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Liveblogging: McCain, Obama battle on the economy

Christianity Today October 7, 2008

Barack Obama and John McCain are making jabs at each other as they walk around at the town hall debate tonight.

Most of the debate has focused on the economy, including the bailout, healthcare, and tax cuts so far. A transcript is available here.

The debate shifted to foreign policy with a question about the candidates’ support for Israel: “If, despite your best diplomatic efforts, Iran attacks Israel, would you be willing to commit U.S. troops in support and defense of Israel? Or would you wait on approval from the U.N. Security Council?”

McCain said, “Let me say that we obviously would not wait for the United Nations Security Council. … we can never allow a second Holocaust to take place.”

Obama: “If we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in? … So when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us.”

There were seven references to God in the vice presidential debate. Tonight, zero. McCain said “my friends” or “my friend” 22 times, but there was little faith talk from either candidate tonight.

Maybe the closest was Obama’s line when referring to McCain’s approach to health care: “So what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away.” Sounds a tiny bit like Job’s “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.”

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