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September 26th, 2008 at 11:50 pm

Video & Photos: Barack Obama John McCain First 2008 Presidential Debate 9-26-08 [Full Video]

Barack Obama and John McCain, First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama and Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain took part in the first of three Presidential debates of the 2008 election on September 26, 2008 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Jim Lehrer, anchor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS was the debate moderator.

Senator Barack Obama made a stinging attack on the Bush administration’s economic management on Friday night — and, by extension, Senator John McCain’s ties to Mr. Bush — while Mr. McCain sounded optimistic notes that Washington would come together to deal with the American and global financial crisis.

Barack Obama and John McCain, First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

In the opening minutes of their first presidential debate, at the University of Mississippi, Mr. Obama criticized Mr. McCain by name twice in response to the first question of the forum, about their positions on the $700 billion bailout plan for financial firms. He linked Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush on Republican economic philosophy, and noted that Mr. McCain noted recently that “the fundamentals of the economy are strong.”

Barack Obama at the First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

“We are at a defining moment in our history,” Mr. Obama said, standing at a podium several feet to the left of Mr. McCain. “This is a final verdict of eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush and supported by Senator McCain.”

John McCain at the First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

Mr. McCain replied by saying that he was “not feeling too great about a lot of things lately,” noting the problems in the economy, but said he was heartened that Republicans and Democrats were negotiating together on the bailout plan. And he sought, as President Bush did in his prime-time speech on Wednesday night, to bring home the potential fall-out of the Wall Street crisis for voters across the country.

“We’re talking about failures on Main Street and people who would lose their jobs and their credit and their homes if we don’t fix the greatest fiscal crisis in our time,” Mr. McCain said. “This isn’t the beginning of the end of this crisis — this is the end of the beginning.”

Barack Obama and John McCain, First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

Mr. McCain indicated that he would ultimately vote for the bailout agreement that Congress is negotiating, and both men said that they did not plan to roll back any of their major spending and tax proposals as a result of the bailout’s high costs.

About 40 minutes in, Mr. Obama launched a broadside against Mr. McCain’s repeated support for cutting spending.

“It’s been your president who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time who supported this orgy of spending,” Mr. Obama said, addressing his opponent directly. “You voted for almost all of his budgets. To stand here and say that after eight years you’re going to lead on controlling spending and balancing our tax cuts for middle-class families —” Mr. Obama stammered briefly. “It’s kind of hard to swallow.”

Barack Obama and John McCain, First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

Mr. McCain responded by repeating a line he used earlier in the evening. “It’s well known that I have not yet been elected ’Miss Congeniality’ in the United States Senate,” he said. “The American people know me very well. That I’m an independent, and I’m a maverick of the Senate, and I’m happy to say I have a partner with me who’s a real maverick.”

It was the first reference of the debate to Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, Mr. McCain’s running mate.

Barack Obama and John McCain, First 2008 Presidential Debate, September 26,2008

The candidates clashed over the issue of judgment on the war in Iraq, with Mr. McCain accusing Mr. Obama of opposing the “surge” in troops while Mr. Obama pointed to his initial opposition to the start of the war in 2003.

“I stood up and opposed this war,” Mr. Obama said. “I think the lesson to be drawn is that we should never hesitate to use military force. And I will not, as president, in order to keep the American people safe. But we have to use our military wisely, and we did not use our military wisely in Iraq.”

Mr. McCain parried: “The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue of whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide when we leave, and what we leave behind.”

Mr. Obama was unmoved. “You said you knew where the weapons of mass destruction were,” he told Mr. McCain. “You were wrong.”

Source: McCain and Obama Meet in First Debate

Photo credit: Reuters, Getty Images North America

Obama McCain Presidential Debate September 26, 2008 full video:

The full debate video in 10 parts on YouTube (links open in a new window)