Tonight’s debate was in a word, boooooooooooooooooooring!

Both men did much better than last time, but I was hoping against hope that McCain would come out and basically slice Obama’s balls off, cram them down his throat and then pull it out his ass.

Didn’t quite happen that way.  The biggest disappointment was McCain’s refusal to smack Obama around over his association with Bill Ayers, an unrepentant Marxist radical who had participated in several bombing acts during the 60s and 70s.  That very association alone should have disqualified Obama from even seeking political office, much less the Presidency.

Other than that though, McCain performed exceedingly well regarding questions about the economy and the financial crisis.  He got specific and outlined his policy in a very clear manner that definitively helped distinguish how his approach would differ from Obama’s were he elected.  Looking at this debate from an objective perspective, I can understand why McCain didn’t attack Obama with the Ayers connection, because ultimately it would have been a distraction for undecided voters, who likely would have seen this as an indication that McCain didn’t really have a plan and thus could only resort to attacking Obama personally (an argument the Obama camp has been using by the way to discredit McCain.)  But tonight McCain was able to dispel that notion quite effectively, and far from abandoning the Ayers issue, that task has instead been delegated to the Pitbull Wearing Lipstick.   In a way this could actually be a solid strategy, allowing McCain to present himself as a personable leader willing to be bipartisan for the good of the country, while at the same time ripping into Obama over his ties to 60s radicalism and Marxism.

Though I consider the debate to be a draw, there are two things that hurt Obama which may ultimately have a significant impact on the race.  As stated before, his campaign had been feeding the media circuits the notion that McCain’s platform had no substance and could only resort to attacking Obama on a personal level.  That lowered the bar for McCain and provided a much needed boon to help attract undecided voters that McCain was easily able to take advantage of.  The second thing was Obama’s attempt to circumvent the rules so he could respond to some of McCain’s arguments against him.  Tom Brokaw shut him down, but he proceeded to rebut McCain’s arguments anyway in a future question.  It made him look petty and arrogant, as if the rules didn’t apply to him, and it’s the very sort of thing that tends to stick in people’s minds.  People will largely forget this debate and what was said, but that confrontation between Brokaw and Obama will almost certainly be remembered, and in a way that will reflect badly on Obama.

So what’s the End Game Scenario?  The race will tighten up into a nail biting nightmare that will bring unwelcome memories of 2000, but… Obama will ultimately come out the victor by a razor thin margin.

Maybe. 

Tags: barack hussein obama, Bill Ayers, debate, disappointment, economy, john mccain, presidency, president, presidential campaign, presidential election, Tom Brokaw, undecided voters
Categories: Politics and Poker
 
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Seriously, how can people dig up the level of vile spittle-spewing hatred that they have for Sarah Palin?  It’s one thing to disagree with her politics, but hating on her like she’s Satan makes me think you are all completely deranged out of your drug altered minds.  Really, get a life weenies.

Last night I thought she was absolutely magnificent.  I watched the VP debate with the expectation that she wasn’t going to beat Biden on specifics, but on everything else she herself had become the shining city on a hill of dirty politics.  Her invocation of Reagan’s famous “There you go again!” line gave me chills, and every time she winked at the camera… oh man, it was monitor licking time for me. 

I know, I need help. 

But really, she performed about as well as anyone who’s only had 5 weeks to get up to speed could possibly perform against a 35-year debating veteran.  I know some weenies are whining that she didn’t answer many of the questions, but it was obvious the questions were skewed towards Biden’s strengths, and Ifill (the moderator) kept giving him the last word on everything as well.  Not a single question on energy or anything that Lady Sarah clearly would have been very informed about, forcing Palin to inject her expertise on issues like energy policy into questions that were otherwise unrelated.  This was the only time she could speak directly to the people unedited, and she took advantage of this venue as much as she could.  With a twinkle in her eye and a smile that could melt all but the most darkened hearts of liberal scumsuckers, she exuded charisma and warmth such as we have not seen since, well, Ronald Reagan.

Which is not to say Biden didn’t perform well.  I thought he did very well in fact, but the problem was he was lying his ASS off.   Oh my God, seriously.  Almost everything he said was either a misstatement or a flat out whopper of a fibby wibby lie.  There was no way Palin could ever address it all, especially since it’d be impossible for her to know absolutely everything McCain had been doing in the Senate for the past 3 decades, thus being able to call Biden on the carpet whenever he misrepresented McCain’s record.

