Obama Team: McCain’s Debating Skills Unparalleled

McCain doesn’t have answers. He’s going to the debate to blame Obama for everything–just like McCain’s previously done on the campaign trail. McCain will ignore his 26 years in Washington, will forget all the times he’s told Obama he hasn’t been around enough, and then will lay this entire crisis at Obama’s (and the Dems) feet. This is despite the fact that the GOP controlled the White House and Congress for years and never put in any regulations that would prevent this meltdown! America–watch out for the okey-doke!!

They are about equally matched in debate skill – Obama has talent and McCain has over a quarter century on the Senate floor (and until he was recently muzzled by advisers, very frequently talking with the press on his Straightalk Express).
This debate should be McCain’s based on the subject matter of foreign policy, where he is experienced. If it turns to economics, Obama will have the advantaged as his academic mind will serve him well.

I think it is genius, if he does good, then he makes mccain look like a fool. If he does bad then they can fall back and say “well we said McCain is a better debater.”

One of the country’s top pollsters was in Rochester on Thursday and suggested that the November presidential election will end in an electoral landslide, even though the candidates are running close.
“Essentially the election is at equilibrium,” said John Zogby, president of Zogby International. “This election will stay close until the end.”
As Expected: THIS WILL BE A LANDSLIDE
POTUS OBAMA – IT’S INEVITABLE

How can any serious person back McCain anymore. He makes decision making ability is reckless and his policies are totally outdated.

How can one set a bar for Palin???

Adam, I hardly think Obama has memorized his way through this campaign. He is intelligent and thinks on his feet.

McCain is a good debater but can he hide his flip flop and lies.

Show me the email!

So John – Is the rest of the MSM buying the “hype down”? Frankly, I find it demeaning both to Obama and to those of us who’ve been following this race for a year and a half. His camp should set the bar high for both candidates and have confidence that their guy will get his message across to the American people.

Well, it takes what it takes to write a excellent speech.

Wow. I am impressed. You actually wrote an article that almost made you sound like a non-partisan journalism instead of a commentator

What happened to the promise of no deal no debate? What did the 2 senators achieve by going to Washington?
The maverick is now very tentative and fickle.

[How can one set a bar for Palin???
Posted by: Libratine | Sep 26, 2008 4:01:00 PM]
Just leave it on the ground- she’ll trip over it :)

a recent NEWSWEEK that covered the RNC showed Cindy and Palin reading from a teleprompter to such detail it said ‘say ‘thanks everyone’ then ‘hug those around you’
pathetic

Dod-Countrywide-the-fraud
You are right, I am racist, because I am not voting for Lord Obama.
I migratd from India and I am American Citizen. I have never seen such corrupt politician protected by almost all the media.
for Example , Obama arranged 100K to his buddy to setup a gardern, No Garden, all gone

ANYONE who says that McCain is a better debator is an outright liar. HILARIOUS!
McCain has as much personality when speaking as a block of moldy cheese. How many times on the campaign trail did he repeat verbatum that pathetic line “I will take this pen, I will make them famous, and you will know about them” he repeated that so many times yet he had to look down at his notes as he said it. LAME-O

Has ABCnews.com become the official Obama Campaign “spin machine”?????

Alan Fine
CNN tried to show all the teleprompters during republican COnvention, they never showed teleprompter during democrats.
Do you know why, Because lot of Liberal MAerican thinks Obama speaks from his heart and CNN does not want to change that.

McCain can’t keep pulling the same political stunt. In 2000, McCain backed out of one of the presidential debates with George Bush, and cancelled at the last minute. He used some poor excuse.
In 2008, the poor excuse McCain tried to use is “Country First”. But it didn’t work this time. It seems that when the polls are against him, candidate McCain has a history of cutting & running from debates before the American voters. So for McCain, it’s cut & run, and “POLLS FIRST”.

Get ready to hear.. My Friends, Reform, change Washington, POW, Vietnam, prison, Hanoi…. Oh GOD.

versailles – McCain has a record of 26 years of doing nothing. zip. Some things he DID do was consistently vote against increasing benefits to the VETS after the war started. Some Hero. 80% of vets support Obama. Obama has already won this election. deal with it!

