Barack Obama merely needs to hold it together in this debate, and the following two, and he will likely be our next president. Whether justified or not (it’s not), the economic crisis is going to benefit the party that is not in the White House. When banks are closing, and people have to be thinking about whether they are over the FDIC insurance limit at any one institution, things are bad. The easiest way to register protest against that state of affairs, if you are the average voter whose main source of information is the mainstream media, is to vote for the guy with the D after his name.
That, and the fact Obama supposedly is going to have a much better ground game on November 4, and the Democrats have a huge head start in the critical vote fraud effort, means the status quo is a loss for John McCain.
McCain needs to dramatically break through the mainstream media filter with 1) strong, clear messages that will resonate with viewers and 2) at least one bone-jarring attack on Barack Obama that causes Obama to completely tweak.
In McCain’s favor are the facts that he is right about more issues than Obama and he is a better extemporaneous speaker. Off the cuff, Obama has a history of letting slip what he really thinks, which often, rightfully, comes off as highly repugnant to many Americans. He also has proven himself thin-skinned and easily rattled.
So McCain needs to hit on some topics that reveal the cracks in Obama’s facade. My suggestions are some inconvenient truths such as the following:
- The Annenberg-Ayers connection and general fact that the Obamas like people who hate America;
- The fact that Obama, despite his rhetoric, pays his female employees worse than either McCain or Hillary Clinton did;
- Obama’s abysmal record on Second Amendment issues;
- Any of Obama’s lies – here’s a set of them, and here are some more;
- Or any of the “Chicago machine” stuff, because of all the swipes “typical politician” seems to be one that cuts to the bone, probably because it is both extremely true and extremely ruinous to his carefully constructed persona.
I think any of these truths, clearly and calmly explained by McCain, will get Obama twitching, and one major instance of this in front of 40 million viewers will be the end of his viability as a candidate.
That’s not to say McCain can’t win the thing just by making the case for himself. He can be very persuasive and sincere when speaking off the cuff, and as at the Saddleback Church forum, this contrasts very favorably with Obama’s tendency to stumble for words and generally show muddled thinking.
But it does not seem like a very safe tactic to assume Obama is going to make himself look bad, and besides it would be better style to at least try and rattle him a few times – people love to see clay feet revealed, and this is one juicy target.
Joe,
One thing that you are overlooking is what the final economic recovery plan finally looks like now that McCain has had a chance to caucus with House and Senate Republicans. From what I have heard, it sounds like what will come out as a plan will be much more protective of the taxpayers than that initially agreed to by Bush, Paulsen and the Dems. If true, this works for McCain and against Obama.
The NRA is getting their machine cranked up, and I would believe that this will have an effect in places like CO, OH, VA, and PA. All are key battleground states, with a strong 2A populace.
“people have to be thinking about whether they are over the FDIC insurance limit”
This is something that folks should manage anyway, not just now. It’s called asset management and risk protection.
Yeah, I’m actually glad to see that McCain came in and fixed it for us. The taxpayers, that is. Otherwise it would have been a total mess. I don’t know why Obama just sat on his hands, all worried about protecting his image and failing polls.
And here’s Kevin, prematurely ejaculating again..
That’s it, dans, you just keep projecting your fantasies.
The sad thing about this debate is that Ralph Nader and Bob Barr were not included. This is a democracy and we need more voices and choices. We need to open the debates so we get some genuine voices in there. All we hear from Obama and McCain is the corrupt agenda. Open the debates!
I couldn’t agree with you more, Mark.
Neither of those two have a hope in hell of winning the election. They are both spoilers, nothing more.
right on mark. jacob, if there was ever a time to critique the msm, it is there insistance that 3rd parties are excluded. those two would force more substance in the debates.
One of the commenters at Ace just remarked that the pall over the CNN “experts” is evidence that McCain cleaned Obama’s clock.
cleaned his clock? certainly at points i thought he seemed a little off his game, particularly the surge, but he seems to have held his ground. most seem to say a draw, and on foreign policy, that’s not bad news for obama.
Mark, while having all candidates there might sound like a good idea in the interest of openness and furthering the discussion, I have to agree with jacob, that in reality this would just be a pointless distraction.
I also don’t think the 3rd party candidates that hide in the woodwork for 4 years only to come out when there is an election have earned the right to be there.
Oh, McCain schooled the boy. You can admit it.
bullet, i don’t think so. in the first 30 minutes, i thought obama was creaming mccain. as it advanced further, mccain seemed to find his footing. but i thought obama didn’t respond well to mccain’s perseverations on ‘israel’ and ‘the surge.’ but i thought obama was effective. i did miss the last 30 mins though, don’t know if things were dramatically different. actaully it seemed pretty dull to me. i preferred the saddleback forum.
El Jefe, you missed the best part, the last 30 minutes were McCain basically smacking down Obama. McCain’s closing remarks were not only poignant, but delivered beautifully.
I agree, the first 30 minutes probably goes to Obama, but in no way did he win this debate.