Although I live in New York now, I’m a native Illinoisan. I grew up in the land of cornfields and white snow. I know you can’t let your gas tank get too close to the little red “e” mark during January because your lines will freeze. Phrases like “wind chill factor” and “lake effect snow” actually make sense to me. I can handle myself during a tornado drill. I’ve smiled at “Da Mare” on TV, driven across the Great Plains along I-55 and seen the Misssissippi River flowing under a bridge to Iowa. I actually know Iowa jokes!!!! On this blog, I’ve written posts like “I’m from Illinois, Bitches” and “Eating Too Much Corn Makes You Goofy.” When you crack open my veins, you’ll see teeny chunks of yellow corn peppered through my blood.
When I was in Chicago, I lived in Wicker Park and supported my alderman Manny Flores because I liked his politics and I thought he was hot. (Look at him. See? He’s hot.) I had a job in an area called Hyde Park, Barack Obama’s neighborhood. During my free time, among other things, I briefly volunteered for Obama’s state sentator campaign — spending my Saturday afternoon getting my fellow Americans registered to vote. So, when I say, “I’m voting for Barack Obama” I don’t mean that in a blind, drunk-on-the-Koolaid, bandwagon-lovin’ kind of way. I mean I really like him. That doesn’t mean I don’t like my readers who support McCain/Palin. It just means we’re voting for different people. We’re adults here, right; we can handle disagreements.
Anywho. Last night, I missed the debates because I was out celebrating my friend Sara’s b-day. Like many people, I woke up and Googled my way around articles to find out: (1) what the candidates said and (2) how people are reacting to it so far. When I stumbled upon this Washington Post article about this McCain-Palin 2008 advertisement, I thought: “Whaaaa?!?!?” Before microphones were all turned off and chairs were neatly stacked away, the McCain camp ran an ad declaring “McCain Wins Debate” in huge letters with the fine print “Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008.” WTF? Partisanship aside, that’s kind of silly / funny / slightly scary. It would like me running an ad that says “FUNKYBROWNCHICK.COM VOTED BEST BLOG IN THE WORLD” followed by small type admitting ” … by the woman who writes it.”
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I think Obama won the debate. His argument was well reasoned, and his tone was calm. Although McCain made some good points, whenever he got stuck, he returned to the sarcastic and empty-sounding phrase “he [Obama] just doesn’t understand.”
That turned me off.
My mother thinks McCain won the debate. And I’m not sure what my boyfriend, the Republican, thinks. :-) Maybe it was a tie.
I would have more respect for McCain if he’d stop parroting Karl Rove for five effing minutes and just say things in his own words. He does that Fox News thing of just repeating talking points over and over and over and over and… see how irritating and silly that sounds?
McCain definitely has a good grasp of military-related issues (which makes perfect sense), but he just seems to struggle when discussing any other topic. Also, he tried to inject jokes every so often, and they all fell very flat. Last thing: in repeating the line “[Obama] just doesn’t understand”, he came off as condescending rather than intelligent.
Obama sounds like he has a good command of all the points addressed during the debate, and he sounds very intelligent and level headed, and he very reasoned attacks on McCain were much more effective than McCain’s repetitive retorts.
But nothing he said would make a good bumper sticker, and that’s what wins elections. (Aside: Election strategy has become a contest of who can come up with the best one-liners and zingers against your opponent, as if the country were being run by a cabal of stand-up comedians. It’s truly sad.)
So as you may have guessed, to my ears and eyes Obama won that debate, but I have exactly zero confidence that he will be the next President. At this point in history, the U.S. of A. has waaaay too much mistrust baggage to elect a black President. Possibly in my lifetime, but not right now. And it’s too bad, because the McCain/Palin ticket scares the bajeebers out of me.
I didn’t watch the debates either, I just read transcripts from cnn.
From what I read, Obama failed to really go after McCain. While he seemed to have spoken with a wide and detailed knowledge of the topics, I didn’t read about any verbal knockout punch.
From what I’ve read, there really wasn’t much that I’ve missed.
There were no zingers, bumper sticker quotes, or knock-out punches by either candidate. McCain used the Republican ploy of brute repetition saying “he does not understand”; the theory being if you repeat a statement often enough, people start accepting the statement as true.
What I took away from the debate: the stark difference in temperment, judgement, and world view of both candidates. Obama framed the debate and; in fact; this entire election as a choice between a twentieth century mentality of violence as the answer to every conflict versus not using violence as a first response, alternatively employing reasoned debate and diplomacy prior to (and one would hope instead of) the military option.
Personally, I’d like to see this government move to a more non-violent way of being in the world. Who knows, the government’s policy of non-violence might even trickle down to the citizenry! Now that is a trickle-down theory I’d like to see in action — people in the realm of personal relationships adopting a non-violent method of relating to each other and resolving conflict!!!
Violence is not the only response available to critically thinking human beings. All people everywhere are different, unique, and beautiful. Rather than being afraid of our differences, let’s accept them and learn to co-exist peacfully. There is only love to gain.
K…. here goes….. we are now at a crossroads ….. and the whole world is watching…. the last President that we had with some backbone was Kennedy ….
but they all from the first one to the C student sitting there now,have all been some kind of robber baron….. tell us just we need to hear with smoke and mirrors
then do just what they wish to do….while some were kinda just…. the rest were just looking out for their people,period. it’s as if we dont even rate as bricks in the Wall…… walking, talking wallets are we…. and from time to time bullet-catchers…. and while we have had ones who served… the rest were just too rich to care…… but now we all live in a very different world… with make-believe tales of 9/11/03….. to make-believe tales of global economy ….. those people who really control the world and us in it are really getting steamed that
we are finally catching on to the bullshit served to us daily and they are scared
stiff…. between the world debt and warfare… America is very tired of the short
stick syndrome and we are not gonna take it anymore….. we want somebody
with the balls to do the right thing for us all….. and it wont take much……
just some brain power and some common sense…. it can be done…..
but … to elect someone so old money again to ” public office ” just because
we are soooo afraid to put someone of color in a public white house… Dang
just how dumb are we to cover our eyes to the madness we have lived in
these past 8 years…. the subject of change is on the table and we need to
grab a leg and chew on it….. when you pay tribal leaders in Iraq to not attack
our men over there,just how you can say that ” The Surge ” is working… and
while we are still not finished there, we want to stroll into a circle-jerk in
Pakistan and Afghanistan just so a lame duck Prez can say he kicked a little
more butt so build me a library ….. at this time the people in this country
would kinda like somebody in office that really knew just she or he was
getting us and the world into….. we need an untouchable who owe nothing
to no one…. but us,the people
and since one guy is so old that he cannot remember just how many HOUSES
he owns and has one foot in the grave and his running mate is Tina Fey….
dont you think we …. right now …. need a person who is capable connecting
the dots in a timely fashion and is not afraid to act upon it… or do we really
need 4 more years of a regime of carpet-baggers leading us to ruin….
lamesabassman….. ” Think… Think, it ain’t illegal …. yet… “
The BF and I watched the debates together and he was as hype as he would be on Game day!! (Yikes does that mean we are getting old?)
Obama presented himself that the classy Ivy league man that is he is and well McCain… was Elmer Fudd.
alicia
http://todaystyle.today.com/
I saw that ad somewhere when people were still unsure if he’d even show up.
propaganda, yo, propaganda!! i drank the kool aid recently and joined dems abroad this week. totally watching the vp debate in an auditorium full of obama-lovers. it’s gonna be a great night in barcelona.