I watched the first McCain-Obama debate last night with my friends Pam and Emily who live on the next block. Besides the fact that I was a sleepy from starting the recording at 11:00, I thought the debate was intriguing and much more substantive than any of the Bush-Kerry debates in 2004. Finally, we got some relief from the increasing nastiness and ridiculousness of the campaigns (McCain saying he wanted to cancel the debate was ludicrous posturing) to hear real positions on real issues from these two men who want to be president. Obama obviously looked stronger and more in control during the economic portion of the debate as he tied McCain to the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration, but McCain kept getting shots in during discussion about Pakistan and Afghanistan and Iran. You can't deny that McCain has decades of experience being tangentially involved in foreign affairs and that experience is important, but I still disagree with his opinions on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
I thought the most striking part of the debate coverage came after the debate was over and Brian Williams turned to interviews on first impressions of each candidate’s performance in the debate. Joe Biden was up first, chiming on how well he thought Obama did. Then, rather than turning to Sarah Palin, we heard from….Rudy Giuliani? What the heck? You could see how annoyed Brian Williams was when he said that they had invited Sarah Palin to be interviewed and she declined. Also, how tan is Brian Williams? So tan!
This was just the latest in a long series of moves to keep Palin out of the media. Note to McCain campaign: stop hiding Palin away from the media and the American public. If the McCain campaign thinks she’s a competent public servant and solid candidate for the vice presidency, then they should put her out there and let the voters see what they’d be getting. Not putting her out there just makes them look like they have something to hide. I suspect they do, but put her out there and make me eat my words. If nothing else, it would save me from having to listen to Rudy Giuliani, the Republican politician I dislike the most.
Do you think the VP debate will actually happen?
8 comments:
I think it will happen, but the GOP will do something ridiculous to over-structure or limit the format.
Oooh, that is a good call. Who said it?
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have an election just about the issues, without vitriol and putting down the opposite side. It's about the future of our nation, not about who "wins" the battle of words.
I agree that it's not about putting the other candidate down, but I do think there's merit and importance to electing a president who is an effective communicator, who can express herself or himself verbally in a competent manner. Saying that one candidate did better than the other in one section of the debate isn't a comment on who took cheap shots, it's an opinion about who sounded like they knew more and could communicate their beliefs and knowledge most effectively.
I thought this was a fair post. I agree that the Republicans need to start letting Palin loose so to speak. The bump from her "newness" is starting to wear out and by time November comes it will be about the issues.
Oh, and most Republicans don't like Giuliani either :)
I've been longing for both the Republican and Democratic parties to disappear since 1980.
I understand that the Obama rallies are drawing 25,000 to 30,000 supporters while McCain is lucky to top out at 10,000 for his. What does this mean??
McCain supporters have jobs.
Mom, George Washington warned about the Party system in the 1790s too. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it. I believe my personal views are too varied to be classified.
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