(AP photo)
Sen. John McCain went through almost the entire debate Friday without a single mention of his days as a Vietnam POW. In fact, if the debate had ended after 90 minutes as advertised, that issue would have stayed off the stage. So maybe that’s why a Barack Obama-friendly audience in downtown Phoenix gave one of its loudest responses all night — a rolling, unified groan of disgust — when McCain managed to slip in a POW reference about five minutes into overtime.
I had already attended several election events this year around the Valley sponsored by the McCain campaign. So I decided to watch Friday’s debate from the Democratic perspective. The Obama campaign threw a viewing party outside its Arizona headquarters, a converted house that’s for sale at Roosevelt and Sixth streets. More than 130 folding chairs from the United Commercial and Food Workers union were set up in a parking lot behind the house. The campaign projected a live Web video stream from C-SPAN onto a second building facing Roosevelt. Within 30 minutes after the debate started, all of the chairs were full and more Obama fans were standing in a semi-circle behind them.
The crowd was strangely quiet through much of the debate, listening intently as Obama and McCain fired back and forth in a free-wheeling contest of which moderator Jim Lehrer lost nearly all control. Obama’s backers did loosen up with a few rounds of applause and the occasional cheer after Obama delivered some one-liners. But some people also weirdly cheered a couple of times after McCain repeated an Obama comment in order to bring home his own argument.
So, I expected a boisterous pep rally and instead attended a mostly studious affair. Ken Clark, a Democratic activist and former state lawmaker from Phoenix gave a great explanation as to why:
“It was thick, fiberous and chewy,” Clark said. “And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I don’t believe I have ever seen them get so in-depth in past presidential debates. They usually focus more on firing those zingers at each other.”
Clark was right. Obama needed to demonstrate he has command of a lot of different facts and ideas, and that he can think quickly and speak well without a Teleprompter. He succeeded, to the likely horror of many Republicans who have predicting for weeks that Obama would fall on his face in the debates.
Meanwhile, McCain went to Mississippi bristling with examples of where he has been involved in national and foreign affairs, and was determined to cram every one of them into the debate. The Democrats outside Obama’s Arizona headquarters tried to dismiss McCain’s experience as meaningless or too close to President Bush. But I though he did a great job of presenting his case to those middle-of-the-road voters expected to ultimately decide the Nov. 4 outcome.
All of this means I don’t believe there was a clear winner from Friday’s debate. I can’t wait to see and hear what other people think.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is planning another outdoor viewing party for the vice presidential debate on Thursday. I’ll say one thing, they had better figure out how to improve the video feed. The frequent freezes of the campaign’s Internet connection annoyed many in the audience, and I doubt next week’s crowd will be as patient as they were tonight. Democrats are eager to see Joe Biden tear into Sarah Palin. I wonder if she will manage to disappoint as many critics as Obama did tonight.
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As a former Republican supporting McCain in 2000, today he continues to lie in the front the camera not realizing the truth is all over the internet. His knee-jerk reactions and film showing him stomping around the halls of Washington in the last few days, show grandstanding at it’s worse. We don’t need a war-monger in the White House. We all know the State of Arizona is a mass industrial military complex, mass industrial prison complex with a broken criminal justice system that is anyone but fair and just. The cameras need to shine harshly on the state of Arizona — when they vote McCain in — the country is going to look more like Arizona then Illinois. It’s time for the truth to be shown, but when the only city paper in AZ - The Arizona Repblic lets 27 seasoned reporters go on the eve of the election that raises eyebrows and many questions. The reporters who witnessed the Don Bolles murder (he was exposing the corruption in Arizona) are now gone. The history ties into Cindy Hensley McCain — ummm.
note corrections on above:
As a former Republican supporting McCain in 2000, this year I will NOT vote for McCain.
Today McCain shows the person he really is — “shoot first, ask later” (i.e.fire Cox). McCain reflects the mentality of the State of Arizona and one thevoters need to research and pay attention to.
McCain continues to lie in front the camera, not realizing the truth is all over the internet even before he was speaking. Obama had to correct McCain’s lies many times. McCain’s knee-jerk reactions and TV networks showing him stomping around the halls of Washington in the last few days as a Savior in the Financial meltdown, show high drams and political grandstanding at it’s worse. That in itself is enough for me to vote him out.
Between the past week and the Republican Convention — show, no go, show drama and the party ramming Palin on the ticket, this whole scenario looks like a B rate movie — or is it a re-run of “Legally Blond”?
We don’t need a war-monger in the White House. We all know the State of Arizona is a mass industrial military complex, a mass industrial prison complex in chaos (swept under the rug during the election) with a broken criminal justice system that is anything but fair and just.
The sunlight needs to shine harshly on the state of Arizona — so voters can see that the country is going to look more like Arizona than Illinois. Through McCain’s one track mind, a single focus lens that shows he is detached from the people, he does not serve the best interest of the country as a whole. His judgment is biased and skewed and will only be a continuation of the past eight years of failed policies.
After the past few days of the Financial meltdown, I would never support privitization of Social Security, the prisons, Health Care, and on and on. The multi-billionaires who chose greed deserve to sit in the private prison they built with their Wall Street clout — better yet one of the many “detention centers” they have also financed — where there is no oversight, no accountablity, no transparency or responsibility. There, many innocent people are dying while being held for nothing more than an administration issue. Once the greedy, who destroyed our nation’s financial strength serve long harshmandatory minimum sentences in their own private prisons, we might begin to see a change.
