Presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama squared off Wednesday night for their third and final debate before Election Day, but the star of the show might have been Joe the Plumber.
Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber, loomed large in the debate after McCain brought him up as an everyman worried about what might happen with tax rates under a new administration. As they have in the previous debates, McCain and Obama tried to spell out their economic philosophies for a curious electorate, and especially undecided voters.
Following the debate, which also covered the general domestic policy plans of the two candidates, Wurzelbacher spoke with Katie Couric of CBS News about what it meant for him to have had such a prominent role in the event and about his impressions of Obama and McCain. That conversation is part of a longer CBS News Webcast examining the debate and how the candidates fared.
Besides Wurzelbacher, Couric talks in the Debate Webcast--presented here--with a panel of undecided voters from across the country and with other guests including Sen. Hillary Clinton and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Just as the economy has dominated headlines in recent weeks, it is likely to be the overriding issue Wednesday night in the third and final debate between John McCain and Barack Obama.
The presidential candidates will take to the podium at 6 p.m. PDT, this time at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Moderating the debate--which is to focus in on domestic policy as well as economic matters--will be Bob Schieffer, the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News and host of the show Face the Nation.
Both McCain and Obama this week released new proposals on ways to reinvigorate a punch-drunk economy. After a pummeling last week, the markets have shown a glimmering of a rebound; meanwhile, the latest stimulus effort by the U.S. government involves taking a stake in a number of banking institutions.
You can watch the debate live and online at the CBS News Debate Webcast site. It will be followed by a Web-only analysis and commentary session with Katie Couric, the CBS News political team, and guests. You can also submit your own questions, now or during the event, at the Debate Webcast site.
See also these previous post-debate Webcasts:
• Examining McCain-Obama debate No. 2
• Examining McCain-Obama debate No. 1
• Examining the Biden-Palin debate
With just four weeks to go until Election Day, John McCain and Barack Obama met again Tuesday night in the second of three presidential debates.
The White House hopefuls covered familiar ground on topics ranging from the economy and the government's financial rescue plan to how to handle complex foreign policy hot spots, including Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
On the tech front, not much was said in the debate, which followed a town-hall format, though McCain suggested that he has considered former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as a potential Secretary of the Treasury. Whitman got second billing, though--McCain first named Warren Buffett as a fine choice for that office. Obama allowed that he likes Buffett's economic savvy, too.
For a recap and analysis of Tuesday's debate, check out the Debate Webcast presented here from Katie Couric and the CBS News political team. (It was originally presented immediately after the event.) The CBS Webcast features questions submitted from Web users before and during the debate.
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama will go at it once again Tuesday night during the second official presidential debate, this one in the form of a town hall meeting.
The 90-minute debate, moderated by NBC News' Tom Brokaw, kicks off at 9 p.m. EDT at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and you can follow it live online at the CBS News Debate Webcast site.
Immediately following the debate, stay with the site for a Web-only analysis and commentary with Katie Couric, the CBS News political team, and guests. You can also submit your own questions, now or during the event, at the Debate Webcast site.
We'll offer the same exclusive Web coverage for the final presidential debate on October 15.
You can check out the post-debate Webcast from the first presidential debate here: Examining McCain-Obama debate No. 1. Watch the Webcast from the first and only vice presidential debate here: Examining the Biden-Palin debate.
Foreign policy was to be the sole topic of the first debate of the 2008 presidential campaign, but urgent political realities also brought the economy front and center.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain squared off Friday evening at the University of Mississippi in the first of three debates between them ahead of Election Day on November 4. (Next up, though, is the vice-presidential debate on Thursday between Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.)
Both men offered their takes on, among other things, how and when to engage in talks with Iran and what may come of ongoing talks in Congress about a financial bailout tied to the banking crisis--the latter a topic that could well be a continuing, and even defining, issue for whichever of the two becomes the next president.
For a recap of the debate, see the Webcast presented here from Katie Couric and the CBS News political team (originally presented immediately after Friday's debate).
Along with offering reaction to the debate from politicos including Rudy Giuliani, himself earlier this year a hopeful for the Republican nomination, the CBS Webcast features questions submitted from ordinary folk via the Web. Among the topics raised in the Web questions: pork-barrel spending, corporate taxes, military experience, and the age of the candidates.
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