before i share my observations of tonight's presidential debate i should point a few things out. i consider myself an independent. i have historically voted for both republicans and democrats, depending on the year and the issues. i am not politically minded at all. i am not passionate about it. i admittedly do not have a thorough understanding of all of the issues/ins and outs/etc. i am married to a passionate republican and am friends with several passionate democrats and republicans. i hear, from both sides, their ideas and arguments for their respective candidate.
i say all of this because i think it is important, before reading my observations, that i went into this as unbiased and neutral as probably anyone i know. i had no preconceived ideas.
having said that--here are my observations:
i was really bothered by the fact that obama kept referring to mccain as john while mccain referred to obama as senator obama. i think obama showed disrespect in doing so and i think it was planned.
i think obama seemed more flustered and angry than mccain.
several times obama called mccain by the wrong name; he caught himself, but still, twice he did it.
i was working crossword puzzles while watching it so i listened rather than watched and just based on voice inflections, etc. obama sounded unsure and nervous. mccain sounded (the tone and quality of his voice) like reagan.
in my opinion mccain came off as more confident and more qualified.
i think the vp debates are going to be ugly. very ugly. i do not think palin will do as well as mccain did.
today i could not help but be reminded of the last season of west wing (go ahead, laugh, in my rose-colored glasses world, politics would be like the west wing and matt santos would be our new president). anyway, i am reminded of jed Bartlet calling santos and vinnick into the oval office during the final days of their campaigns and telling them the country was about to go to war. he was laying a huge problem in their laps, one that one of them, as president, would have to deal with and solve. much like bush is getting ready to hand a huge problem over to obama or mccain. i am also reminded of the awesome debate between santos and vinnick--a REAL (ok, yes it was tv but in my idyllic world it was awesome) debate where the nominees actually talked to each other and the rhetoric was gone and it was two people and their issues. i wish tonight's debate would have been more like that.
8 comments:
A black man using a white man's first name. For shame. And, a black man that sounds angry. Thanks for the laugh. You sure know how to pack the cliches in. You only missed a reference to a black man dating a white women or Obama looking or sounding lazy. There are other debates so you still have opportunity.
glenda--thanks for stopping by. if you've read my blog for any length or time or knew me you would totally know my comments had nothing at all to do w/ race. had mccain called obama by his first name all night while obama referred to him as sen. mccain i would have made the same comment. they are peers and should show each other respect accordingly. as for obama sounding angry--i'm not sure why that would have anything to do w/ his race.
Wow,
I am very impressed. Idiots have internet acscess to. How clever for a lib to take honest thoughts and turn it in to a racial matter. Keep up the good work Glenda, You make it easier for people like me to turn against Obama and his supporters as you prove that you are a very narrow minded person that can not argue facts or concede position but rather play the race card. It is people like you that are prejudice. Were Obama white, you would not have given these comments any thought. Face it, your canidate will loose. Not because he is black, but rather because he is not the best choice. After the election, people like you will once again whine and play the race card. Get over yourself.
I was out enjoying wine and pizza. I never saw the debates. :)
Anon: Well said! I am sick and tired of Glenda and her ilk playing the race card in this election process! I wonder if Glenda would be saying the same thing if Condolezza Rice were on the ticket?
I have to disagree about the disrespect that you think obama showed mccain. I think it is actually the reverse. Mccain wouldn't make eye contact with obama, he said horseshit under his breath at one point and at least six times he commented that obama didn't understand something.
I waited to jump in on this until I had figured out the best response and then i read this from thomas schaller on salon who said it better than I could—
"McCain is so condescending about what Obama "doesn't understand." He really, really thinks nobody has any business being onstage with him on foreign policy. This, from the guy who got wrong the biggest foreign policy decision in American history. Listening to McCain's condescension is like suffering through sensitivity training lectures from Mel Gibson."
broad--i've been waiting for your comment : ) i didn't watch it (just listened) so i missed the eye contact thing. and i do still think it was bad form for him to call him john all night. peers and all--should address each other accordingly.
but see as peers i think he had every right to call him by his first name, mccain using the senator obama thing came off as cold, like he wouldn't condescend to admit that he works with this man. i mean would you call your coworkers ms. so and so? it is the same thing. it has often been my impression that senators, etc. use each others titles when they are trying to be snotty about something or disagree with them. but i guess it is just a perception thing.
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