tonight's debate

jimed14

I wonder what would happen ... if tonight, Obama turned to McCain and asked "John, what do you say, from here on out, we don't air one more negative commercial for the rest of the race?"

I think McCain would shit in his depends.

beachdweller

mfc2006 wrote:

what should we expect? with the barrage of dirty ads & accusations flying though the media & from the mouths of the politicians themselves...

will the gloves be off? this is a town hall debate, right? how will that play a role? it will be interesting to say the least...

just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts.

if John McCain doesn't continue the attacks during the debate, then he is every bit the political coward I think he is. Some of his attacks are so bad, it's disrespectful to his wife and daugther who were similarly attacked in 2000 by the Bush campaign. For him to go down this road, as he has the last 4 days, cheapens him as a human being.

digster

Problem is, I don't know how Obama pressing for the end of negative campaigning would fly. With Obama, I don't think he's done as many or as bad negative political ads, but his hands are nowhere near clean on the issue of negative politics. As a supporter, I'm first to admit that his campaigning has not matched his rhetoric in that regard. So some people might view that as disingenuous.

I think Obama can and should, however, go after McCain on the politics of character asassination that McCain has engaged in throughout the campaign.

jimed14

digster wrote:

Problem is, I don't know how Obama pressing for the end of negative campaigning would fly. With Obama, I don't think he's done as many or as bad negative political ads, but his hands are nowhere near clean on the issue of negative politics. As a supporter, I'm first to admit that his campaigning has not matched his rhetoric in that regard. So some people might view that as disingenuous.

I think Obama can and should, however, go after McCain on the politics of character asassination that McCain has engaged in throughout the campaign.

which is my point ... if from here on on, they ran SOLELY on their own opinions, that would be good for the country. It'll make McCain look like a dick for not saying "ok let's do that" ....

I know, I know, negative ads work.

anyway, tonight ... Obama needs to stay on point ... a Reagan-esque theme of "are you better now than you were 8 years ago?" ... hammer McCain on healthcare, the economy and Iraq.

stylo17

what exactly do Bill Ayers and Willie Horton have to do with this election?? sorry if it sounds ignorant or just plain stupid on my part, but I have no idea.
don't know if they're more before my time or not, I'm only 19 now.

nothinghead

Uncle Leo wrote:

McPalin has been on the attack. All he has to do tonight is work Bill Ayers into every answer and BAM...we have Willie Horton driving a swift boat.

Truthfully, I have never for one second thought that Obama would win and this just seems like a perfect time for my prediction to come true.

Yes, they clearly have been on the attack. But at the same time, there doesn't seem any studies showing that this has actually helped the McCain--rather, it seems to energize the Republican base, which was already in the bag, and alienate any undecided and moderate voters.

While the election is certainly close at this point, especially if one lends credence to the Bradley effect and factors in margin of error, I don't feel either candidate is looking at any easy win just yet. As well, I have a hard time believing that Ayers (or Keating for that matter, to look at it from another prospective) will trump issues such as the failing economy and what seems to be a falling foreign policy.

While the Swift Boat ordeal certainly aided in Kerry's defeat, I think liberals and conservatives alike recognize that he was a weak candidate. Obama seems to energize voters beyond Kerry's "at least I'm not George Bush" appeal. Also, he can move his forehead a little, proving that unlike Kerry, he's likely not a robot.

I guess my question is: What new revelation has there been about Obama and Ayer's connection that will propel the issue to the forefront of the election as well as change the minds of even more voters? What new light can this issue be shown in that will shift public perception in such a meaningful way as to assure "an easy victory" for John McCain?

digster

nothinghead wrote:

I guess my question is: What new revelation has there been about Obama and Ayer's connection that will propel the issue to the forefront of the election as well as change the minds of even more voters? What new light can this issue be shown in that will shift public perception in such a meaningful way as to assure "an easy victory" for John McCain?

I agree; there's not going to be any surprise attack. Obama has probably decided exactly how he will respond to any attack on Ayers, and there's not some secret weapon that McCain will be able to pull out. Obama knows how he will respond to character attacks; in a campaign as meticulously planned as his has been, it'd be ridiculous to stipulate that he has no idea how to respond to an Ayers/Wright question.

mca47

nothinghead wrote:

so you're Joe Six-pack that Sarah Palin keeps referring to?

Me, I'm Joe Twelve-Pack...I represent Americans with drinking problems, I guess.

LOL!

beachdweller

fanny mae, freddie mack weren't the catalist, only 4% of mortgages have failed, it's the deregulation that allowed the shady trading of bad mortgages with insurance policies from companies with no capital to back them up. That 60 trillion or so in bad debt is what brought down the markets. Without them, the mortgage industry would have recovered on their own.

Stone Is God

McCain, you just voted for the pork on the bailout. Stop lying. You are not a reformer.

nothinghead

It's painful listening to anyone talk about "I want to cut spending" or "I'm against pork-barrel spending and earmarks" like a week after the $700B Bailout was passed with $140B worth of pork on top of it.

Never mind all the billions of dollars prior to the package in bailout money.

CHANGEinWAVES

WHY does McCain blink so much???

jimed14

nothinghead wrote:

It's painful listening to anyone talk about "I want to cut spending" or "I'm against pork-barrel spending and earmarks" like a week after the $700B Bailout was passed with $140B worth of pork on top of it.

Never mind all the billions of dollars prior to the package in bailout money.

In the last debate, McCain was all over this pork barrel spending about bear DNA, and his joke was "I don't know if this was a criminal case or a paternaty case" .... well, guess what, McCain voted FOR it. ha ha ...

anyone notice McCain couldn't remember the 3 things Brokaw asked him to prioritize? and when he did eventually write them down ... he couldn't prioritize them?

nothinghead

jimed14 wrote:

anyone notice McCain couldn't remember the 3 things Brokaw asked him to prioritize? and when he did eventually write them down ... he couldn't prioritize them?

Yes. I believe Tom Brokaw also just said, "I'm going to shoot the next motherfucker who speaks for more than a minute."

Come on, think of the advertising dollars. We don't need answers, we gotta get this thing done as quickly as possible.

CHANGEinWAVES

jimed14 wrote:

anyone notice McCain couldn't remember the 3 things Brokaw asked him to prioritize? and when he did eventually write them down ... he couldn't prioritize them?

Good thing it wasn't an alzhimers test cause he would a failed! :eek:

nothinghead

And a stunning blow landed as Obama employs the "use it or lose it" argument for drilling in Alaska.

stylo17

CHANGEinWAVES wrote:

WHY does McCain blink so much???

nervous reaction/anxiety habit. some people tap their feet, rub their hands together, hold something in their hands, or blink. kind of like externalizing the internal unease. I've studied it.


Is there any way to impose this 1 minute speech rule?

jimed14

Obama just proved one thing, he doens't udnerstand the meaning of the word "quickly" ... as Brokaw asked ... :rolleyes:

digster

I'm not going to able to watch for another hour.

Is there a clear guy ahead at the moment? I'm a little nervous about how the night will go for Obama.

norm

this is a fucking joke