Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Who Won?

Trying to be objective, I couldn't pick a clear winner last night. Both candidates presented their positions and either you agree more with one or the other. And the style of one or the another might grate on you--Obama if you think he's smug and cocky, McCain if you think he's condescending and rude.

The polls I've seen so far give Obama the edge. What do you think?
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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The polls I've seen gave Obama more than just an edge.

Yes, the rude condescending sarcasm of McCain doesn't go down well to outsiders. And McCain really looked and acted his age - dottery and tired. Obama was calm and unflustered and positively sensible.

7:50 AM
Anonymous said...

More importantly, Sen. McCain is running out of time and opportunities. If he didn't make a LOT of progress then he lost. Barring any big surprises in the next few weeks, this election is over.

While I thought the two candidates fared equally well in the first debate, Sen. Obama appeared to have the upper hand this time. He was strong, confident, and intelligent. His objective in these debates is to show the American voters that he is presidential timber, and he has done that. Maybe McCain would win in a different year but he can't overcome the situation facing us in 2008. After two disasterous terms of Pres. Bush, much of it abetted by a heavy handed GOP Congress, and with a foolish and neverending war in Iraq, and now the world financial crisis, voters do not want someone whose philosophy is so tied to the failures of the past. Obama is talking about real change, and not just some wild radical left-wing ideas. His proposals are well-received by economists and business people.

9:03 AM
Angie Van De Merwe said...

I have a few comments, but these two comment frustrate me, although I recognize that most Americans will have similar views.

McCain pointed out early on in the debate that Obama had made the second largest sum of money in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiasco. DID YOU HEAR THAT? The SECOND largest sum of money...none of that can be said about Mccain..many politicians do use the system to pad their pockets, we know this and have ocme to "accept" this...I imagine this is why there is no outcry over this obvious "mis-use of posiition"...what will he do when he is in the president's place? Of course, not many were concerned or maybe even knew about the corruption in the Clinton White House, other than Lewinsky...but to house felon, terrorists, drug lords in the White House is a little brazen...I think Obama will do similar..His affiliation with William Ayers, Farakan, and Wright are not everyday middle class people...and it illustrates, indeed he does want change, but what kind of change...is change necessarily good, no matter what kind? Are we so sick of Bush and the economic crisis that we will sell out the ideals of our nation for anyone who promises a change? He is radical in socialistic opinions...universal health care, regulating the market (which will be regulated under him much more than any of us will like..and it is a means to control the market for their benefit..the governments)...Big government has not brought any relief in the past but laid the burden of economic demise at the underclass...there is no way and will be no way to bring about an "ideal economy" where all fare well...Marxism does not work in real life...

McCain as I have heard many say has character that does not "spark" over the TV set, but has been illustrated throughout his life...in his loyalty to his nation as a POW, bipartisan negotiation, speaking out for his values and convictions, (unlike Obabma, who goes along with his party's atatus quo1)...I feel for McCain because I think he recognizes that he is loosing and he CARES a LOT, not for his own benefit, but for his nation's..I really believe he is a public servant and not serving for any other means...I am not so sure about Obaman!

9:41 AM
Ken Schenck said...

The glasses we all wear in election season are so fascinating. I can see someone writing almost exactly the same thing you have with different names and the roles reversed exactly.

I've actually been disappointed with McCain's character as the election has gone on. Obama has criticized McCain's judgment, but McCain's campaign has recently taken a turn toward ad hominem character assassination out of desperation, the "Swift Boat" tactic.

It doesn't play well with independents or the next generation of voters. You could see it in the lines of reactions under the screen. Every time McCain tried to be funny with some snide remark, his numbers dropped.

This election marks the disempowerment of the Boomer generation as voters, the end of Karl Rove style politics (talk about thugs in the White House!). I predict Boomers will be more and more frustrated in almost every election from now until their deaths as they helplessly watch the power shift to a new generation.

I predicted it would be Obama and McCain the night of the Iowa caucuses, and I predicted Obama would win. Both seem to have come true.

9:54 AM
Jared Calaway said...

I actually thought both candidates were rude last night. They did not stick with their "social contract" that they had agreed to at the beginning of the debate. Does this mean that neither one will really respect social contracts that have been set up in larger settings when they're president?

