By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
The final debate between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama did little to sway the positions of three area residents who were asked to watch the exchange at The Joplin Globe.
Jim Hight, of Neosho; Alan Snow, of Carthage; and Paul Davis, of Webb City, were invited to view the debate and share their comments with Globe readers, including those who followed online during the debate.
Hight, a Democrat, said he is eager to vote for Obama and bring an end to “eight years of cowboy diplomacy, failed policies in Iraq, with the economy and in education.”
“McCain is too much like (President) Bush,” he said. “That’s not what we need.”
Snow, a Republican, said Obama’s proposals “inject the federal government into everything.”
“What he’s talking about is socialism, and we won’t solve the country’s problems with more government involvement,” he said.
Davis said he is an independent who likely will vote for McCain, but he said neither candidate addressed his concerns about immigration and a federal government that has grown beyond what he believes the Constitution allows.
All three said the current financial crisis has heightened the importance of the election but has not changed how they view the campaigns.
“It’s what happens when Republicans don’t regulate the financial markets,” Hight said. “Bush cut taxes on corporations, then he borrowed money to finance the stimulus package and the (Iraq) war.”
Snow, who works at Leggett & Platt Inc. in Carthage, said that deregulation started in the Clinton administration, and that taxing corporations would translate to fewer American jobs.
“The economy grew in the Reagan administration because he cut taxes on business,” he said.
“Trickle-down economics doesn’t work when the jobs are going overseas,” responded Hight.
All three said education should be kept a state and local priority, and that Bush’s No Child Left Behind program should be abandoned.
Snow and Davis said Obama’s health-care proposals would lead to socialized medicine, but Hight said the United States needs a program that will address the large number of people who cannot afford health insurance.
“It’s not the fault of insurance companies; health costs are too high,” said Davis, who is a retired federal employee.
Jill Biden visit
Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, plans to speak Saturday in Joplin, though the campaign has not yet announced the time and place of her appearance.