Alan Fine: And your so gullible, of course you believe all that crap.

My Friend, I believe it is Obama that is indecisive on the issues. McCain is going to win the debate hands down BUT you probably won’t hear that in the Messiah Media.

I wouldn’t say that he is amazing, but I expect McCain to win most of the debates.
McCain is much better at simplifying his ideas than Obama. Obama gets hung up on details and will give much longer, more complicated responses. He thinks about the question and then answers it. John McCain *knows* what he will say.
Obama has the advantage of being a better speaker, however. I believe that’s why they refuse to do more debates. They know that McCain is the better debater, so they stick with speaking, his strong suit.
An example: Someone asked them in a debate what they would do about evil in the world.
McCain said: Defeat it.
Obama went into a much longer answer about how we should stop it, but about how complicated it was and that we shouldn’t accidentally punish good people.
They applauded McCain much more because his answer was simple and isolated. He didn’t try to bring in other real world factors or change the nature of the question.

Brad Ledger…please read what you said..i=n the same sentence, you tell us MCcain did nothing in 26 years..then u tell us what he did to the VETS…do you see why you look like and idiot to intelligent people?
McCain has a record of 26 years of doing nothing. zip. Some things he DID do was consistently vote against increasing benefits to the VETS after the war started. Some Hero. 80% of vets support Obama. Obama has already won this election. deal with it!

MCCAIN-
-Technologically challenged – cannot even read from a teleprompter!
- ‘Word’ challenged -needs Bush speech writers to write his speeches!
-Economically challenged – ‘the fundamentals are strong’
-Popularity challenged – had to bring in an Incoherent bumbling right hand like Palin
26 years in Washington – he did CHALLENGE A few things, BUT NOTHING GOT DONE!!!- 26 years CHALLENGED!!!!

Payback is a beach, aint it Repubs?
HA HA HA, McMaverick stunt backfired…
And Palin? Ahh, yeah. If I was a repub, I would be sooo mad at the McMaverick.
I’m giddy, thanks John!

I’m looking forward to a serious debate on the issues, without “gotchas”. Let each candidate present his perspective of where we are and where to go from here so that the viewers can make a rational choice as to which Democrat to choose.

“The One” without his teleprompter is mortal.
I look forward to McCain, his leadership, experience and foreign relations knowledge will be front and center. Obama can steal ideas and policy from Hillary and Bush, he is just an empty suit. He has a lot to learn, but remember, he is a freshman senator.

I believe it’s Obama who voted 130 times “PRESENT” not Mccain. He did so because most of the members of the Congress are racists but now he does care. After all, he cannot vote PRESENT on Nov.4th since there is no provision for such option. That’s very confused to him and I wish him the best.

Folks please take away the personal attachments from the candidate and a party and make your choice based on policies. I am a republican, I have to vote democratic this time around because the leadership is taking us in the wrong direction. You have to let another organization lead.

blah

McDesperado,why don’t you come to your senses?

Why do so many Dems resort to name calling? You apparently aren’t the cream of the crop. If you like your candidate, then by all means vote for him. If you get more votes you win. If you don’t get over it.

Zogby’s claim of a landside was with McCain winning.

McCain’s past record consists solely of being a puppet of the greedy richest 1% and the oil corps., exactly like George W. Bush.
McCain tried to get out of the debate by using the bailout as an excuse. But instead of helping with the bailout negotiations, McCain proved to be an unwanted hindrance, thus belying his excuse for showing up for the debate.
McCain doesn’t want to debate because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He’s a Bush clone and everyone has finally come to realize that Bush’s policies lead to disaster.
Even the Republican politicians know that McCain doesn’t stand a chance. That’s why he couldn’t get Romney or anyone you’d heard of to be his running mate. Picking an unknown, inexperienced beauty queen from Alaska was scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Posted by: martha | Sep 26, 2008 4:32:31 PM Marha, “Obama can steal ideas”
There is nothing new under the Sun. Remember a pig with lipstick is still a pig. See old ideas and years of experience does not automatically equate to success. McCain is wrong for this generation and the next.

Posted by: TJ, THE CLINTONITE | Sep 26, 2008 4:22:38 PM
McCain is too damn old to fix anything.

