Two weeks before the first presidential debate even takes place on September 26 between Barack Obama and John McCain, transcripts of that debate have been secretly disclosed by private sources. In an exclusive to the Huffington Post, here is an excerpt:
MODERATOR: Sen. McCain, you and Sen. Obama have very different views on the Surge. Why was your vote in support the right one?
SEN. McCAIN: I understand war. I believed at the time that the Surge would protect our American troops and bring down the level of violence in Iraq. And, my friends, that's what's happening. Iraq is becoming a much safer country. And that's thanks to the Surge and the great leadership of General David Patraeus. When I voted for the Surge, I was told it would end my candidacy. But I would rather lose an election than lose a war. I will always put America first. As a former POW, I understand we have to fight and win. Just like I will fight for every American.
MODERATOR: Senator Obama, your response?
SEN. OBAMA: Saying the Surge is working is looking at the reality backwards. Even if we accepted that the Surge itself is "working" -- it's the wrong solution. The solution isn't fewer American deaths than before the Surge. It's NO American deaths. None. We shouldn't be there.
A decrease in violence from its peak doesn't mean the Surge stopped the violence in Iraq. It just returned the violence to the disastrous levels from a year before the Surge. That's not acceptable. We shouldn't be there.
Arguing that the Surge is working because there are fewer American deaths is like saying, someone sees a street fight and puts a helmet on, and walks into it. So, instead of having every bone in his body broken and his head bashed in, only all his bones are broken. He shouldn't have been in the fight in the first place.
Having fewer deaths than before the Surge wasn't the goal. The goal was ending the Iraq War. It was getting the Sunnis and Shi'ites to unite so they can take control of their own country - which they aren't doing and can't do as long as we're there. Surging.
I've proposed drawing down our troops in 16 months - the exact same time frame that the Iraqi's themselves have now called for. If we had started that careful, sensible withdrawal back in January, 2007, when George Bush initiated his Surge, and John McCain supported it - those same 16 months would be up by now. And we could have been out of Iraq. Today. And John McCain wants to argue that the Surge is working?? We shouldn't be there.
Instead, George Bush and John McCain pushed for a Surge, pushed to prolong this horrible war. Tours have duty have increased. Horrifying violence and death has continued. And John McCain wants to tell those American and Iraqi families the Surge is working.
Less horrible violence is still horrible violence. Less death is still death. And make no mistake, there is just as much violence and unacceptable death in Iraq today as there was one year before the Surge. The exact same. Four years into the war. We're now in our seventh year.
And we're still fighting. Since the Surge, 1,100 Americans have tragically died. And we're still there. That's why I voted against the Surge before. And why I'd vote for it again, knowing what I know now. Because the Surge prolonged the war. Since the Surge, 32,000 Iraqi civilians have died - and that's more Iraqi deaths in the year following the Surge than the year before it. More! That's not "working" in any definition I know.
We shouldn't even be there. The Surge prolonged the war. Sunnis and Shi'ites are still divided. That's why I voted against the Surge -- and it's why I believe it's wrong that John McCain voted to keep, keep, keep prolonging the Iraq War.
Is the Surge working? The only people the Surge is truly working for are Republican politicians trying to justify their vote getting us into the war in the first place.
MODERATOR: Sen. McCain, you have 15 seconds for a rebuttal.
SEN. McCAIN: I understand war. As a former POW, I know we have to keep fighting. And I'll fight for you, my friends. And I have confidence that my great vice president, Sarah Palin, understands war, too, and can command the American war effort in Iraq, Pakistan, and, if it happens, Iran.
MODERATOR: Pakistan?
SEN. McCAIN: I'm sorry, I mean, Afghanistan.
MODERATOR: Sen. Obama, the next question is for you. Speaking of Sarah Palin, she has said that her experience in government exceeds yours. How do you reply?
