Saturday, September 27, 2008

FIRST REACTION

It wasn't as exciting as it could have been.

Because McCain didn't make any of his usual more obvious blunders (confusing Iranians with Sunni Arabs, identifying the head of Spain as the leader of a hostile country, etc.) though at times he certainly looked pretty confused, or strung out a series of non sequiters that had me going huh?

And Obama was too nice. It's a good trait in a president, to keep calm and composed and focus on the facts and not react with personal attacks, etc. But McCain was often condescending and definitely went personal on Obama several times in ways that I would have liked Obama to get personal back (e.g. Obama didn't challenge McCain on his veterans credentials by pointing out that McCain voted against increasing benefits for Iraq veterans and has a record of voting against legislation which would benefit veterans as well as active troops).

He also didn't jump on McCain when McCain talked about solving the POW/MIA problem. What McCain did was get the Vietnamese to seal the POW records so no one could really find out about MIAs and coincidentally couldn't expose the records of McCain's time as a POW there.

But over all, he answered most of McCain's attacks with reasoned corrections and generous acknowledgment when there was agreement, while McCain seemed overly pleased with himself when he thought he made a good crack at Obama's expense, or when he thought he got something right.

The visual impression couldn't be missed though. Barack was calmer, handsomer, taller, younger, more articulate, made his points more clearly and connected them more logically.

But there's no doubt McCain was whiter, more smart ass, simpler, more repetitive, and meaner, which, obviously some voters will like, unfortunately.

The real sparks and fun, I'm hoping, will come next week with Biden and Palin. Can't wait.

12 comments:

Harryn Studios said...

agreed - and despite his often hostile posture and inaccuracies he came off as a spunky old, fighting irish, white man with memorable sound bytes - particulary the "you're wrong" thing - he stayed on the offensive and rope-a-doped obama into defending insignificant jabs which kept barak from landing any solids to further disfigure mccain's arrogance ...

instead of being the 'gentleman boxer' i wish barak would have thrown mccain off balance with a few well placed quips like, "john, this is the 21st century" or "keep your story straight" or "you may want to check your facts" ...
but nooooo, obama wanted to remain dignified and respectable - which i'm affraid could end up costing him votes in this theater ...

don't want to place too much emphasis on this, but i think for a lot of uptight, fearfull conservatives - mccain is looking like the great white hope ...

JIm said...

Obama's Interpetation of Free Speech-Echos of Woodrow Wilson???

Obama campaign cracks down on misleading TV ads
September 23rd, 2008The Barack Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.

JIm said...

Obama campaign goes after 2nd amendment advocates in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Does anyone see a pattern here?

"The effort appeared to be part of a move by the Obama campaign to block advertisements to which it objects. The campaign also sent "threatening" letters to several news agencies in Pennsylvania and Ohio demanding they stop airing ads exposing Obama's gun stance, according to the National Rifle Association."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=76308

JIm said...

Barak should have checked with Henry Kissenger first.

Fact Check: Kissinger Defends McCain's Iran Stance
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Share September 26, 2008 11:54 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came to the defense of longtime friend Sen. John McCain following Friday's presidential debate saying he "would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level."

"Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality," Kissinger said in statement issued by the McCain campaign.

JIm said...

Barak's most akward moment was forgetting the name of the killed soldier whose bracelet he war. He had to check the bracelet to get the name right.

"I've got a bracelet, too," Obama said

Lally said...

Jim, if you monopolize the comments, I'll have to cut you off, like a drunk who monopolizes not just the booze but the conversation and attention. Your Kissinger quote is meaningless, especially coming from a man who has confessed to lying publicly, often, in order to achieve what he thought or thinks are politically important goals, In fact, CNN News showed the clip of Kissinger saying "no pre-conditions" on camera in front of an audience that included former Secretaries of State. The moderator asked him again "no pre-conditions on talks with Iran?" and he repeated it, "no preconditions." So once again Obama told the truth, McCain lied, and his advisor, Kissinger, lied to support him, and the rightwing media continues the lie, and the lock step followers of the right, like yourself, repeat it endlessly as if it's fact. As they say, who are we gonna believem the rightwing media and a self confessed liar, or the actual factual evidence.

Lally said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lally said...

And if you want to bring up the bracelet, the fact is Obama has had his bracelet throughout the campaign and never brings it up as opposed to McCain who mentions his bracelet in every speech, as if it somehow makes him heroci and more compassionate. No, what it makes him is a show off (which people who know him have said about him since his academy days) and someone who exploits others for his political ends.

Anonymous said...

It would be more honest for McCain and Palin to use the phrase "Two Bullies" instead of 2 mavericks in their campaigning. Both demonstrate the desire to push people and things out of their way with power & force.

It's very simple. What kind of leader do we want? A leader that chooses weapons over diplomacy to secure world peace & cooperation? In contemporary parenting terms, I want leaders that "use their words."

McCain studies war and projects 'might and brawn' as the solution to all the future problems of this country and this world; his body may be free but he remains captured intellectually, and I would not choose a leader that clings firmly to old, destructive solutions.

Obama has made constructive change a theme of his own life, has worked for positive, longlasting change in the lives of the people he has chosen to serve as a senator & as a community organizer (yes! after 8 years of GW its' easy to forget that politicians are meant to SERVE THE PUBLIC and not their own self-serving visions of glory) - and his life & his policies are informed by the belief that people working together to educate, feed and take care of their neighbors and fellow citizens is the bedrock of America.

Is this naive, you might ask? Does diplomacy & non-violence stand a chance against the insanity of Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong II? I think the lives of MLK and Gandhi amply demonstrate the power & strength of positive, thoughtful action.

It's time to evolve, people. Voting for McCain is, in the words of Blanche DuBois 'hanging back with the apes.'

JIm said...

The kid ,

Your are naive to the point of lunacy. At some point, an American will fight, when bad folks want to kill us and our families because we don't think women, gays, anyone who believes in democratic rights, must give up those rights to a supposed greater good of, Shariah Law, where all western ideals are overturn.

Hopefully your idiocy does not become widspread.

Lally said...

No Jim, hopefully your idiocy, which has ruled the country and tried to rule the world, through your rightwing Republican leaders for the past eight years, is finally on the wane and will be left behind "in the dustbin of history."

Unknown said...

You know, with Nixon, Reagan and now Bush, you would think that people would have learned that the Republican party has become nothing more than a criminal enterprise. Nixon should have been the death of the party. Why people keep voting for this bunch is beyond me.