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Your thoughts on the Obama-Biden rally?
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| What do you think of Obama's selection for VP? |
| He picked the right candidate |
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29% |
[ 5 ] |
| He picked the wrong candidate (explain) |
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41% |
[ 7 ] |
| Not Sure/Don't Care |
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29% |
[ 5 ] |
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| Total Votes : 17 |
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| Author |
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theysayjump
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 Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject:  |
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I don't know a whole lot about the American political system and if I could vote I'd probably register (which I think is pretty shit in itself) as a Democrat, so my view is based pretty much on what I see/hear/read of the two candidates.
Watching McCain speak publicly makes me cringe as he just comes off as fake and insincere. Tonight he couldn't even recall the story of him being a P.O.W. without using the teleprompter and his body actions when pointing to the crowd or making a fist are so robotic and unrealistic that to me it just takes away any authenticity in what he's saying. Watching McCain tonight I saw about 7 black people, 3 Asian people and some others that weren't white, but watching Obama that stadium was filled with people from every walk of life and that to me says a lot. |
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dmorris68
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| hehehhehe wrote: |
| doylnea wrote: |
| But I have to think Palin is in for a world of hurt when she has to debate a senator with 30 years of foreign policy experience, someone who has traveled the world and someone who has been vetted for 30 years. |
Yeah I agree, I was thinking that too. |
No argument there -- she seems poised, articulate, and smart enough, but she's not accustomed to swimming with the sharks so to speak. I would give the advantage to Biden no doubt, as I would to most any career Washington politician, but we'll have to see I guess. If she holds her own, though, then she will further strengthen herself and her ticket.
Regarding Obama's executive experience with running his campain, I guess I can concede that point. Still, the scorecard is in Palin's favor. Regarding the populations that she's governed, again I see that as a red herring. Small populations face the same issues as larger ones, just perhaps on smaller scales. The same sort of decisions have to be made. Larger populations have larger governments with larger staff to help mitigate the load, but the buck still stops with ONE person, so the pressures faced are proportionally similar. As such, I believe Obama has no business claiming more executive experience, to do so is a joke.
As I mentioned before, her daughter's situation doesn't bother me in the least. It should be a non-issue. Palin can still believe in abstinence education (what's wrong with that?) and still have a child who doesn't practice it. As parents who raised three to adulthood, and tried very VERY hard to instill our values in them, my wife and I learned that they are going to be their own individual, and make many decisions we don't approve of. They still turned out okay, and we still love them -- it doesn't change our values though, we would still try to teach them the same things. This is a much bigger issue for the media and the pundits, and I'm convinced the majority of voters will not make it a deciding factor, particularly those who have raised children.
TrooperGate is, IMO, being blown out of proportion because they can't find anything better. Nobody has yet come forward to say Palin herself ordered anything. Loyal or overzealous political aides, especially those with delegated authority, will very often take initiative to act on what they believe to be their boss's best interest. Who of you wouldn't exercise influence, if you had it, to get a loose cannon and very bad dude out of a position where he could leverage his authority for abusive purposes? I would, and I consider myself a moral person. If you read the details behind the case of this trooper, you see that was indeed a lousy person who had no business keeping his job. His personnel file is full of disciplinary actions. He was arrested for DUI in his patrol car. He threatened the lives of Palin's sister and their dad, on a speaker-phone call in which Palin was listening, and I believe it was recorded. He was charged with illegal hunting. He had excessive work absences and tardiness. Those are just off the top of my head, and all while being a trooper. He was suspended or reprimanded numerous times, with a warning in his file saying the next offense would result in termination. Palin has willfully opened herself up to any and all investigation on the matter, and McCain seems convinced by the facts in the case. If he's not worried about it, then I'm not either.
As far as the bridge and the succession rumors, I haven't researched the history and facts of those yet, but I'll accept them as truth. But to me, that demonstrates a politician who is willing to change their position when it makes sense to do so. Changing your mind on issues is a prerogative that we all have. To do so is an admission that we were once wrong, and too many politicians would never admit they were ever wrong, so I find it refreshing when it happens. Why is it we praise some politicians who change their minds on issues, and yet condemn others? It's usually because when they change over to agree with our position, we like it. When they don't, we don't. So the only reason I could see people attacking Palin for no longer supporting the bridge, or succession, or whatever, is because they still support those notions. Remember, "change" is the whole theme of this campaign, no more so than by Obama. It's funny though to see how they like to cherry-pick their opponents "change" agenda, though.
