Debate’s Over. What did you think?
The second Presidential debate is over. So who won? Who took cheap shots? What did you learn about the candidates?
This is what I learned:
Throughout the length of this entire campaign, Barack Obama has be steady, consistent, and always — presidential. The millions of Americans who watched last night’s debate again saw a man with integrity, wisdom and maturity explain his positions and the crisis we all find ourselves in at this moment. Judging from every poll I’ve seen since the conclusion of the debate, the vast majority of Americans saw what I saw: a leader.
In contrast, the John McCain we saw last night did not live up to his billing as an “experienced soldier
ready to lead”. We saw a man who was not civil, was not respectful of others, did not have a full understanding of the economic complexities that have led to this crisis, nor did he show an ability to explain the situation to the American people.
One of the things Americans need most at this time is a leader who can calm us and explain to us what is going on and why it will all be OK eventually. John McCain is not that man.
One remarkable thing about McCain’s performance was his ability to at once come off as both old and immature. His tendency to condescend — not just Obama, but audience members as well — reveals, I think, an insecurity that a man his age, with his vast years of experience, should not have.
Of course, much has already be made about McCain’s reference to Obama as “that one”.
McCain’s attacks on Obama for being too much of a hawk for announcing his intentions to chase Osama bin Laden into the mountains of Pakistan, if need be, only set himself up for the counterpunch any political watcher could see coming from a mile away. “Bomb, bomb, bomb… Bomb, bomb Iran…”
By the way, you’ll be hard pressed to find an American who doesn’t support sending a missile into Bin Laden’s cave, no matter where it is.
As Obama’s lead in the polls grows, McCain and his lipsticked pit-bull have ramped up the intensity and the personal nature of the attacks, but by doing so McCain reveals more and more about his own character. And the American people aren’t liking what they’re seeing.
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24 Comments
Matt
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 8:50 PM
Loved Meg Whitman, Ebay Chairman and former CEO for Treasurer comment by McCain because “she knows how to create jobs”. Ebay laid off 10% of our workforce yesterday.
Antonio D. French
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 9:37 PM
First, I think Tom Brokaw did a great job. I think Obama gave very thoughtful answers. I think McCain HATES Barack Obama and I think that came across to the viewing audience.
Davis
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 9:45 PM
Obama wins, hands down.
Alexis
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 9:52 PM
Health care is the most important issue to me. I think Obama understands the issue better than McCain. He said he thinks health care is a right. HE’S RIGHT! McCain, who has always had government health insurance, thinks it’s a privilege of elites like him and other members of Congress. I want in on their plan!
Margaret
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 9:55 PM
Obama was articulate and clear about his solutions. McCain was all over the place. He was angry and didn’t present a clear plan for fixing the economic crisis, the health care crisis, or even the education crisis.
JOHN WILLIS
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 9:57 PM
What was up with John McCain calling Obama out of his name? “This guy”? McCain needs to act his age and show some respect for the next President of the United States.
Kath314
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 10:00 PM
Chris Matthews just said Obama was blessed at birth by a great smile. LOL. Jesus, the mainstream media just loves the Obamessiah!
john w.
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 at 11:08 PM
I’m just happy the GOP is sinking in quicksand. It’s a beautiful thing.
The Obamanator
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 12:20 AM
To John Willis: What McCain actually said was “THIS ONE”.
Look, my friends, the point is that John McCain is the one candidate in this race that is not friends with terrorists and who is not a muslim. Tell the pollsters whatever you need to in order to look your colored friends in the eye, but on November 4th when you’re in that voting booth, you know what to do.
julie
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 6:04 AM
obama talks to us like hes talking among friends…hes down to earth, articulate and there is a message. mccain on the other hand looks like a puppet on strings….he spouts talking points, makes comments without substance and if there is a message, its lost everytime he says look, my friends”.
John
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 6:24 AM
Obama said we should use the military in cases of genocide.
I guess he didnt consider gasing thouands of Kurds as genocide?
Otherwise, I thought both did well.
flyover
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 10:55 AM
Is Obama in love with himself, or what? I think he really believes his own BS. Dangerous.
Obama Mama
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 11:17 AM
In love with himself? Flyover, you need to just get over it. Barack Obama is a smart, personable, and as Antonio said “presidential”. John McCain is psycho. I swear he’s bi-polar. In one breathe, he hates big government, in the next he supports creating the largest new government bureaucracy in American history: the Department of Homeland Security. As long as it involves buying more guns, he’s for it. If involves buying medicines for kids, he’s against it. John McCain can go to hell.
john w.
