in for the fight of your life (you lack poetry)

[waltermonkey]

So, Obama didn't slam McCain nearly as hard as I'd hoped. I had pictured the old guy flying backward through the wall and breaking a hip from the sheer impact of the oratory. Here's how he could have performed better in my eyes

Comments

[waltermonkey]

I wish the difference had been that drastic, but yeah, I guess that's the closest comparison.

[waltermonkey]

Oh I get it.

I'm saying, McCain didn't flop sweat nearly as much as Nixon. The 'aroo' factor, if you will, was lower.

[pmb]

As for Palin/Biden next week... I think it's going to be the most satisfying display since Colbert at the White House Press Corps dinner.

I'm worried it's going to be a glib old man beating up a hurt-looking middle-aged mom on national television. Sure he will "win the debate", but will the numbers go that way?

[flamingweasel]

That's my concern as well, but they have to be training him right now in how to not look like a bully. Though, given Palin's skills at oratory, they're probably teaching her how to twist everything into a personal attack.

It should be interesting. Maybe unwatchable, but interesting.

[waltermonkey]

Well, from what little we know of her, she doesn't do hurt-looking. She's a PITBULL! What she does is lie like a dog, then quickly slide into the empty rhetoric of Bush Cheney et al, then devolve into incoherency. Even other hockey moms will see that likability does not translate into leadership.

[pmb]

What are you talking about "she doesn't do hurt looking"? What do you call her face as she was interviewed by Couric and Gibson and they asked her a question she was unprepared for? Every time they did that, and she made a look like a person who is completely lost but doing her best, republican soccer moms everywhere felt huge pangs of sympathy for her. Do you think this sympathy will be increased or decreased if she gets savaged by crazy old Joe Biden?

[anonymous]

I know! I couldn't believe Obama kept doing that whole academic, "I agree with the coherent part of what you say, and now I am going to slam you," because half the watching public probably got stuck in the "Senator McCain is right..." ughhhh. so frustrating.

On the other hand, I think what is so distasteful (and really sets them apart in all their white privilege) about the McCain camp is the offensive, smug, mockery. There is a time and a place to take the high road... It isn't always a bad thing to take...

The audience tracker seemed the most inane detail of it all... And then they had a sample group of, what, 17? Seemed rather foolish to me...

This would have been fun to watch together, even more this Thursday's main event...

hugs...
ilana

[waltermonkey]

Yeah, I was watching this with about five other people and we all kept yelling at Obama to get off the "high road". But it's just who he is.

You're right though, the smugness turned a lot of people off. I hope he can't help keeping it up.

I got the impression they had sample groups in each city that added up to a few hundred, but I only saw those 35 in Columbus. If that's all there was, you're right, that was pretty lame.

[waltermonkey]

But the rebuttal she'll use is that they're "mavericks" who promise "reform". They're somehow invulnerable to the typical anti-Republican rhetoric.

Palin has set the bar so low with her TV interviews that if she doesn't fall on her face, everyone will be astonished. But I'm pretty sure she will. And Biden will be able to exploit it while still seeming classy.

[sun_doth_burn]

I disagree completely with the idea that Obama should've slammed him. As much as I would have personally loved it, I think it would've been a mistake. He won HUGE points with independents every time he took the high road. On CNN they had a focus group rate the whole thing and every time McCain got snarky, their approval tanked.

Case in point: my mother, the staunch republican, decided last night to vote Obama because he 1) didn't seem sleazy 2) actually answered questions with specific information and 3) had a more trustworthy performance and backstory.

[waltermonkey]

Wow, good to know. I'm sure you're right about the high road, I was just... so frustrated, I guess. I wanted BLOOD, you know? Like Dean would have ripped the guy a new orifice.

And I also believe that Obama takes the high road not because his handlers tell him it polls better, but because that's just who he is. Me, I'm not as polite or forgiving.