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KEY POINTS:
3.34: As always McCain "rests on his record" saying "he has always put his country first". The debate is over. The Herald Foreign Editor Nicola Lamb calls it "pretty even". This was McCain's big chance to close the eight point gap in the polls. He may not have done enough. That concludes our live updates of the second presidential election. Thanks for tuning in.
3.31: Giving Iran a nuke would be "a game-changer" says Obama. He's wrapping up the debate now, with a call for change. "Fundamental change" is what is at stake in this election. He hopes the country will support him in a move for a new direction.
3.16: Now McCain says he's going to get Bin Laden. And McCain says he knows how he's going to do it. The worms respond positively.
3.12: We will kill Bin Laden! proclaims Obama, saying no more "coddling" of Pakistan. He says his number one military priority is Afghanistan.
McCain is on sure ground now, and he scoffs at Obama. He says the Pakistan relationship is "critical". He wants to coddle Pakistan. Use force but talk softly says McCain, "but use a big stick".
3.08: We're on to the topic of the military. McCain says Obama doesn't understand America's military obligations, was wrong on Iraq and Russia's invasion of Georgia and says "there's no room for on the job training". McCain tells Obama he stands by his record on military issues.
Obama tells McCain the invasion of Iraq was wrong and the cost of America's war on terror contributed to the economic crisis. He says America must pull back on it's military budget in tough economic times.
2.52: Both candidates are hammering old points. McCain is harping back to his record of voting for green environmental bills, which he says Obama didn't support. Obama says McCain will raise the price of employer funded healthcare. Obama says that's completely wrong. Obama says decent affordable healthcare for all Americans will be a priority for him.
2.43: Obama strikes back. He says 95 per cent of people will get tax cuts under his administration. The two worms, monitoring public opinion on the TV screen, are moving upwards in support of his comments. Obama made some good points there, but his reputation for long windedness has cost him at times in this debate.
2.37: McCain wants an across the board freeze on Government spending, and says Obama wants to raise taxes. Obama is smiling but it's a tight smile - McCain's confidence is growing. He wants to give every American a $5000 tax credit and says he won't raise taxes. Obama is incredulous but the moderator won't give him a chance to respond.
2.24: Obama says his top priority first year in Government will be energy. He says he wants to protect the US people from spiralling Middle Eastern oil prices. He says healthcare will be his number two priority and education number three.
McCain says he will work on all three policies at the same time.
2.23: Obama says he'll come down hard on Washington lobbyists but McCain says Obama has been a big supporter of pork-barrelling.
2.17: Both Obama and McCain are trying to say they predicted the financial collapse and their opposite didn't.
Neither candidate, when put on the spot, was prepared to say the US economy would get worse before it gets better. This small hall style of debating is supposed to favour McCain, but thus far, he looks uncomfortable and his answers have lacked specifics.
2.08: Obama has answered the first question from the audience, saying the American people need a rescue package of their own, and vowing to cut taxes, help first home buyers and create projects to keep and get people in jobs.
2.05: Welcome to this live updates blog of the second US presidential debate between Republican candidate John McCain and the Democrat's Barack Obama.
The debate, from Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee, is the second of three nationally televised opportunities for the two presidential candidates to go head-to-head.
With exactly four weeks until the election Obama currently leads McCain in most national polls by around eight per cent.
Today's debate will focus heavily on American domestic policy, a topic thought to favour Obama.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