GeeGeestone – Yeah, didn’t you hear from Obama that he does better doing policy on the phone? His actions at the WH yesterday I heard were embarrassing and the dems in congress are covering for him. People will find out what a fraud this guy is. McCain who has served with honor first as a soldier and as a statesman, will but Obama to shame.

– McCain can’t blame Obama for anything, Obama hasn’t done anything. –
Just for grins, try searching for Bills introduced into the current 110th Congress, sponsored by each candidate. Results:
Biden: 155
Obama: 130
McCain: 38
I’d say that he hasn’t just been sitting around doing nuthing

I don’t see any spin coming from the Republican base today. That’s all I see from the Obama. Just so you know, Obama folks bought up all of McCain’s air time when he went to D.C. Now there is somebody that feels your pain. Let’s go on a spending spree to get the crown while the country is going down the tubes. There is now not going to be a 700 billion give-away. There will be help, yes. But these companies are going to be forced to carry their own weight. You can thank McCain and the Republican leadership for not caving to the president and the democrats.

Obama’s words of wisdom:
- call me if you need me
- that’s above my paygrade
- I only knew Resko for 5 hours
- Rev. Wright: my uncle, mentor, family member, spiritual guide
- 57 ststes, with more to go…
- “Bitter”
Must be that affirmative action education, at taxpayers expense – ouch!

I thought McCain put out an ad this morning declaring that he has already won today’s debate even before it happened? the world ilaughing at America. This Morning, Chinese TV said “the US election is becoming very entertaining. They commentator went on to say “it’s like watching horribly-scripted American TV sitcom.” Enough said!

3-2 odds obama spends more time trying to link mccain to dubya then promoting any real ideas to help America

I hate repetion. It’s like a broken LP machine. Okay, we heard you Obama voted PRESEN 130 times. Please do not re-print that BS again. On Nov 4th, He cannot vote PRESENT anymore. Such a confusing voting system.I do not think he can figue it out without his 300 advisors.

placing the issues before the candidate: the Clintons; placing the candidate before the issues: michelle obama, when asked if she would vote for Hillary if she was the nominee, didn’t say she would

If you want more handouts vote Obama.If you want higher taxes vote Obama.If you want more goverment vote Obama. This is what it comes down to.Do you want Wright
,Jessie and AL laying in the whitehouse vote Obama.

justright:
Bwwahhahha. I’m not hiding, nor a punk. I’m onto something and you’re pissed.
Palin is great, so is Todd. But not as VP or First Dude.
And yes, I own 4 guns, snowmobile, wrench on my own car and can field dress fowl, Elk, fish. And I make well into the 6 figures, am educated, and dirve a Volvo.
You’re just angry because a smart black man is going to be YOUR president.

Good luck to both cantidates!!!And God Bless America

Posted by: Mike | Sep 26, 2008 4:47:21 PM..hey, Reagan did it.
I surely don’t recall Reagan being INEPT!

from february 4th: ROBERTS: So what if Senator Clinton defeats her husband, becoming the first woman nominee. Could you see yourself working to support the first woman nomination?
OBAMA: I’d have to think about that. I’d have to think about that, her policies, her approach, her tone.

obama’s initial plan when dealing with the bailout plan was to put out a joint statement with mccain

Look on the bright side, Obama may legalize control substance…smoking pot in the Oval office is kind of cool.

the popularity of American Idol is why we have the tough choice between the inexperienced charmer and the angry old man, rather than the easy choice of the best person to be the best President for our children, our troops and America: Senator Clinton

Posted by: harold l | Sep 26, 2008 4:58:02 PM
You are going to be scared? You should already be scared, especially if John McCain becomes the President, dies in a couple of years and Palin takes over.

McCain right after he delayed his campaign, John McCain had a political candidate interview with Katie Curic.
McCain a man of his word? ? ? ?

Obama: “I’m a socialist! Get over it! As I wrote in my memoir, I do have marxist tendancies!”

How can one set a bar for Palin?
Just do NOT ask Palin any questions or you will be escorted out of the room with a mountain of thank yous.

Sorry, my response was to jb, not abe.

Prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, an early supporter of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, said Friday recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is “out of her league” and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party.
The criticism in Parker’s Friday column is the latest in a recent string of negative assessments toward the McCain-Palin candidacy from prominent conservatives.
It was fun while it lasted,” Parker writes. “Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who is clearly out of her league.”
Palin’s interview with Couric drew criticism when the Alaska governor was unable to provide an example of when John McCain had pushed for more regulation of Wall Street during his Senate career. Palin also took heat for defending her foreign policy credentials by suggesting Russian leaders enter Alaska airspace when they come to America. Palin was also criticized last week for appearing not to know what the Bush Doctrine is during an interview with Charlie Gibson.
“If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself,” Parker also writes. “If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.”
I will say what is true. I pray that if the Republicans win, that McCain stays in good heath because it scares me to death that Palin could be president if something were to happen to him. She is a nut job and would have us shooting nukes ar Russia on a dime. This is McCains great decision making.
On tonighs debate I expect the same ole, rep. hype because McCain will use one and two word answers and POW years and the republicans eat that up. They think thinking before answering is some kind of slowness or weakness. I call it intelligence, which is something else the republicans (some) dont get. Someone said the reason the GOP does so well is they know a lot, but they also know most voters dont know a lot. Therefore the one that keeps it short and simple tonight will win the debate but the one that is acually smarter and listens to the question, thinks about his answer and then answers will be seen as some as the looser. This is how most GOP voters respond. Shame

Sen. Widestance: I think your responding to the wrong person. I’m real happy for your success in the past 8 years, but with this smart black man sneaking into the political scene you may be broke in the next 4. But fear not, he’ll slither away back under the rock that he came from after Nov. Enjoy your toys while you still have them.

where does obama stand on the 700 billion hand out? uh,uh,uh,uh, let me get back to you

“I think it is genius, if he does good, then he makes mccain look like a fool. If he does bad then they can fall back and say “well we said McCain is a better debater.”"
I don’t think it works that way. No one is going to get points because they said “I told you we’d lose”

The reality is that Obama is not a good debater. He’s very cerebral and tends to think through every word while speaking. McCain is good at pounding the table. Obama tends to remain calm at every question and tries extremely hard answering them with good judgment and knowledge. His calm nature sometimes is mistaken as weak or unsure of himself. Obama is a great decision maker because he truly studies the issues but tonight he needs to be aggressive.

Pretty words and rhetoric do not cure the problems we face.
If you really care about the USA it is time to put a NONE OF THE ABOVE slot on your ballot.
Mc Cain is between a rock and a hard place ( squeeze play ) Obama does not have a clue. God help us if the BAILOUT goes through.

Barak Hussein: Man, that was beautiful.

Atisha,
There is no such thing as an affirmative action education. When you are enrolled in a college or taking a graduate course of study, there are no special exams, the standards are set for all students equally on what it will take to earn your degree. So no matter how you get in you have to earn your way out. Your comments are interesting though, becuase I thought republicans loveed affirmative action as that’s what was taking place in the Justice Department where “loyal bushies” were hired over more qualified candidates as a matter of course. A far worse result becuase the “loyal bushies” didn’t have to earn anything after being give the job. Guess republicans think affirmative action is ok as long as its not benefitting some else.

MCCAIN-POLIN AND GOP GAMBLE IS OVER. POLL NO SAYS THAT 52% TO 42%. NOV.4 IS NOT VERY FAR.YOU ALL KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.AMERICAN VOTERS ARE NOT STUPID.WE ALL SAW EIGHT YEARS OF BUSH-CHAINEY, 2 BILLION DOLLARS/DAY IN IRAQ.NOW “BAILOUT”RECESSION?? WE HAD ENOUGH OF BUSH-CHAINEY AND GOP. SARAH PALIN ANOTHER FUNNY AND RISKY ONE.VOTER ARE NOT BUYING. IT IS”ECONOMY”STUPID.

you could not have h clinton/pelosie running the country, the dems let obama win so pelosie could tell him what to do,h clinton would be 15 points ahead by now.it is about how bad obama is running.mccain is holding on,and the dems are shaking there heads.

