Week 4 wrap-up

As I look back on the events of the past week, I'm having difficulty finding prominent, NEW stories on CNN. Everything that was important earlier this week is still in the headlines, only now there is more information. If you go to last week's wrap-up post, you'll notice that a few issues are still the same (the economy and Palin's waning popularity), minus the fight for Latino votes and Palin's trooper investigation. Even the tie in battleground states between Obama and McCain has been transformed into the even battle of the first presidential debate, which was the only new issue this week.

So, briefly, here are the updates on the CNN's current top issues:

• The economy and the bailout plan.
  McCain suspended his campaign to go to Washington. Both Obama and McCain were present at discussions about the $700 billion bailout proposal, but how useful were they? CNN reports disagreement among the senators, some saying that their involvement acted as a catalyst while others believe the candidates actually delayed the process.
  
  Here are a couple bits from one of several articles on CNN:
  
  
  "What Sen. McCain was able to do was to get all sides to the table which resulted in a vastly better bill," [McCain strategist Steve Schmidt] told a group of reporters Sunday.
  
  "I was on the phone every day with Secretary Paulson and the congressional leaders, making sure that the principles that have ultimately been adopted were incorporated into the bill," Obama told CBS's Bob Schieffer.
  
  
• The first presidential debate.
  CNN reports that there were a "few jabs, but no knockout in first debate." Each candidate had his own territory--McCain's strength was in foreign policy, Obama's was in the economy. McCain's leadership experience in the military proved to be a firm foundation for his spiel on foreign policy, while Obama seemed to simply agree with McCain's plans and add his own tag to the end. When talking about the economy, the bailout plan, and the candidates' own plans to stimulate the economy, Obama coolly dominated the discussion. McCain vowed to veto every spending bill except for those from a couple 'vital areas,' and every chance he got he hammered his plan to cut spending. Obama, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed and he had a more detailed plan.
  
  CNN says that after the debate, both parties "issued statements declaring their candidate the winner." How can you win a debate like this? It isn't a single argument, it's a series of arguments, and there is no 'final score' you can judge by. I disagree with the choice of the terms win and lose in this situation, although I do admit that it's possible for one candidate to win more favor than the other overall after such a debacle.
  
  You can read a transcript of the debate here.
  

• Sarah Palin still losing ground.
  In an article prepping for the upcoming VP debate, CNN spoke of Sarah Palin's disintegrating confidence. It seems that her failing popularity has created a vicious cycle--she is losing favor, which has degraded her confidence, which led to poor performance in appearances such as her interview with Katie Couric, etc.
  
  Here are a few things Palin is getting a lot of slack for:
  

  Palin's interview Wednesday with CBS' Katie Couric drew criticism when the Alaska governor was unable to provide an example of when McCain had pushed for more regulation of Wall Street during his Senate career.

  Palin was also criticized last week for appearing not to know what the Bush Doctrine was during an interview with Charlie Gibson.
  
  Palin was criticized heavily for comments she made about Russia in her ABC interview and her claim that her state's proximity to the country bolstered her foreign policy credentials.
  

  Sarah Palin has gone from her bold first appearance at the Republican National Convention to stumbling in interviews, which has cost her dearly.
  
  
• John McCain's suspended campaign.
  Republicans and Democrats alike were surprised by John McCain's announcement that he was going to suspend his campaign in order to go to the rescue in Washington. The response has been overwhelmingly negative. Everyone is saying that he didn't really do much to help with the bailout plan, that it was just a big political stunt. The man actually threatened not to show up at Friday's debate unless an agreement was reached with the bailout plan! This showed me how stubborn McCain is. Does he really think rushing the plan will make it work? I agree that something needs to be done soon, before the economy falls even further, but $700 billion is a ridiculous amount of money. Shouldn't it deserve more than a week's deliberation?
  

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Preston, Mark. " Analysis: A few jabs, but no knockout in first debate." CNN.com. 27 Sep 2008. CNN. 10pm, 28 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.analysis/index.html>.

Sherman, Emily. " How helpful were McCain, Obama in bailout talks?." CNN.com. 28 Sep 2008. CNN. 10pm, 28 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/28/obama.mccain.bailout/index.html>.

" McCain, Obama fight for title of 'most qualified'." CNN.com. 27 Sep 2008. CNN. 10pm, 28 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/26/debate.friday/index.html>.

" Next up: Biden and Palin debate in St. Louis." CNN.com. 27 Sep 2008. CNN. 10pm, 28 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/campaign.wrap/index.html>.