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The first presidential debate on Friday was originally planned as a forum on foreign policy, but by the end of the night, John McCain and Barack Obama had also touched on the economic crisis, wasteful spending, alternative energy and each man's fitness to lead the country in troubled times. If neither candidate emerged the clear winner after the contentious 90 minutes were up, neither made any big stumbles, either.
Scroll down through the graphics below to get a better picture of this battle of words.
The image below shows the most commonly used words from each candidate, scaled in proportion to frequency.
Created using http://wordle.net/.
The debate began with a discussion of the economy: McCain emphasized the need to cut down on profligate spending in Washington while Obama spoke of help for the middle class and homeowners hurt by the mortgage crisis. Moderator Jim Lehrer eventually steered the conversation to foreign policy, asking the candidates how they would deal with Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Russia.
Key Words In Context
Click the key words below for context from each candidate's remarks.
Where They Focused
In some cases, what the candidates didn't say was as interesting as what they did. Neither Obama nor McCain used the word "bailout," and the only time either mentioned "foreclosures" was when Obama called them the "root problem" of the current economic turmoil. Seeking to tie his opponent to President Bush, Obama mentioned the president by name 10 times. McCain managed to avoid saying Bush's name at all, but found room to refer to Gen. David Petraeus eight times through the night.
