Election '08: The Third Round
Last night's debate confirmed something for me: Barack Obama is a very good politician, certainly better from a technical standpoint than John McCain. Both he and McCain performed well. But Obama was able repeatedly to deflect hard-hitting criticism with a smile or an answer that sounded good. (McCain apparently lacks the verbal dexterity to ask the penetrating follow-up question.)
Though ties ordinarily go to the aggressor (which in this case would be the Arizona senator), Obama wins because he didn't lose, at least in the eyes of a public that clearly wants the Republicans out of the White House.
Barring a major tectonic change in our country over the next 19 days, Obama will win the presidency. His ascension will mean that most Americans don't care all that much about:
-- proven character and personal heroism;
-- a track record of significant accomplishment;
-- raising taxes on "the rich" during a recession;
-- a bloated government taking and redistributing even more of the nation's wealth;
-- continued high gas prices;
-- the unborn; and
-- their presidents having significant ties to convicted felons, hate-filled preachers, former domestic terrorists, and voter registration groups up to their petitions in corruption.
That makes me sad for our country. Agreed, John McCain is a flawed candidate. But I'd rather have him and his experience than the personable, smooth-talking liberal from Chicago.
posted by Stan Guthrie at 4:52 PM
StanGuthrie.com
2 Comments:
Hey Stan,
I agree with you! Yes, Obama won the debate, and yes, he will win the election.
But of course, I have to disagree with what you see as the implications of this:
1) Obama has shown more character during this campaign than McCain. McCain has run a horrendous campaign, stirring up anger and hate that should give anyone pause. McCain is still a war hero, but he has tarnished his reputation with this campaign, which is something I think he'll be regretting for a long, long time.
2) Track record - McCain is older, has served longer, etc. We still care about those things, but we're also willing to give the "new guy" a chance, especially when he has proven he can remain calm under pressure, be focused and clear, etc.
3) Raising taxes on the rich - Well, up until George W. Bush we had a "progressive" tax system. Now we have a "regressive" tax system, also known as "trickle down economics." It hasn't worked, it doesn't work, and I'm looking forward to it going back to the way it was before Bush.
4) Bloated government, redistributing wealth - Again, I trust Warren Buffet and all these other economic advisors wouldn't be advising and supporting Obama if they thought all these things were such a bad idea. That gives me confidence in how Obama will deal with the economy.
5) Continued high gas prices - What does either candidate have to do with gas prices?? And, BTW, gas prices are dropping everywhere around where I live right now ... Not that that's necessarily a good thing, but I digress ...
6) The unborn - We still care about the unborn, Stan. Just go to prolifeproobama.com and you'll see why many of us believe Obama will actually do more to reduce abortions than McCain. To suggest we don't care about the unborn is inaccurate.
7) Significant ties to felons, hate-filled preachers, etc. - The list on the McCain-Palin side is just as long, if not longer than Obama-Biden, Stan. Come on, you should know that by now. This is a trumped out charge. Of course we care about our politicians record and who they associate with, and McCain is no "cleaner" than Obama.
Don't be sad. God is still in control.
Steve,
I don't expect to convince you, and I don't know what your voting background has been, so I'm not going to go to the trouble of debating you point by point.
McCain was not my first choice and I do not think he has run a great campaign. But all this upset by Obama supporters about a supposed dirty campaign has rung pretty hollow. McCain by and large has played nice: Do you ever hear him bring up Jeremiah Wright?
And as far as Bush making ours a regressive tax system, you clearly have drunk too much Obama Kool-Aid. Under the income tax system we have now, about 30 percent of filers--the lowest income people--pay no taxes, while the top 10 percent pay 70 percent of the taxes. How much more progressive do you want? Regressive is all the taxes that everyone has to pay on things like food and gas.
Anyway, barring a miracle, it looks as if Obama will get in. I hope you understand that he is a smart, talented, young, family-man, big-spending, inexperienced, pro-abortion liberal, because that is what you (and we) are about to get.
If you're comfortable with that, by all means vote for him. But please, please don't salve your conscience with the fiction that abortions will somehow decrease under his administration. That's a pipe-dream.
Stan
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