Truth be told, McCain is a horrible debater. He is not a lawyer like Obama. Lawyers can think on their feets or are trained to do so. McCain does not have the oratory skills of Obama or Biden. Same with Palin. Biden will destroy her in debates. Obama and Biden are known for their articulate abilities.

McSAME’s staff needs to make sure the Bright RED RupubliCON Flag with its sickle and hammer is centered behind their candidate for that perfect photo op!

who do you think might vote no on the bail out?mr ambiguous,uh,uh,uh obama.or mccain?

Isn’t it odd that none of the right-wing talk shows are talking about Palin’s interview.

Liberal vs. Conservative.
Can someone explain to me why being liberal is bad? If you’re a conservative, does that mean you’re NOT in favor of the Constitution? The basic definition of a liberal is “favorable to progress or reform”, i.e., moving forward and holding people accountable for their actions.
Seems to me EVERY AMERICAN, making less than $500,000 a year (the overwhelming majority of us), should want their leaders to be held accountable for their actions, and have our best interests in mind when the make decisions that ultimately affect our lives.
Seems to me people are affraid of what a man or woman CAN be, or are simply too lazy to work hard enough to find out.
I’m an independent, because I think it makes zero sense to choose a candidate based on political affiliation. I’ve voted for Republican, Democrat, and Independent. I look at it as my civic duty to vote for the best candidate possibly, regardless of party affiliation.
I think it’s time American’s stop voting based on party lines because you want to be with the “in” crowd. Go home tonight, look at your children, your wife, your husband. Then stop for a minute and think “which candidate is really looking out for me?”

Lisa–If you mean Foxnews, you obviously don’t watch it, so don not know enough to make that comment.

What kind of people are we willing to put in the White House these days? I mean we might as well select 2008 Playboy palymate of the year Bunny for VP is all we want is to get Hillary Clinton’s voters ya? I mean any woman will qualify for that matter. Bush said Wall Street got drunk and went to sleeep. He should know, he drinks! It seems to me the whoel country is drunk and has gone to sleep if we are willing to put somebody like Palin a heartbeat away form the Oval office, somembody who has no idea that when Russian planes fly over Alaska when coming to America, the Pentagon has already given them clearance to do that and that the Alaska Governor has no say over that unless the Pentagon asks the National Guard fighter planes in Aalska to Intercept. Palin said she is the “Commander in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard.” What is she commanding in Alaska? Fish? Polar Bears? Melting Icebergs in motion?

Jeriad -
Yes – we will have to see. I have always voted Democratic, so I admit some bias. I am strongly adverse to jingoism such as I witnessed during the Republican convention and that alone is enough to steer me away from them. Further, I find it odd that the party against “big government” wants to snoop into my private life while allowing businesses to run unfetttered. So you might say I have made my choice. I suppose if McCain were to unmask Obama to show his horns and forked tail I could change my mind, but I have seen nothing to suggest that he is a stealth candidate. Your statement
“to read the public and to get them behind your vision” is a bit puzzling. I’m thinking one would read the public in order to follow them, not lead them. As in reading the polls to set your policy. I agree that a president’s job is to set a vision and rally support for it but I think the vision itself is a starting point. If it is a flawed vision and the president rallies support that could be bad. Look at George W. Bush and the Iraq war.

hillary clinton should run now, she might win.think about it.

McCain is going to win. Too bad for the liberals that Hollywood and the media dont determine the next President. (Although they would like too)
Obama and Biden are not our savior. Same old crap every election. Change Change Change.
He is not qualified period.

It should be good.

obama never took any money from anybody ever. that is drinking the koolaid,and buying the whole fear thing.that is obama’s platiform.watch obama vote for the hand out and mccain vote against it and obama still win the wh.god help us

no time for politics–I will try to outline the liberalist views, besides the obvious, gay marriage, late term partial abortions, etc… Liberal positions a counterintuitive:
1. They believe that fighting back against terrorism is futile and creats a cycle of violence.
2. Like to use the word”neocons” when they don’t even know what it means.
3. Is willing to defend Americans from terrorist unless it requires military action, and an OK from the French and Germans.
4. Trash christianity but defends Radical Islamists who support terrorism.
5. Believes that Saddam was a horrible, murerous dictator but when U.S. and 30 other countries liberated them, you want to leave the Iraqi people to their fate.
Is that enough?

