Tuesday, October 07, 2008

McCain-Obama tonight: a few thoughts

A commenter at Instapundit said:

I thought it was pretty much a rehash of the first debate, but the format did not favor McCain since his age and injuries make his movement around the floor so much less fluid than Obama's. McCain did tone down his expressions of contempt for Obama and his experience etc., which may actually help him. But I don't think McCain gained anything, so he will probably keep losing ground.
Allowing for some shade of difference on each point, I agree with the commenter except that McCain’s opening promise he wanted the federal government to pick up the burden for people with mortgage payment problems wasn’t anything like a rehash.

It must have surprised a lot of people and gotten them thinking: “Darn! I’m up to date on my mortgage payments. I guess I can’t quality for this new government entitlement McCain’s proposing. If I fall behind on my payments, can I then qualify? What if I don’t pay my property taxes? Will McCain arrange for the federal government to pay them for me?”

I’ve been listening to the Fox commenters. They agree the debate wasn’t a game-changer.

So do I.

And you?

If limited to three words to sum how each candidate came across, I’d go with -

Obama - informed, articulate, cool

McCain – strained, repetitive, pleading

I’ll bet a lot of you will disagree with me.

What say you?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

John:

Agree.

To be President you must be prepared for the ultimate battle. I never got the sense that McCain was in it to win.

In "Patton", George C. Scott uttered the secret to victory ..."and if we are not successful, let no man come back alive."

You gotta want it.

Ken
Dallas

Anonymous said...

JinC:

I would agree with your assessment. McCain seems to be lost in the wilderness - grasping at something that he think will pull him out of the campaign fog into which he has wandered. What he should have replied to the question concerning the sacrifices that Americans should be asked to make is that all Americans must tighten their belts. That means prioritizing and buedgeting: 1. paying the mortgage on time, more peanut butter and jelly and less steak. Learn the art of cooking rather than relying solely on fast food. Walking or car pooling. Asking schools to consider a longer day and a four day school week so as to cut down on heating and fuel costs. These would be augmented by cost cutting measures within the oval office. THe governemtn wold not be paying for a western white house because I would be in residence at Camp David and Washington all throughout my administration. There would be no limousines for anyone but the president and vice-president. Everyone else can use the excellendt Washington metro system. There will be other more substantive cuts as well but these would be ones that could and would be immediately made to show that we are all in this together.
I agree also with your comment about the mortgage situation. Why is it that the person who religiously pays their mortgage (the first bill I pay each month) whould be penalized in favor of those who bought a home beyond their means and does not make that payment the priority?
cks

Anonymous said...

I thought the format sucked. It certainly wasn't a town forum. The moderator was awful and didn't control the debate properly. The candidates didn't answer the questions, the just spouted what has been said again and again.

McCain may have picked up some voters with the socialist idea of rescuing those bad mortgagees, and he certainly didn't lose any, so no doubt, he won the debate.

McCain is clearly the best man for the job but he's a pisspoor communicator therefore, the ignorant hordes are left to believe the press and therefore, Obama will most likely win the election.

McCain's only hope is that the racists (estimated at 30 percent of the democrat party)will pull it through for him. They will vote for anyone but a black man.

Anonymous said...

Dittoes to Ken in Dallas. 'Nuf said.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be too hard on John McCain. This election long ago moved beyond personalities, and McCain may simply have been overtaken by events.

The American People have regularly swung between periods of desire for opportunity and growth, offset by periods of desire for stability and security. Given the tumult of the past year, many Americans appear willing to accept greater government control and regulation to obtain less volatility. This favors the Democratic party and its candidate.

McCain did the best he could, but this election was always Obamas to win or lose... and so far, he has not lost it.

Anonymous said...

The mortgage forgiveness was stunning.

I also agree with 6:13 that, when asked about sacrifice, we are not seeing any profiles in courage. When I have heard such questions, or questions about priorities, or questions about which promises can't be kept due to the $700 billion bailout ("rescue") I say to myself, "I will vote for the one that tells the truth." Hasn't seemed to happen yet.

Anonymous said...

By Michelle Malkin:

Question: “Who was the Obama plant at last night’s debate?”

Answer: “The Obama plant was Tom Brokaw.”
---------------
There is a lot of chatter today about how Tom Brokaw kept the questions away from anything that would harm Obama. He even handpicked the questions from the audience.

I do believe anyone not noticing the lack of meaty questions for McCain to debate is, shortsighted, or perhaps blinded by the messianic light.

In my opinion, anyone making a decision based on marketing, talking point sound bites, gotcha gaffes, and known biased new reporting, gets what they deserve.

Debates? The MSM wants us to think this is a debate, but add in the phony polling data, and it is a control mechanism. Who doesn’t get that?

Anonymous said...

Even considering everything, this Election continues to be a referendum on whether an untried first term Senator is qualified and ready to be President of the United States.

Anonymous said...

cks for President!!!