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Obama at Saddlebag Church
He does nuance well, but did he realize he was showing up for a gunfight? Did he realize McCain was rolling with loaded dice? When have you ever seen questions for presidential candidates in a debate about the 'existence of evil' and orphans of the world. 'Let me tell you a story. I promise it will be my last.' It should be patently obvious to even the freshest faced voter that these questions were designed to show off McCain's perceived strengths, and paint Obama as a marshmallow celebrity also ran. Sigh. Talk about dealing marked cards from the bottom of the deck...
Are the Democrats capable of finding a David to go out to meet the Goliath of Big Corporations and Big Religion? Is there anybody besides Crazy Uncle Ralph who can actually fight for the interests of the little guy, the consumer, the guy who carries a lunch bucket against the predations of the privileged insiders? I don't want a President who will fight and defeat Evil--this is not Ahura Mazda vs Ahriman on battlefield Earth. I just want an end to concealed commodities markets and a bulwark against fascists ascending to the Supreme Court. Is that too much to ask?
Comments (5)
Sign... what you said.
I keep thinking "piggies at the trough." The swine have done very well the past seven years and they will destroy Obama to keep their position at the trough.
August 16, 2008 11:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I meant to say "sigh."
August 16, 2008 11:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Obama did a great job of displaying his ability to see the big picture. McCain's focus and one track mind was on WAR - old and new. Evil is "Islamic extremists" and Russia and his damn prisoner of war stories (YES, WE KNOW ALREADY!), and his own personal adoption story, etcetera. Obama looked at the bigger picture of how to prevent orphans, abortions, evil, etc. If McCain wasn't asked directly to answer questions about domestic issues, he didn't think of them. I thought he came off as very self-centered and set in his ways; in other words, he sounded old. Obama had a more open-minded, fresh, welcoming, tone in his discussion. What can we expect, really, Obama knew ahead of time who is audience was going to be. I'm glad he showed courage to answer truthfully and honestly.
August 17, 2008 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I agree he appeared thoughtful and sincere, and was considering each question seriously, and answering as honestly as he could hearing them for the first time. But they were chosen to put him at a disadvantage against the answers McCain was designed to give, his Vietnamese captivity, his wife in Rwanda, his adopted orphan daughter, his determination to chase Bin Laden to the gates of Hell, to oppose Evil with all his might, and to call upon people to devote themselves to a higher calling. This may all be simple minded to a fault--but as far as the congregation went, who paid for their seats, I might add, he pushed ALL their buttons. When do the rights of the conceived begin? As if their is an objective answer to such a question. Every SC Justice appointed by a Democratic president was a mistake. The audience had to be asked to stand for Obama, they needed no rejoiner to stand for McCain. The whole thing was designed--it was pure spectacle. Obama could not win against this set of questions, in this context. It was political Kabuki at it's most disciplined.
August 17, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're right that the cards were stacked in favor of McCain from the beginning. I wondered about the wisdom of Obama agreeing to play in this forum, where he was almost certain to lose. But Obama's team probably felt that declining the invitation would be even more damaging, particularly given all the questions circulating about Obama's "real" faith. By giving Obama the opportunity to discuss his Christian faith in a Christian (sort of) church, Warren probably helped legitimate Obama as a true Christian, and Obama's campaign probably saw the value of that.
The good news for Obama supporters is that Obama did pretty well and McCain, while clearly winning the game with the live audience, may have actually overplayed his cards a bit. While Obama appeared thoughtful (if slightly less engaging than McCain), McCain seemed overly gung-ho about war and far too closely aligned with recent Republican policies, which are declining in popularity. In the current political climate, that may hurt him. And having all those fundamentalist Christians cheering wildly for him may not help McCain with the more moderate independents and swing voters who ultimately will determine who wins the upcoming election.
August 17, 2008 8:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
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