There are some of us that will be looking for sincerity, rather than a performance. I’d rather have one sincere and honest person in office than one very experienced liar.

darryl–Last week Palin drew 60,000 supporters in Fl and they barely covered it. In May, Obama crashed a free concert in the park in Oregon and the MSM made it seem like the 65,000 people were there just for him. Pathetic isn’t it?

Dodd
Obama voted present 120 votes out of 4000 which is pretty normal…look it up and quit quoting misleading statistics. When they vote present it means somebody added somthing to the bill (usually pork like the bridge to nowhere) that they wish not to vote on. Get a clue

Yes…the campaign managers of each candidate have different approaches but, make no mistake about it, both are quite adept at their craft. After reading, watching, and listening to both (yes…I’m one of those low life undecideds), I prefer Obama. Not because of what either candidate is promising to do, but rather because of the dinstinction between the strategies and objectives of each candidate. McCain’s objective is clearly to secure the Presidency. His strategy appears to be weighted heavily on pandering, fear mongering,finger pointing, chosing what he hoped was a “vote getter” for VP. She’s not even remotely qualified for the Presidency if McCain fell ill or died. Obama’s objectives are more clearly defined and relate to more realistic needs. The Presidency has been a part of his strategy… not the end objective. That’s a HUGE distinction in my book. When the dust settles, I don’t expect either candidate to deliver on every promise however, I’d sleep much better at night knowing we, at least, have a President with the right priorities in mind.

NObama is going to get worked over tonight.

S. Adams- Thats what’s great. Middle America sees the biased state of the media. So it is not hard for them to support McCain-Palin. They see through all the crap.
Did you hear the networks announced their fall TV line up and their are more gay and lesbian characters than ever before.
That’s nice. Just what I want to explain to 7 year old daughter.
What they do behind closed doors is none of my business, and quite frankly, I don’t care. But dont cram it down my throat during primetime television.
That is the definition of the Hollywood and liberal television networks.
Our founding fathers are ROLLING so much in their graves, thay are going to turn up in China!

– To: Dodd-Countrywide-the-fraud
That would be two not to.
barely string two (as in the number) sentences together… –
Revrac.. that was ME and my TYPO.. but thanks for bringing up that very very importing issue so we can all be less confused about what was written.

Poor Obama – no teleprompter to rely on – he can’t speak without one – he’s doomed.

The American political machine is a thing of wonder. It manages to divide the sheeple into two groups, equally rabid in the belief that “their” guy actually cares one bit about them, when the truth is it’s all about getting power and the wealth that comes with it. It’s no wonder the founding fathers had no use for the idea of political parties. Partisan political gridlock is the modern politicians best friend. Keep the population busy arguing with each other over which political “brand” is best, and they will never notice how both “brands” are bleeding the country dry.

But everyone now knows about this setting expectations stuff, so how is it supposed to work? All you really need to know is that Obama is a life long socialist and McCain is not.

Oops. Sorry. I know mentioning God does not sit well with most liberals.

– What is a neocon? –
Neo-conservative.. one who swings wildly to the right on political issues and believes in military force can settle all issues.

Breaking News on CNN-
A skeleton just fell from the sky in downtown Bejing. Because of the advanced technology of the Chinese, they have already identified the body as that of George Washington, USA.
I told you he was spinning in his grave!

Concerned American and jb–I send my kids to a Christian school just so they will not be exposed to morons of your caliber. Did you notice that shootings and violence in public schools increased when God was taken out of the schools. If you don’t believe in God, you can at least believe in the basic principles of Christianity, i.e., ten commandments.
Even if your kids do not watch TV, they still hear about immoral shows from classmates, media, Unless you are a crazy person and you keep your kids locked up in a windowless room forever, they are going to be influenced by their surroundings, especially in this day and age.

concerned american,
98% of America is straight. Those Kinsey studies were debunked years ago. Do some research.

– yet we have to remove the 10 commandements everywhere but church because American’s are so afraid of offending 10% of our population. –
Umm, no, that would be because of something known as seperation of church and state.