SEN. OBAMA: With much respect to Ms. Palin, I've been a U.S. senator and Illinois state senator for 12 years. She's been Alaska state governor and mayor of Wasilla for 3-1/2 years. I don't follow her math. I should say, by the way, that Illinois has 30 million people, who I represent domestically and internationally. My former state district in Chicago alone had 650,000 people - that one district is the same population as the entire state of Alaska. When Ms. Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla, she got 616 votes. I don't follow her math.
MODERATOR: Sen. McCain, your response?
SEN. McCAIN: In well-over one year as governor, Sarah Palin got executive experience and showed the outside-the-box kind of thinking that put her state's jet for sale on eBay. You see, my friends, that's what a maverick does. And when she was mayor of Wasilla, she was so popular that when she ran for re-election, she got almost 50% more votes than the time before.
MODERATOR: Sen. Obama, you have 15 seconds.
SEN. OBAMA: You do understand that the Alaska jet wasn't actually sold on eBay. They had to hire a private broker. And still, they were only able to get $600,000 less than its original purchase price. By the way, I put some of my old CDs on eBay, too. Though mine sold.
MODERATOR: Senator McCain, we've seen the economy suddenly take center stage in the campaign. How will you get it back on track?
SEN. McCAIN: The truth is that the fundamentals of the American worker is strong. That's what I've meant when I've spoken about the economy being fundamentally sound. I believe in the American worker, even if my opponents do not. We'll have more transparency on Wall Street in an McCain-Palin Administration. And I'll finally make Washington responsive by working across the aisle in Congress. In a McCain-Palin Administration
MODERATOR: Sen. Obama, do you agree?
SEN. OBAMA: Oh, wait. I'm sorry. Was that a serious question? John McCain has repeatedly said before the Wall Street crash on Monday that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And he even said it that very day. We know what he meant. John McCain has voted 19 times against minimum wage increases and against support of the American worker. He's said he isn't an expert on the economy. And the expert who John McCain did have help author his economic plan, Phil Graham, has said we're just in a "mental recession" and a "nation of whiners." A man who helped write the very banking laws that are at the core of causing this banking crisis. A man who likely would become Secretary of the Treasury if Sen. McCain get elected.
MODERATOR: Senator McCain, you have 15 seconds for a rebuttal
SEN. McCAIN: As a former POW, and part of the McCain-Palin Administration, I will fight for you and will always put America First. Are my 15 seconds up yet?
MODERATOR: The next question is for Sen. Obama. Senator, Sarah Palin has said she believes the Iraq War is a mission from God. How do you respond?
SEN. OBAMA: I don't. This election isn't between me and Sarah Palin. My own vice-presidential nominee is Joe Biden, and I have full confidence he'll be ready for their debate.
No, the election is between John McCain and me. It's about John McCain voting with George Bush nearly 95% of the time and saying he agrees with George Bush on all the big issues. It's about John McCain saying the economy is fundamentally strong. About John McCain voting against all women's issues and equal pay. About John McCain regularly not voting for veteran's bills, including the recent GI benefits bill that passed 75-22. About John McCain regularly saying he has to check with his staff when asked a question he doesn't want to answer.
This election is about John McCain's judgment and decision-making. The world is a terribly dangerous place today. We see it in the recent fighting between Georgia and Russia. Sen. McCain likes to say "We'll all Georgians." Well, when the president of Georgia needed help ...he didn't call Sen. McCain. He didn't call me. He didn't call Sarah Palin. He called the person who I chose as my vice president, Joe Biden.
That's what the election is about. Judgment. On the economy, the housing crisis, lost jobs, Iraq, Afghanistan, the environment, education, alternative energy, and rebuilding America from what Republicans have done to it for the past eight years under George Bush. It's about John McCain, or me.
MODERATOR: Senator McCain, how do you respond to Sarah Palin saying that the Iraq War is a mission from God?
SEN. McCAIN: I will have to check with my staff and get back to you on that.