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 12:26 PM
John McCain is a fool. Thank goodness he losing. Thank goodness his running mate is a vacuous dolt. Civil discourse gone… out comes the fear and smear. Hate Obama! He’s black! He’s a neeeeeeegro, don’t you know? He’s a filthy terrorist muslim and a L I B E R A L ! ! Vote for the rich white guy!
notalacyfan
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 7:31 PM
NObamabots should stop drinking the NObama kool aid! The only education NObama believes in is distributing $50 million dollars to unrepentent domestic terrorist who bombed America Bill Ayers foundation that teach Chicago’s youth to revolt against America and their parents. NObama did not give not one red cent to Chicago’s educational programs to teach the youth business, finance, math, science, reading, writing, etc. to uplift themselves. Americans will reject NObama’s social program that allow the good ole boys network to own the local network that spreads misinformation to its communities to keep them barefoot and pregnant! NObamabots need to come into the light and stop being a mark for this con-artist NObama! God Bless U and God Bless America!
flyover
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 8:02 PM
I am waiting for the story here about the new reports that Obama was a member of the “New Party” an offshoot of the Democratic Socialists of America. This story has uncovered evidence that Obama was a member of the DSA. Oops.
kjoe
Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 8:15 PM
McCain made a proposal to buy up mortgages. It changes the legislation from July—-which required lenders to absorb some of the costs of redoing mortgages they unwisely allowed. McCain changes that—the borrowers and the taxpayers pay all the costs.
Obama has jumped on it already. He is not in a prevent defense because he is ahead—he is fighting on the basis of real issues.
Here’s the statement from the campaign’s economic policy director, Jason Furman.
Senator McCain’s first response to this economic crisis was to say that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Since then, he’s acknowledged that there is a crisis and offered multiple plans, sometimes conflicting. Last night, in his latest attempt to get it right, he threw out a proposal that appeared to give the Treasury authority it already has to re-structure troubled mortgages. But now that he’s finally released the details of his plan, it turns out it’s even more costly and out-of-touch than we ever imagined. John McCain wants the government to massively overpay for mortgages in a plan that would guarantee taxpayers lose money, and put them at risk of losing even more if home values don’t recover. The biggest beneficiaries of this plan will be the same financial institutions that got us into this mess, some of whom even committed fraud.
Since this beginning of this crisis, Barack Obama has demanded that any rescue plan must protect taxpayers and ensure that they share in any profit once the economy recovers, and he worked to include that principle in the plan that passed Congress. John McCain’s plan to overpay for bad mortgages by handing taxpayer dollars over to big financial institutions is erratic policy-making at its worst, and it’s not the change we need to strengthen our
notalacyfan
Thursday, 9th October 2008 at 9:05 AM
kjoe,
You mean NObama who continued campaigning and refused to even go back to Washington and do his job of representing the people of Illinois when he was first told of the economic crisis! Now, Americans no why NObama didn’t bother to even represent his constituency during this economic crisis because NObama does not have clean hands. NObama received more money from FannieMae, FreddieMac and Lehman Brothers than any politician in U.S. history which has contributed to the mortgage meltdown/economic crisis facing America and the world today.
McCain is absolutely correct, $300 billion of the $700 billion rescue package should be set aside to renegotiate working class families mortgages who were swindled by loan officers, mortgage brokers, real estate professionals who sold them homes that were not worth the paper homeowners signed at closing at unconscionable loan terms for HUGE commissions with the blessings of crooked politicians like NObama.
NObama continues to distract people by hollaring DEREGULATION, when in fact, FannieMae and FreddieMac are quasi-government companies that purchased more than 80 percent of these subprime loans along with the private investment banker Lehman Brothers that were NEVER regulated by the government because of democratic opposition.
As a Real Estate Broker and a former bank regulator, there is no amount of regulation that will eliminate greedy loan officers mortgage brokers, real estate professionals, and politicians from conspiring to deceive taxpayers to pad their own pockets. These abusers must be hauled off to jail and the key thrown away when their hands are caught in the cookie jar!
kjoe, you can twist the story any way you see fit, but it’s just that a story and the truth will never be reflected in what you see! It’s long overdue for us to stop selling out our sisters and brothers for personal greed. It shouldn’t matter who the suppresser is just the fact that people are suppressed is enough to outrage any descent human being.