In a perfect world, everyone would fit into #4. However, that is often not an easy task when in reality, it is difficult to know where any candidate stands on any issue these days, given the trend to just “say what the people want to hear.” Inconsistancy is dismissed as changing ones position, or evolving due to changing circumstances. Completely understandable, even desirable if that was really what they were doing. Even when a candidate has a past record to review it is often not an accurate barometer of how they will make their decisions on issues in the future, as future stands on issues are very likely determined by who they owe the most to for being elected to the office they currently hold. It’s probably just better to vote for anyone other than the incumbant.

Concerned American–considering that most of our laws are based on the 10 commandments, and before testifying in a court of law you swear on a bible, who is it hurting when the 10 commandments is displayed in a courthouse?

– I don’t think the founding fathers meant to protect sexual perverts in the constitution –
No, they intended to allow people to be free in their actions, prevent the church from imposing it’s rules (remember why they left England?), provide for free speech and equality for all. You apparently don’t support that stance.

The Democrats just spent 3 days slamming McCain for wanting to postpone the debate. “He must be scared!” Bill Clinton had to come to McCain’s defense, for god sakes! If Obama doesn’t dominate the debate(since he was the one not scared of it), win goes to McCain.

True American-
What a liberal. “First dude” is the medias moniker.
And so what he has ONE DWI. How many of us have driven after any number of drinks and made it home safely.
That waas a ridiculous statement and shows your lack of education!

the clintons are the smart ones, they now know obama’s first term will be his only term. this mess on wall street will be with us for a couple of years and people are going to be hurting. hillary/12.who is on the rep side,he or she also has a good shot to win the wh in 2012. i can not wait for the welfare cheese. you get use to it.

obama,what i will do for the 10% unemployed,uh,uh,uh nancy,what should i do?

Guys, you seem not to get the point:
We don’t need another war, the US should start investing on peace and on turning the tide of anger against it, and Americans should again not be ashamed to travel abroad (oh, and they should actually be able to AFFORD it too)!!!”
The Person who wrote the above doesn’t get it! I don’t give a damn what the rest of the world thinks. The rest of the world has its problems, they look to us to supply the money and the manpower to solve the problems, but they want us to do it their way!

– Keeping expectations for Obama low and putting them high up for McCain is exactly the wrong thing to do. –
Any expectations is wrong and misguided. The debate is to learn about the candidates, how they feel about issues, what their goals are, and how they conduct themselves, not to see if they meet any preconceived expectation.

Yeah thats right, lets let Iran have nuclear powers and leave them alone.
Like I said, what a waste of an education.

– Yeah thats right, lets let Iran have nuclear powers and leave them alone. –
Some would consider that a hypocritical position, based on “Do as I say, Not as I do”, particularly with McCain calling for building 100 new nuclear plants.

They have to set a high bar for McCain because, Obama stinks in a debate.
He lost and looked like Palin during his first debate with Clinton.

– You truly represent a true liberal, you should be proud!! –
Ain’t it funny that apparently the liberals are the only ones who try to stand up for our constitutional rights, and the conservatives are the ones trying to take them away?
Did you support President Bush when he violated FISA, a law written specifically to prevent what he did?

Obama’s heavy makeup and lip liner looked weird—he looked very feminine. He looked like a phony glamor doll. At least McCain looked like a man!”

Obama KNEW the answers. McCain fumbled. Obama was NOT windy.

in my opinion Mccain came off as easily rattled and way too emotional when obama cornered him several points.Can you really trust Mccain when he wont even look his opponent in the eye.

Lawrence…. I agree, everyone except a few undecideds, are ready to vote today. Maybe now the focus can be back on getting our economy back on track which was so much more important than a debate anyway, but at least its over. I for one decided that the one who felt that the economy was more important than the debate will get my vote over the supficial candidate.

