Game On: The First Presidential Debate

[Bond]

This was a very poor debate. McCain's and Obama's personalities simply do not mesh into a smooth discussion. It's rigid, awkward, and odd.

[Professor S]

I agree with Bond and most of the comments about how uncomfortable the debate was. I didn;t see the whole thing, but from what I saw I'm willing to call it a draw. Obama pushed McCain on the run-up to the war, and McCain pushed Obama on the surge and experience.

Overall , it just felt like a series on in-person attack ads.

BTW, I am loving the way CNN has reinvented itself. Its probably the only place where you can really find even handed reporting and analysis, since Fox leans hard conservative but has left-wing voices to provide some balance, and MSNBC has gone off the deep-end.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I agree with Bond and most of the comments about how uncomfortable the debate was. I didn;t see the whole thing, but from what I saw I'm willing to call it a draw. Obama pushed McCain on the run-up to the war, and McCain pushed Obama on the surge and experience.

Overall , it just felt like a series on in-person attack ads.

BTW, I am loving the way CNN has reinvented itself. Its probably the only place where you can really find even handed reporting and analysis, since Fox leans hard conservative but has left-wing voices to provide some balance, and MSNBC has gone off the deep-end.

The experience argument is a dead horse, especially now that he picked Sarah Palin to possibly lead our country. And experience alone doesn't mean anything.

And you really thought it was a series of personal attacks? The mot offensive thing Obama said during the entire debate was, "It doesn't mean we invite them over for tea." And that wasn't even directed at McCain, it was directed at the picture McCain was trying to paint of Obama.

McCain, on the other hand, spent the entire debate snickering and giggling like a little school girl, and at points telling blatant lies about Obama, and repeating the phrase "Obama doesn't understand." Obama, when retaliating to these lies, would simply say "That isn't true." And explain why. He never got defensive. When McCain said something true, he would say, "John is right."

Obama defended his beliefs and explained his opinions, while McCain attacked Obama's and rarely defended his own.

I'm not sure about you, but I know which kind of politics I prefer.

@Fyacin: So was your comment.

[Fyacin]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

The experience argument is a dead horse, especially now that he picked Sarah Palin to possibly lead our country. And experience alone doesn't mean anything.

And you really thought it was a series of personal attacks? The mot offensive thing Obama said during the entire debate was, "It doesn't mean we invite them over for tea." And that wasn't even directed at McCain, it was directed at the picture McCain was trying to paint of Obama.

McCain, on the other hand, spent the entire debate snickering and giggling like a little school girl, and at points telling blatant lies about Obama, and repeating the phrase "Obama doesn't understand." Obama, when retaliating to these lies, would simply say "That isn't true." And explain why. He never got defensive. When McCain said something true, he would say, "John is right."

Obama defended his beliefs and explained his opinions, while McCain attacked Obama's and rarely defended his own.

I'm not sure about you, but I know which kind of politics I prefer.

@Fyacin: So was your comment.

Oh wait....

Bias sees what Bias wants. I'm not saying I'm not biased of course, just that arguing won't contribute anything.


I did find it funny when Mcain stumbled over "imanutjob's" name.

[Vampyr]

If I'm only seeing things through biased eyes, then, please, humor me and post what personal attacks Obama made.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

If I'm only seeing things through biased eyes, then, please, humor me and post what personal attacks Obama made.

I'm not sure where you got your "personal attacks" idea from, but I said in-person attack ads. I call any accusation at the other, rather than an expolanation of personal beliefs, attacks. Both candidates took part in that.

And for the record, I found the most disrespectful thing done the entire night was when Obama constantly referred to McCian as "John" and not by his title, which is the custom. The man's been a Senator for 30 years, he deserves the respect.

Overall, I hated Lehrer's idea of having the candidates speak to one another. This is a debate, not a conversation. There is a structure that has been proven in time and use. In Congress, there is a reason why all discussion is directed at the SPEAKER and not one another: It creates awkward moments and unconstructive discourse. And thats what we saw.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I'm not sure where you got your "personal attacks" idea from, but I said in-person attack ads. I call any accusation at the other, rather than an expolanation of personal beliefs, attacks. Both candidates took part in that.

And for the record, I found the most disrespectful thing done the entire night was when Obama constantly referred to McCian as "John" and not by his title, which is the custom. The man's been a Senator for 30 years, he deserves the respect.

Overall, I hated Lehrer's idea of having the candidates speak to one another. This is a debate, not a conversation. There is a structure that has been proven in time and use. In Congress, there is a reason why all discussion is directed at the SPEAKER and not one another: It creates awkward moments and unconstructive discourse. And thats what we saw.

Talk about seeing things through a biased.