Obama concedes that, with the nation sliding into recession and the cost of the proposed bailout, he won't be able to spend as much money as he was planning on spending. "Some of the things that I think need to be done will have to be delayed," he said.

McCain has a refrain that might have worked 20 years ago -- it certainly worked for Ronal Reagan -- that we need to cut government spending, that government is out of control, that government is the problem. And yet both he and Obama are ready to dole out $700 billion to cover bad debt from the Wall Street debacle. Question from the back of the hall: Is this a good time to be arguing that big government is the enemy? Is it?

It would be stunning if Lehrer would ask these guys about the national debt. Neither of them ever address it when they campaign. It was bad enough when Bush took office -- about $5.7 trillion. It is now approaching $10 trillion and headed toward $11 trillion. It is now approaching 70 percent of GDP. No one really talks about this, and the media hardly ever brings it up.