Indecision '08
So, that was the debate. So many times I sat in front of the TV going "OMG, point of information! Dangnabbit, Obama/McCain (delete as appropriate) - call him on his crap!". Yes, both of the candidates made statements I disagreed with, and statements I agreed with.
I think Obama won, but not by the kind of margin I would have hoped. The truth of the matter is that the discussion shouldn't be about experience but about judgement, and Obama made that point. He didn't make it as strongly as I would recommend, but he did make it. McCain can have all the experience in the world, and he probably has, but if you don't use that experience to make good judgements then prior experience is pointless. I bring it back to the two of leading orchestrators of the Iraq war - Cheney and Rumsfeld, and nobody had more experience than those two, but they still cocked up their strategy.
I'm not going to post my entire set of thoughts on the first Presidential debate, but there was one statement that John McCain made that I found interesting. The following is slightly paraphrased, I'll have to find the exact quotation.
"I want families to make decisions between themselves and their doctor, not the federal government."
If Palin's pro-life stance comes up in the future, I hope somebody brings up this comment by McCain.
This debate won't make a huge difference to the polls because this was mainly about foreign policy and the majority of people voting are more concerned with domestic policy. But outside the US circle - i.e. here - it was very interesting. I objected to the vilification of Russia - the conflict in South Ossetia isn't as cut and dried as Georgia good Russia bad. Both candidates were guilty of that. McCain kept saying that we are winning in Iraq, and seemed to define losing as resulting in a strengthened Iran and sectarian violence. WTF man?! What the hell do you call what's happening now? The Iranian leadership was on their way to being broken up from the inside and they regained popularity from their political base by capitalising on the Iraq war and regurgitating their Death To The West, Down With Israel crap. It's not ridiculous to say that the seeds of a youth-led democracy were being sown in Iran pre-2002. Our actions in Iraq put that all to hell, hopefully not for long but certainly delayed. And if the situation across Iraq isn't sectarian violence then what is? Sorry Senator, but by your definition - we have lost in Iraq. Also, cut the "I have stared into the eyes of Putin" crap. Doesn't do you any favours. It just reminds me how Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house.
I'm sorry for going into Debate!J, I said I wasn't going to bore you with my opinions. In summation - Obama okay, McCain less than okay. Neither amazing and oh dear am I nervous about the Biden/Palin debate.
I watched the Situation Room after the debate, and I noticed how since the Couric interview (sorry, did I say interview? I meant painful slaughter) Palin seems to be avoiding the press. Good thing too. The woman's an idiot. She's an embarrassment to women involved in politics. But my dad made an interesting point: "Why is Wolf wearing a blue tie?". Oooooh! Is the Wolf showing his true colours?
Anyway! Did anyone else watch the debate? What did you think?
I think Obama won, but not by the kind of margin I would have hoped. The truth of the matter is that the discussion shouldn't be about experience but about judgement, and Obama made that point. He didn't make it as strongly as I would recommend, but he did make it. McCain can have all the experience in the world, and he probably has, but if you don't use that experience to make good judgements then prior experience is pointless. I bring it back to the two of leading orchestrators of the Iraq war - Cheney and Rumsfeld, and nobody had more experience than those two, but they still cocked up their strategy.
I'm not going to post my entire set of thoughts on the first Presidential debate, but there was one statement that John McCain made that I found interesting. The following is slightly paraphrased, I'll have to find the exact quotation.
"I want families to make decisions between themselves and their doctor, not the federal government."
If Palin's pro-life stance comes up in the future, I hope somebody brings up this comment by McCain.
This debate won't make a huge difference to the polls because this was mainly about foreign policy and the majority of people voting are more concerned with domestic policy. But outside the US circle - i.e. here - it was very interesting. I objected to the vilification of Russia - the conflict in South Ossetia isn't as cut and dried as Georgia good Russia bad. Both candidates were guilty of that. McCain kept saying that we are winning in Iraq, and seemed to define losing as resulting in a strengthened Iran and sectarian violence. WTF man?! What the hell do you call what's happening now? The Iranian leadership was on their way to being broken up from the inside and they regained popularity from their political base by capitalising on the Iraq war and regurgitating their Death To The West, Down With Israel crap. It's not ridiculous to say that the seeds of a youth-led democracy were being sown in Iran pre-2002. Our actions in Iraq put that all to hell, hopefully not for long but certainly delayed. And if the situation across Iraq isn't sectarian violence then what is? Sorry Senator, but by your definition - we have lost in Iraq. Also, cut the "I have stared into the eyes of Putin" crap. Doesn't do you any favours. It just reminds me how Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house.
I'm sorry for going into Debate!J, I said I wasn't going to bore you with my opinions. In summation - Obama okay, McCain less than okay. Neither amazing and oh dear am I nervous about the Biden/Palin debate.
I watched the Situation Room after the debate, and I noticed how since the Couric interview (sorry, did I say interview? I meant painful slaughter) Palin seems to be avoiding the press. Good thing too. The woman's an idiot. She's an embarrassment to women involved in politics. But my dad made an interesting point: "Why is Wolf wearing a blue tie?". Oooooh! Is the Wolf showing his true colours?
Anyway! Did anyone else watch the debate? What did you think?