I’m so happy the debate happen.
When I first hear McCain wanted to suspend it thought. No, No let’s not go this way. I’m sick of canned speeches and negative ads on TV. The reason I felt the debates are important is, I wanted to heard them both talking to the American people during this crisis and explain what “from their perspective is the right thing for us to do next”. Guys you’ve been given your first “3am call” and we’re watching how you deal with it as it’s happening real time. How lucky America is that this happened now, when we are choosing our next leader for the next four years, over four months from now.
Both McCain and Obama were together during this crisis in Washington with Bush and other members of our government. They both were given an opportunity to ask and have explained the exact elements of our financial meltdown. Given all the briefing and discussion that they were presented, they should have given us their understanding of the choices we have and where they stand on these choices. We did not get this last night. In the area, I feel both candidates lost points. Knowing this, and that McCain was the individual that he said to all of America this should be our first focus, I must concede that McCain lost the most in this area. McCain, stopped the presses, but; then fail to put the new banner across the front page. So that day’s edition, went out with a blank front page. Bush asked for his help, but instead of helping Bush by getting his party get on the any side, McCain left Washington. McCain is not helping out the American people in their time of need as he said he would do. McCain did not keep his promise to America. While I am not happy with our current President I am distressed that McCain has not truly come to his aid. I understand Obama, but McCain like it or not Bush was the candidate you supported in 2000 and 2004. The distancing of McCain from Bush at this time, shows he would rather win more that fix this current problem. McCain is running his campaign as an independent over being a Republican.
McCain is out there talking about how Obama doesn’t get it. He’s out there talking about who was right or wrong on the surge. Who cares, that is yesterday’s news. Although Obama is right, we do need to asked, knowing what we know today, was going to war in 2003 the right thing to do? We all know the answer here, No. McCain has not conceded this point, while being lost in the surge and exploiting what happen on 9/11. McCain is telling us victory is at hand. McCain, please, in basic words any high school educated person (18 and above) can understand, What is Victory? If you’re going to campaign with Victory, explain it. I would also like to know when the Victory your touting will be fully achieved. Is it 2010, 2012, or 2015? For something to be “at hand” some time window should be known.
Today, our financial structure is about to collapse right before our eyes. McCain is talking about ear marks reform over dealing with the real issue at hand. The ear marks are not the issue. It’s 18 drops in a 700 drop bucket or 3% of the problem today. I’d rather have my next leader working on fixing 97% problem over the 3% in ear marks issue. McCain you’re tripping over dollar bills to pick up three shinny copper pennies for America.
McCain, focus on what you suspended your campaign on and tell us your solution. Obama, you do the same, and tell us what you ideas you have to solve it. If you’ve both don’t have solutions to provide in this area, then don’t get involved and go back to campaign and let Washington do what they we’re all elected to do. You either part of the solution or part of the problem. Right now, it appears both of you are moving closer to being part of the problem. The problem is anyone that bought a house from 2000 forward is at risk. Your risk increases as the year goes up, until we get to around late 2006. Right now the break even point is around 2000, but it has every chance of impacting those home owners that purchased a home prior to 2000, In some areas of the country, like California, it’s already going into the late 1990’s. I hear about coming to the aid of banks because the assets on the books have drop 40% to 50%, but what is your position on the owners currently that trying to keep their home while knowing It’s worth less than what they purchased it for, and they can not sell it and break even. Break even can take five to ten years. The problem is all the Loan to Value (LTV) ratios that are now negative. The problem has nothing to do with credit worthiness of the home owner at the time of purchase. In my eyes, the fix our government should be focusing on is to re-calibrate the housing market to stop the foreclosures by addressing the LTV for homeowners impacted by this. Keep in mind that over the past 5 to 6 years many home owners that put their own money into their home watched that value get wash away and have lost everything too. They have no choice but to go into foreclosures to have this loss realized as fairly as the banks. How are we going to fix this? This is what I want both candidates to talk about.
I want you both to really debate energy and our environment. In four years what will our oil consumption be and where will it come from? What will the energy source ratios be for oil, coal, sun, wind… be in 2012. in 2020? What government standards will change to lower the oil need and help the environment? When will they take affect? OIl has record profits. McCain, please explain why oil companies should be making record profits on the US citizens backs. Why do you believe this is fair and why we shouldn’t increase their (the oil companies) taxes or close the loop holes?
During the debates talk with one another and explain why your ideas are right over why the other’s is wrong. Over the remaining days start balancing your ads to talk about how you will change America over putting out ad that exploit past statements that can be used out of context. In these remaining days get in front of the media and be interviewed. Be ready to be answer any hard questions your asked.