If I had a single complaint about Palin so far, it would be that she went too far with her attacks on Obama, and not far enough with hers and McCain's plans for the future. I've never been a fan of negative campaigning, and compared to a lot of other candidates (Hillary especially) his campaign has been fairly mild. We have to remember that these candidates want to get elected (obviously), and so they hire professionals to help them. Virtually all such "hired guns" will stop at nothing to show their opponent as flawed and unfit, it's how the game has always been played, and unfortunately I don't see that ever changing. I don't think McCain likes it much, because it's not his character, but he probably feels that to a point he has to play the game. He and Obama both *have* put their foot down on forbidding their campaigns to cross certain lines as far as personal attacks, such as Obama regarding Palin's daughter, and McCain regarding Obama's "Muslim" roots and "un-Americanism." So I give both candidates props for having those limits, and begrudge them their attacks on each others' professional reputations. I just wish the negative attacks comprised a smaller portion of their message. But both sides can and will be brutal, because they perceive they have a lot to lose.
| theysayjump wrote: |
| Watching McCain speak publicly makes me cringe as he just comes off as fake and insincere. Tonight he couldn't even recall the story of him being a P.O.W. without using the teleprompter and his body actions when pointing to the crowd or making a fist are so robotic and unrealistic that to me it just takes away any authenticity in what he's saying. |
In fact, it's just the opposite IMO. If you've followed McCain for years like I have, you know that McCain is not your typical politician at all. He is very sincere, very bipartisan. He doesn't tow the GOP line, which is why the base has had such a hard time with him. He really should be an independent, but the reality is that the US is still a two-party system, and any other party has little to no chance to be elected for a long time to come. As such, he is forced to position himself in such a way as to maintain the support of his base, because that's where the power to get elected comes from. IMO, the reason he looks "fake and insincere," is because he's uncomfortable in the position he's in -- it isn't natural to have to speak a certain way that is considered necessary to run a campaign. He's not a negative, partisan person. Hell, he and Hillary both admit they are personal friends outside of politics and have had many drinks together. And I can't stand Hillary, so I have to admire him for that.
McCain has always failed miserably at prior attempts at Presidential campaigns for the very reason that he isn't considered Republican enough. That changed in this election ONLY because of the perceived damage Bush has done to the party. They know that putting up another typical Republican would have no chance, so their only hope to hang on to the White House is to put up an atypical Republican. McCain is the first person to come to mind to almost anyone who thinks "atypical Republican." He's their only hope, but they still don't like it, and that puts him an awkward situation -- he needs them to get elected, they need him to maintain their base's power, and neither one likes the other very much.
I believe if McCain is elected, the pressure will be relieve and we will see him return to his centrist nature. Some argue that he will have to keep up the charade to get re-elected, but I don't buy that. First, who said he'll want to be re-elected? Second, if he gets in there and shows the American people that he can be moderate and fair and bi-partisan, he won't need the right-wing base to get re-elected -- the moderates, independents, and a lot of Dems would vote for him. Also, this could open up the door a little wider for other moderates and independents to not require a left-wing or right-wing base to have a fair chance, so he could also be the catalyst to move us away from the two-party hegemony.
Hey, a guy can dream.  |
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phriq
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:01 am Post subject: |
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I agree with you almost completly dmorris. Nicely said... It does frustrate me alot when so many people judge Palin off of situations with her children, husband, etc.. Personal life is seperate from a political life (to an extent). However, I do feel how you handle your personal life reflects your character, morals, and values which to play huge into your political life. I think its a very fine line on waht you can and cannot judge when it comes to a polotician. Most people i feel judge before thinking.
A side note on that, more so an attack to the media. Is that I find it so amazing how the media will condemn Palin for having a daughter who is in that situation. But when you really think about it, a HUGE factor in why so many teens have all these issues and deteriorating values I believe is because the Media (News, TV, Music, etc.. ) have such a strong grasp on Americas youth. And lets face it, alot of the morals that the media puts out are not good. I am not a parent yet, but i can only imagine how hard it is to combat your family's personal morals against the entire media, highschools, and what not. All being said, I guess the media kinda creates these situations, then condemns and feeds of people who act off them. |
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mookieb2
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:32 am Post subject: |
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I think the larger issuse is that the media has raked this girl over the coals for being 17 and pregnant in an effort to ding her mom. I can't understand why questions about a 17 year old are flung around, fats and furious, when there are real questions about Obama and some of his past associates that haven never been asked by the same media.
Shouldn't we be focusing on the candidates themselves?
Now, maybe both sets of questions are unfair and unneeded, but lets be somewhat impartial here and at least ask the same types of questions to both sides. My take is that it will unintendedly backfire on the democrats with the media seeming to pick on a young girl like this. |
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