That more than anything though would explain her poor performance in the previous interviews she had with Couric and Gibson.  She wouldn’t have to work so hard to remember talking points if McCain wasn’t such a damned RINO to begin with.  And that was the problem, she couldn’t really speak for herself, she had to speak for McMaverick, and half the time figuring out where he stood on things was like trying to nail jello to the wall.  It’s the first time she’s ever had to do something like that, and it showed.  But she’s learning though, and she is learning at an incredibly fast rate.  Her star is still rising, but she already is, in many ways, a superstar. 

I think what I liked most about this debate is how her family easily mingled with Biden’s afterwards.  I’ve never seen that before, and it was heartwarming to see two otherwise opposing candidates warm up to each other like that.  There was genuine affability there, and it makes me wonder, “Why can’t Congress be more like this?”

Ultimately, I think Lady Sarah succeeded in finally pushing the issues about her being fit for national office off the table.  Now, the race is all about McCain versus Obama.  It’s the final stretch, and the fate of our country and whether it can avoid the horrors of an Obama Presidency now lies in the hands of a cantankerous old fartsie wart.

God help us all. 

Tags: barack hussein obama, debate, energy, fate, God, issues, joe biden, john mccain, performance, presidency, presidential campaign, presidential election, ronald reagan, sarah palin, senate, vice presidential
Categories: Politics and Poker
 
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I recently came across a post from a blogger asking readers why everyone thought Schmuckabee (uhh, I mean Huckabee) was a conservative in name only. After contemplating the question for a minute or two, I wrote a somewhat lengthy comment that I thought was eloquent, to the point and profoundly expressed how I felt about the man. It took me over an hour to write, but once I get into my groove it’s hard to stop.

So what happens? Neigh on 60 comments go by without anyone mentioning a thing I said.

As the Cookie Monster might so aptly say:

Great, some of my best writing of the week, and it ends up on somebody else’s blog. Ah well, that’s enough of that then. I mean if my writing is going to be ignored and unappreciated, then gosh darnit all, it better be on my own turf, you feel me?

Anyway, here’s a copy of the comment I made on that site, highlighting my own personal case for why Huckabee should not be nominated (and no I’m not linking to the weenie’s site because his PR6 blog gets enough backlinks and traffic, thank you very much):

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I think Huckabee’s biggest problem is his take on immigration. He seems to think it’s the function of the U.S. government to coddle illegal immigrants in the same manner that Bush does. He also seems to show little concern for border security, and does not support using the military to help stem the tide of illegal immigration. At least in this regard, he’s just another Bush.

He also needs to stop wearing his Christianity on his sleeve. We’re not voting for a Christian leader here, we’re voting for a political one, and his mannerisms suggest that he seems to think Jesus Christ Himself sent him to win the Presidency. Attributing his current success to God might be to him an act of humility and a nod to divine providence, but to the rest of us it comes across as arrogant and closed minded. It’s akin to Pat Robertson proudly projecting a Bush landslide victory based on what God “laid on his heart.” How many of us though can really presume to know the mind of God?

This also creates an environment where he could easily accuse anyone of disagreeing with his policies as either being un-Christian or racist, if he hasn’t done so already. He also has a tendency to shoot from the hip without considering all the facts at hand (such as his initial support in lifting the Cuban embargo.)

Ultimately, I think what turns many conservatives off about Huckabee is not so much that some feel he’s the GOP version of Jimmy Carter, but also that he’s a Bush clone. His conservative principles may be sound but are still largely untested in several key areas, appearing a mile wide but only an inch deep, and where he vaults into enacting or supporting policies suspiciously liberal in nature, this is explained away by him having to be a pragmatist. Well Bush was a pragmatist too, and when it came time for him to put his own proclaimed conservatism to the test, he failed miserably.

While Huckabee might seek to limit government in some fashion in accordance to conservatism, it also seems to clear that he wants to expand it as well, and in accordance with nothing more than his own personal Christian beliefs. He wants to take back this nation for Christ? No, what he should be fighting for is taking back this nation for the PEOPLE. That takes a political mind which understands that government, in order for it to serve the people’s interest, must first learn to get out of their way. It recognizes that the government’s function is to enforce the law, not promote Christian charity. Huckabee’s heart might be in the right place, but his mind isn’t.

I say all this by the way as a conservative Evangelical Christian who believes Huckabee does not qualify to be our President.

Tags: best writing, blogger, border security, christian, christian leader, conservative, cookie monster, divine providence, evangelical, groove, humility, illegal immigrants, illegal immigration, liberal, michael huckabee, Pat Robertson, presidency, president, presidential campaign, turf, weenie
Categories: Politics and Poker
 
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