The actual positions did not change last night. We didn't learn anything new really, except maybe this mortgage stabilization plan that McCain mentioned. We heard them accuse each other of things, things which we'll have to check the facts on, because McCain especially has systematically misrepresented Obama and made up "facts" that have turned out to be untrue later--although this was far more brazen in the first debate.

I personally find McCain to be unstable. I don't want him holding the reins. And, in response to Angie, since when is healthcare for everyone a bad thing? Giving people basic health care is an extreme position? But, then again, I find both candidates' positions to be conservative WHEN you compare it to the range of positions that you can take and people throughout the world do take. On most issues, the real problem has been seeing what real, SUBSTANTIVE difference there is between them. It is one of slight degrees in the broader scheme of things. And I have found the McCain campaign to rely lately primarily on character assassination and underhanded tactics. That does not bode well.

9:57 AM
Angie Van De Merwe said...

Jared and Ken, I agree that the campaign has gotten off track. I personally don't watch that much televission to see the ads...but, that being said, I must respond to Jared's comment on health care..
Nothing is wrong with everyone having health care, it is just a matter of government's control of it...which I personally don't believe will benefit the quality of healthcare that we have presently...I have been exposed to socialized medicine, in Canada, and in the Netherlands..and England...you may be taken care of, but it is like the HMO's choices are limited, time is of no importance in waiting in line..specialized medicine will be more limited..it won't pay for students to go to school and build up an exhorbant school debt for what? to be sued? Lawyers who take issue over anyone's small complant and then take advantage of it for exhorbant settlements...this is why our healthcare is in the state it is...
Researchers, drug companies, FDA approval, lawsuits, medical malpractice insurance, insurance companies (businessess) etc...Overall, we have the best healthcare in the world and it is because the market produces incentive to pursue...unfortunately, the market it not merciful when it comes to the poor...that is where Churches and charitable organizations come in...

10:24 AM
Jared Calaway said...

I come from a county in Illinois, Madison county, which has lost most of its doctors because lawyers will sue for almost anything. Malpractice insurance is SO HIGH for that county, that we can't keep healthcare.

I am sick of HMO's and healthcare insurance companies telling me that I can't have the medications I need because they are too new. So, we have research, but even with insurance, I can't benefit until it has been around long enough to go generic. But, then again, pharmaceuticals have this uncanny ability to keep things from going generic due to their "research" in which they only slightly alter the drug. This isn't real research. This is just capitalist greed.

But I do recognize the problems with Canada's healthcare system--I have plenty of Canadian friends who tell me about it.

11:20 AM
dan said...

This election reminds me of the 1960 election (what I've read about it - because I wasn't born yet). Obama seems younger hipper and more in touch (much like JFK). McCain, seems old, out of touch, and reactive (much like Nixon).

I think the debates give evidence to this. Obama seems more comftorable, and McCain seemed a little out of his element.

12:42 PM
Anonymous said...

Yes, it's true that FNMA and FHLMC contributed to Sen. Obama's campaign more than any other congressman except for Sen. Dodd. They also gave generously to Sen. McCain's coffers. But what's also interesting is that FNMA and FHLMC both paid McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis tons of dough for lobbying on their behalf, much more than what they gave to any politician. Furthermore, Davis' firm continued to receive payments while he was directing McCain's campaign, though no employee other than Davis lobbied for these mortgage giants. If you contend that more dollars mean more conflict of interest, then the McCain campaign has a lot of accounting to do.

1:13 PM
Anonymous said...

Well Ken, if the transfer of power has shifted from "Baby Boomers" to the next generation and what you say is true, it seems to me that the US and the new generation has adopted socialism as the new political order. Dependence on government to provide for our needs and make us feel secure from the womb to the tomb is a dangerous path to take. Do you really trust these people?

Expect extremely high taxes. No matter what Obama says, there will be massive tax increases if he becomes president and the dems take over. There will be huge increases in govt spending that will require it. I will be retiring in about 10 years and you all will be providing my social security, health care, house payments and all the other things the nanny state considers equal, fair and my right.

1:51 PM
Anonymous said...

Astute observations, Ken.
Watching the debates, it seems that McCain supports are reminded why they support McCain and Obama supporters are reminded why they support Obama. I know it has been that way for me.

2:01 PM
Ken Schenck said...

I wonder if we will vote by weighing our fears? Which candidate do we fear more?

I'm somewhere between a Boomer and the coming generation. My time of powerlessness is coming soon enough...

2:13 PM

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