It’s no secret why both Democrats and Republicans do not support McCain/Palin because they know that these two Mavericks will tear down Washington’s playhouse. Americans will reject this fraud NObama on November 4, I just hope that the voters voice is not silenced as it was in the 2000 general election by the U.S. Supreme Court and 2008 primaries by the Democratic Elites! McCain/Palin for everyday people and DEMOCRACY!
kjoe
Friday, 10th October 2008 at 1:35 AM
notacyfan—you are living in a fairyland. No pundit, and almost no politicians of the democrats, republicans, conservatives, or liberals or moderates can even figure out what the proposal is—and no one is endorsing it. It is a mammoth blunder which republicans are hoping no one will notice if they pretend he did not say it.
It is total stupidity.
notalacyfan
Friday, 10th October 2008 at 8:31 AM
kjoe,
McCain hit the bull’s eye with his proposal. Real estate is what drives the American and global economy and must be stabilized. Working class families were manipulated by abusers who exploited loopholes in the government sponsored mortgage programs to make themselves rich at the expense of America’s working class families and world economy by using overinflated appraisals and conspiring with loan officers, mortgage brokers, real estate professionals, appraisers and politicians to sell homes to credit worthy and subprime borrowers at outrageous purchase prices and loan terms.
Pundits are relying on many people to not understand that government already owns more than 80 percent of these homes because of FannieMae and FreddieMac who were the biggest purchasers of these loans in the secondary market. I agree with McCain and Carly Fiornia, the right thing to do at this stage in the game is for government to renegotiate these loans at favorable terms to working class families so that they experience a drop in their monthly mortgage payments which will tremendously ease their financial burden, reduce home foreclosures, place a floor on home values and stabilize the stock market because investor confidence will be restored.
It’s so interesting to see Democrats against McCain’s proposal when this is supposed to be the party for BIG government to help working class families improve their lives. However, it’s no surprise why Republicans are skeptical of McCain’s proposal because they don’t like BIG government nor do they like rescuing people that appear to have overextended themselves in debt by purchase homes and other things they could not afford. Under normal circumstances, I would agree with the Republicans, but the housing crisis facing America today has many victims not just subprime borrowers and people who live wrecklessly.
MCain/Palin for everyday people and reform!
butterfly
Friday, 10th October 2008 at 10:02 AM
I am confused, conservative economic philosophy says that if everyone acts in their own self-interest, the economy functions best. I thought everyone at the Lehman’s of the world were working in their self interest. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long term interest of the firm. However, all you need is one large bonus to be set for the rest of your life and the rest is just play money. Most of the workers got screwed by the management, but the high earning management walks away with big wallets and little punishment for bringing down the company.
Independent Voter
Friday, 10th October 2008 at 10:19 AM
And now everyone is jumping all over McCain for suggesting $300 billion of $700 billion be used to keep the little guys in their homes while not whispering a word about government’s use of taxpayer dollars to bail out AIG to the tune of $85 billion so these execs could spend $400 thousand to pamper themselves at spas and request additional billions to continue their luxurious lifestyle at taxpayers expense!
Ain’t that America, keeping th good ole boys system intact while the little guys can’t even get crumbs!
kjoe
Friday, 10th October 2008 at 4:16 PM
He has not even made it clear whether the 300 billion would come from the 700 billion, or how his spending freeze would impact it. Get a reality chek, guys.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14430.html
John McCain’s surprise policy offering Tuesday night to have the government buy bad mortgages is bold, sweeping and, well, a bit perplexing to nearly everyone.
From economic experts to political pundits, from liberals to conservatives, the proposal has been greeted with a collective sense of puzzlement that is raising questions not only about the substance of the plan, but of the seeming hastiness surrounding its rollout.
The few details available about McCain’s American Homeownership Resurgence Plan give the impression the plan is “half-baked,” according to Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
“If you’re launching a major new initiative, usually you blitz the cable networks and really try to penetrate the public consciousness. I didn’t see that today,” he said Wednesday.
“It would really frighten me if he actually thought this was good policy,” said Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. “I assume that it’s nothing but a desperation ploy” to show they are doing something “big and bold,” he said.
“It seems hastily put together … given the lack of detail, specificity and overlap with existing programs,” added a Republican financial services lobbyist.
Indeed, McCain’s announcement was accompanied by a fact sheet that raised almost as many questions as it answered………..
john w.
Monday, 13th October 2008 at 6:15 PM
A ha ha ha ha!! I just love reading the hilarious right wing tripe on this blog! It’s truly funnier than fucking Fox News! Notalacyfan and flyover, are you really that fucking stupid? Wake up!
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