Best Debate Yet

Last night's debate was the best--and most honest--showcase yet of the fundamental philosophical differences between McCain and Obama. Last night McCain bluntly defended his firm ideological belief in old-fashioned fiscal conservatism. He had the courage to come out and say he'd freeze all spending without qualifying that statement with a bunch of phony promises about how this will have no negative effects whatsoever. I don't agree with this approach, but I admire his honest defense of it. This jab allowed Obama to parry with his defense of smart investment combined with shared sacrifice as the best way out of our troubles. These guys were actually talking economic substance without qualifying everything they said with false promises. There was a feeling of sober realism in that room.Is this perhaps an unexpected advantage of having a presidential campaign in the midst of a major economic crisis? We, the voters, are in no mood for facile optimism. Our world is crumbling. We know we're gonna hurt. Just give it to us straight. Last night both candidates did that.Personally, I think McCain's old school approach, while defensible, is anachronistic. Eight years of so-called fiscal conservatism has landed us exactly where we are. We can't "hatchet" our way out of it by simply slashing government budgets across the board. The economic problems we face now are deep and fundamental. The mess we're in is a mess we richly deserve--a late night bar tab, if you will, after a long night of reckless boozing.To be fair, I don't think Obama can "spend" us out of this mess any more than McCain can "slash" us out of it. But what I got from Obama, moreso than from McCain, was a willingness to demand change and sacrifice from the top to the bottom. Personally, I don't want any more benign promises. Our world is broken. From the Wall Street Masters of the Universe to Joe the Plumber, we're all screwed. Nor can we "fix" things in such a way as to return to the status quo. The status quo is over. As it should be. It was a rotten status quo of mindless consumption and delusions of easy wealth.My hope is that, in the final days of this campaign, the candidates will preserve the sober realism they displayed last night. The most dangerous thing of all would be to allow us, the voters, to delude ourselves that we can get through this mess without sacrifice. Change is coming whether we like it or not. Whichever navigator we end up with--McCain or Obama--it's going to be a bumpy ride.