Economic Issues Top Debate Discussions

Economic issues dominated the questions asked of Republican John McCain and Democrat Barak Obama in their town hall-style debate in Nashville, Tennessee, last night. Questions submitted by undecided voters in the audience and online respondents focused mostly on the economic crisis.

Economic conditions have had a toll on Atlanta and the State of Georgia. Unemployment rates are high and home foreclosures continue to rise.

Recent national polls show Obama pulling ahead of his Republican opponent as economic issues have begun to dominate the political discussions. One conducted before the debate by BankruptcyHome.com of persons facing financial difficulty showed that 48.17 percent of respondents favored Obama to handle the economy. McCain trailed with just over 20 percent of the over 1,200 participants saying he was best capable to handle the economy. Recent polls in Georgia show McCain has an about a 6 point lead in the state.

Some in the debate audience asked about foreign affairs, but most seemed to want to know how the recent bailout of credit markets would affect them and what steps the candidates would take to shore up the faltering economy.

Both candidates criticized one another on the handling of the crisis. McCain tried to pin the blame squarely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and by association on Obama, but the charge didn’t seem to stick. Obama countered that he had never acted on behalf of the two mortgage banking giants, but that McCain’s campaign manager’s lobbying firm, until recently, was paid thousands of dollars a month to work for Freddie Mac.

The candidates touted their health care plans as the best solution to the growing number of uninsured in the country and the rising cost of health care coverage.

The cost of medical care in the United States has risen exponentially in the last 10 years, and medical bills have become one of the leading causes of bankruptcy filings. Making reform a priority was suggested by both candidates.

Taxes and entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare were also heated topics up for discussion. Both candidates said that the government would have to make difficult decisions to deal with the record deficits that have been accumulated in the past eight years.

Both candidates returned to the campaign trail Wednesday vowing to highlight their opponent’s weaknesses. McCain says that Obama is too inexperienced, and his surrogates question his judgment by refering to his associations with Pastor Jeremiah Wright and Professor William Ayers. Obama paints McCain as out of touch with middle-class Americans, and says that McCain’s administration will be a continuation the policies of the last eight years under the George W. Bush administration.