It’s time for the truth to be known — when the Arizona Repblic lets 27 seasoned reporters go, on the eve of the election, that should raise eyebrows and many questions.
The reporters who witnessed the Don Bolles murder (he was exposing corruption in Arizona) are now gone. The history links into Cindy Hensley McCain — ummm. The past wiped away on the eve of the election! Thank goodness for the archives at Phoenix New Times, The Village Voice alternative paper, that go back decades, any voter could learn much from reading the McCain history before they vote. Search: McCain, Hensley, Don Bolles, Markley, Cindi McCain. The observant people among us are not fooled by the Palin Factor distractions and the stop and go antics of McCain. We are sick and disgusted with the Conservative lemmings and their tricks. We were deceived and have learned the hard way. We will flip the switch this year and get others to do the same.
This Republican will vote for Obama and a new generation to salvage whatever remains of what Bush has left our nation.
note correction from above: the word says it all — high TV drama (B rate)
McCain continues to lie in front the camera, not realizing the truth is all over the internet even before he was speaking. Obama had to correct McCain’s lies many times. McCain’s knee-jerk reactions and TV networks showing him stomping around the halls of Washington in the last few days as a Savior in the Financial meltdown, show high DRAMA and political grandstanding at it’s worse. That in itself is enough for me to vote him out.
EVEN THOUGH MCCAIN IS ALL “GANTED UP”, I STILL THINK THAT HE COULD KICK OBAMA’S A** IN A FIGHT. MCCAIN MAY BE LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH BUT AT LEAST HE LOOKS “GENUINE”. OBAMA JUST LOOKS LIKE AN “EMPTY SUIT”. LIKE THE NERDY KID IN HIGH SCHOOL THAT GOT STRAIGHT “A’s” FROM KINDERGARTEN ON BUT NO ONE LIKED HIM. HE NEVER GOT INVITED TO ONE PARTY …NOT ONE. I DON’T PARTICULARLY LIKE MCCAIN…BUT I DON’T TRUST OBAMA. I JUST CAN’T FORGET WHAT OBAMA’S PASTOR FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS SAID ON ‘YOUTUBE’…I CAN STILL SEE IN MY MIND REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS…”AMERICA BOMBED NAGASKI, AMERICA BOMBED HIROSHIMA..AMERICA DESERVED 9/11…IT’S CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST……..NOT GOD BLESS AMERICA………BUT GOD DAMN AMERICA”. I KNOW IN MY HEART THAT OBAMA TRUELY BELEIVES THIS OR ELSE WHY DID HE AND HIS WIFE, MICHELLE, GO TO THAT CHURCH ALMOST 500 TIMES IN 20 YEARS…..IF HE DIDN’T BELIEVE WHAT REV. WRIGHT WAS PREACHING …WHY DID HE SIT IN THAT PEW FOR 20 YEARS……..WHY ????
I can’t undestand how people can be foolish enough to consider voting for McCain, a brave man for sure, but one who is rush and spiteful, and who gave ample proof of poor judgment in his career, for instance when he supported the war in Iraq, the deregulation of financial institutions (which led to the current crisis) and this choce of Sarah Palin as VP. He is a brave man, but he was puffed up to the stature of national hero by our media simply because he was both a POW and the son of an Admiral who was fighting against North Vietnan at that time. A brave man like any navy pilot, but certainly not a national hero, at least not more than the millions of POWs of various wars. By the way, he graduated from Annapolis 994th out of 999. Good for him, but I think America needs a sharper President at this difficult time.
To Basil:
Although I am not convinced to vote either way yet, I do believe people are foolish to vote for McCain. He may not be the best choice out there, but he may be better than the alternative. At least he does have more than 25 years of experience in the Government and has been able to stand on his record.
As for the war, there were many people that were led to believe that it was necessary. We were led by a group of people with their own agenda that didn’t provide accurate information and many people were onboard with something they would later regret. I fully support the war on Afghanistan, but not the war on Iraq. However, with that said, I do not believe that we have the option of “just pulling out” - it won’t work. I believe we need to pressure that Iraqi Government and military to step up to the plate and start taking their own action. This is a delicate balance that is achieved over time, not over night and we certainly do not need to broadcast this “date” to our enemies. It should be a focus and a goal, but realistically speaking - we can’t pack our bags and leave. The current administration put us in a situation that we need to deal with, not run from. Heck if we pack up and leave.. what did those heroic Americans die for?
Sarah Palin may not be the best option for a VP, but she is level headed and comes from the “average” American family. The democrats are choosing to air her “dirty laundry” in the world of the press, but this is another cheap way to take the focus off the issues. Can she doe the job? Why not? People seem to think that Obama can lead this great nation with only a few years of experience under his belt. Why can’t she work behind the leadership of a man that has more than his fair share of experience?
As for him graduating 994th our of 999… big deal, it makes him “human”. People want to compare themselves to Obama… a man from a middle class broken home that attended great schools and excelled. No problem. This just makes McCain that much more like your own neighbor. He isn’t perfect, none of us are.
And as for your comment that he led us to this financial crisis.. that is very questionable. There’s a lot of information that there was plenty of warning with Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. He did join in on an effort to steer them into a new direction. Additionally there’s a lot of hinting going on that this financial trend started when Clinton was in office. Not to say that GWB couldn’t have done his share to have changed this, he surely isn’t to blame for it all. And by no means am I a GWB fan. Heck, I even voted for Kerry last time around.
I do believe that McCain knows more of what it is to be an American than Obama will ever know or appreciate.