Debate Delay Rant

[rhetoretician]

As someone who has always admired John McCain for a lot of reasons, I'm disappointed by his request to postpone the first presidential debate so that he can work on the financial bailout deal.

There are 98 U.S. Senators who aren't John McCain or Barak Obama, not to mention 435 members of the House. I simply don't believe that all 533 of them are so

Comments

[girlspell]

I guess we're in a lot of trouble if they need the Guiding Hand of John McCainTM.

Think of this way. He gets to duck and get a photo op out of it. No, it's just not McCain. Obama is getting his too. Although I'll give credit to Obama for thinking faster on his feet.

They aren't true debates anyway. That would really put the audience to sleep. Instead, they get to recite answers from old speeches.

Sigh...I'm so cynical, I could cry.

[rhetoretician]

Hi Rachel. Yeah, I know it's not a real debate, but it's still the only chance we get to see them talking about important issues in the same room. It's not ideal (by any means) but it's better than nothing.

As for Obama, I don't really know what else he could have said. The proposal is ridiculous, but how to say so without looking like you're shirking your responsibility?

[moonette1]

I disagree. This debate was to be on foreign policy, no? (If not, I'm sorry but I read that somewhere.) If so, that is an advantage for McCain to look better than Obama. And you can bet that if I had the possibility of leading the country in the near future, I'd want to be involved in this bailout decision right now.

I think it's silly to think a man who survived years of torture in a POW camp and has come this far in a campaign for president would run from his first presidential debate like a scared little kid. The country is in crisis, he wants to be there to work things out. I respect that.

[rhetoretician]

Hi, Annette. Yes, the debate was going to be on foreign policy, and it's entirely possible that McCain would look better there. But in terms of poll results, the outcome of the first debate has been pretty consistent across the board since 1976. People like you & me forget how disengaged a lot of the U.S. electorate is; at the time of the first debate, a huge number of them have never even seen the lesser-known candidate, or haven't heard him say anything for more than a five-second sound byte. McCain has been a nationally-known figure since at least 2000, and probably earlier; Obama's prominence is of more recent vintage. Failing a major gaffe by Obama, the first debate is bound to help him. (The second and third debates are an entirely different matter

[awrence]

Just another reason for me not to vote for McCain. We , the State of Mississippi, have alot invested in this and not just financially. My 16 year-old's friends who usually could not care less about politics are all upset. Schools across the state have really gone all out to involve the kids in the process. I hope they are not all disappointed by this man's grandstanding.

[rhetoretician]

Hi Helen.

As I say, I've admired McCain for a long time. That's why this action disappoints me.

It's good to hear that students are getting involved in electoral politics. Hopefully this time it will stay with them and they'll be an engaged adult generation too. (Yeah, I know, but I can hope...)

[amamama]

I'm just delighted that this isn't *my* election... What a mess. *shakes head*

(signed: Ursula) *grins*

[rhetoretician]

Oh, well, if it comes to that, most national elections in the U.S. are an undigified, unfocussed, undisciplined mess. We sometimes do better in local elections, though.

[awrence]

Well looks like it's back on!

[moonette1]

Which tells me more than ever that is wasn't a ploy, but a sincere concern on McCain's part, otherwise why would he want to look like he's changing his mind on a whim?

[mickawber_fics]

That-or he's madly reading the polling numbers and realized that the public response to his plan to skip the debate wasn't exactly positive.