Aug 18 2008
Obama Thrown From Saddleback Debate
I watched a little of the Q&A at Saddleback with Obama and McCain. My bottom line take is Obama talks like a used car salesman/politician, speaking in Kumbayah tongues, while McCain addresses issues head on. Obama lost me when his reason to become President was to help all the poor people in the world. That is not the job of the US President. The UN and UNICEF and NGOs do that work.
The US President leads this nation forward and keeps it secure. We are the example of what mankind could be if it stopped being so damn jealous or intimidated by our achievements and just followed our example. They could keep their cultural diversity (we keep ours here), and thrive.
McCain’s best moment I saw was when he discussed his tough decision to stay a prisoner of war so he would not become a propaganda tool, and to honor the code that those in captivity the longest return first. It reminds all of us how much this man gave to this country, while Obama was still fumbling around with vague platitudes only elementary school children believe in. McCain wants to lead America, Obama wants to be the Tooth Fairy.Â
Update: Everybody knows Obama failed at Saddleback, including the now desperate media who have stooped to calling John McCain a cheater!
 Senator John McCain was not in a “cone of silence†on Saturday night while his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback Church in California.
Members of the McCain campaign staff, who flew here Sunday from California, said Mr. McCain was in his motorcade on the way to the church as Mr. Obama was being interviewed by the Rev. Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life.â€
The matter is of interest because Mr. McCain, who followed Mr. Obama’s hourlong appearance in the forum, was asked virtually the same questions as Mr. Obama. Mr. McCain’s performance was well received, raising speculation among some viewers, especially supporters of Mr. Obama, that he was not as isolated during the Obama interview as Mr. Warren implied.
Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.
“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,†Ms. Wallace said.
What a bunch of horse-hockey. And if the Obamabots think crying ‘”cheater!” is going to help Obama they are just making a disaster much worse for the Junior Senator from Illinois. This was always going to be a problem for Obama, who has no political experience at the national level. And it was not the answers themselves, but the emotion behind them, as so many have been pointing out today. During the Olympics where Americans are striving to win, but in many cases losing to better athletes, this claim of cheating is especially grating. Obama’s camp is imploding in a burst of inexperience and frustration.
breschau:
No, it would not have. I am not that petty. I doubt it would have even been an issue.
Besides, I heard clip earlier from Warren himself and he said that his people were with McCain, and that he was in the cone of silence, whatever the hell that was. He sounded more than a little disgusted that it was even a subject for discussion.
What breschau is ignoring is that this is only an issue because the Democrats and their friends made it one.
McCain was McCain. He always speaks the way he did last night. Obama always answers questions the same way. No one needed to cheat, they were who they always are.
Bresch,
I don’t think either candidate would have answered any differently even if provided with the exact, specific questions several hours ahead.
McCain is usually direct and Obama is usually rhetorical. Both gave answers that reflected their real views.
The questions were better than the silly, liberal pandering, MSM debate questions. Which is why McCain won. Which is also why Obama won’t face McCain one on one.
That “debate” was very reassuring for the Repubs. A good VP can clinch it.
[…] 18, 2008 · No Comments AJStrata provides the best wrap-up of Saturday evening’s “debate” between Obama and McCain at Rick Warren’s […]
Macker:
Actually, that’s a great point: “cheating” and knowing the questions beforehand probably wouldn’t have changed anything that either candidate said. There really weren’t any “holy crap, I didn’t see *that* coming” moments, on either side.
As far as I can see, there were two true pandering, “I just won’t answer this question” moments: Obama when asked about when life begins, and McCain when asked to define “rich”. They both danced around it, Obama with “above my pay grade”, and McCain with “I want to lower everyone’s taxes”. But McCain made the mistake of saying “$5 million”. Holy cow – $4.75 million above the top 2% of the country is where you finally define “rich”?
But in both cases – they *had* to do that, either because of their base, or because of who they were. I very much look forward to the first actual debate: that’s when the polls will actually become meaningful.
Breschau,
Don’t forget small businesses are taxed at the individual rates, so many small businesses that employ 5 people are going to gross more than $1M easily. And all 5 of those people will be middle class.
Hitting the fat act rich is not as easy as it sounds.
Interesting comment today from Rick Warren about how evangelical Christians view Obama’s abortion position. Remember, Rick Warren is thought of as one of the most left-leaning evangelical leaders in the country.
“For many evangelicals, of course, if they believe that life begins at conception, that’s a deal breaker for a lot of people. If they think that life begins at conception, then that means that there are 40 million Americans who are not here [because they were aborted] that could have voted. They would call that a holocaust and for them it would like if I’m Jewish and a Holocaust denier is running for office. I don’t care how right he is on everything else, it’s a deal breaker for me. I’m not going to vote for a Holocaust denier…”
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/2008/08/rick-warren-to-godometer-obama.html