People Just Like You' Question the Contenders

Round 1: What's the fastest way to bailout Real People?

Barack Obama says we're in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and that this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years when George W. Bush and John McCain tried to deregulate the country. Obama says that the first step was to pass the bailout and the second is to take away golden parachutes from evil greedy CEOs.

McCain says that Americans are angry, upset, and fearful and that he has a plan: energy independence, low taxes, and curbed spending. Then he says that the government will have to do something about home values and that he'd have the Treasury buy up bad mortgages. This seems, perhaps, like a fairly big proposal.

Brokaw follows up asking McCain who he'd appoint secretary of the Treasury. McCain doesn't say except that it would have to be someone Americans can identify with. He mentions Warren Buffett, who's pretty great, but that he himself likes Meg Whitman more. Obama says that Buffett would be a pretty good choice, but that there are others out there. Both men are already much improved from the first debate.

Round to McCain

Round 2: What in the bailout package is actually going to help People Just Like Us?

McCain says that the "bailout" is actually a "rescue" because the greed and stupidity of Wall Street and government had begun to hurt Main Street. He then says that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the sparks that started the sub-prime conflagration and that Obama and his Democratic "cronies" defended Fannie and Freddie from GOP attempts to reform them. He points out that Obama was the second greatest recipient of Fannie and Freddie money in history.

Obama says that what the crisis means to People Just Like You is a frozen credit market. He then says that Fannie and Freddie weren't the problem--McCain's deregulation was mania. Also, he wrote a letter to the Treasury predicting doom. Perhaps you've heard about this before.

On follow-up, Brokaw asks Obama if things will get worse before they get better. Obama says no, that he thinks the economy will be good. Which sounds an awful lot like "the fundamentals are sound."

McCain he says it depends on what we do.

Round to McCain

Round 3: How can we trust either of you when both parties got us into this crisis?

Obama says he understands the frustration and cynicism. But that it's important to remember how good things were during the Clinton years. Only he doesn't say the word "Clinton." Somewhere in Chappaqua, a dog is kicked. Hard.

McCain also understands the cynicism and mistrust. He says the financial crisis requires bipartisanship and that he's lived it while Obama has never bucked his own party, ever. He then lists Obama votes for pork and spending, including a "$3 million overhead projector" for a Chicago museum. It's a disciplined, devastating passage.

Brokaw asks about priorities: Health care, energy, and entitlement reform--place them in order of importance. McCain says we should do all three simultaneously. Obama says we will have to prioritize and that at the top of the list will be energy, then health care, then education. "Education" wasn't on Brokaw's list, but Barack Obama doesn't like being penned in by the Old Politics and the Washington status quo.

Round to McCain

Round 4: What sacrifices will you ask us to make?

McCain says he'll ask Americans to understand that there are government programs that have to be eliminated. He says that not only will silly pork projects have to go, but some good projects, too. He's now recommending the spending freeze (minus defense, entitlements, and veterans affairs) that he flirted with in the first debate.

Obama says that "a lot of you remember the tragedy of 9/11." (Really? Only "a lot" of people remember that?) He then hits Bush for his call to go shopping post-9/11 and says that Americans are hungry for leadership that tells people, for example, what light bulbs to use and how to insulate their homes. And he says that he's noticed that young people are particularly interested in serving. Yes, we've seen that.

In a telling moment, Brokaw asks how the candidates would break the bad financial habits to which Americans have become addicted. Obama begins his answer by saying "It starts with Washington." Doesn't it always.

McCain says that nailing down Obama's tax proposals is like "nailing Jell-O to a wall." He then likens Obama to Herbert Hoover and notes that eventually Obama will get to protectionism. It's another disciplined set-piece.

Round to McCain