Having successfully done whatever it was he doing in Washington these past two days, Senator John McCain has declared he will attend tonight's debate with Senator Barack Obama.
Here's the place to weigh in on the first formal face-off between two, whether you're a Republican, a Democrat or someone who tries to veer clear of politics most of the time.
Have at it.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
41 comments:
If it wasn't for his bad luck in getting shot down in Viet Nam, John McCain would be managing a convenience store in New Jersey right now instead of serving in the United States Senate. Surviving five years in a POW camp does not make him qualified to be president.
Well, I'm a person who served this country, in fact I served under a former POW who was imprisoned for seven years and was released the same time as McCain, and I say that being a POW should not be a free ticket to the White House. And he's using his war record to smear Obama's loyalty. What's that saying about the last refuge of the scoundrel?
Whoopie!~!
I am glad McCain is going to debate. I'm sure he will give informative answers, whether I agree with them or not. I hope Obama provides us with some real substance too, but it would be a first.
Surviving five years as a POW shows strength, perseverence, intelligence and optimism, which are not bad qualities in a president. We don't know if Obama has any of those qualities.
"Obama's loyalty"
Loyalty???? This from the man who will not respect the U.S. Flag or the National Anthem because he doesn't want to take sides?????
I don't know about you, but I kinda think if someone wants to be President of the United States, he should be on OUR SIDE.
"Surviving five years as a POW shows strength, perseverence, intelligence and optimism, which are not bad qualities in a president. "
So does surviving breast cancer.
12:56 What branch of the service did Sarah Palin serve in?
Who cares if McCain wore a uniform? Hitler wore a German military uniform, did that make him the best leader for Germany? I'm sick of you people obsessed with the military making it sound like military people are more patriotic than everyone else. Almost every military serviceman I know either got drafted during Vietnam involuntarily, or joined because they had nothing else to do in life, no direction, no opportunity for college, no skills, nothing. I would not want any of those guys leading my city, state, country, they are not too bright and a few are messed up in the head.
By the way, McCain ranked almost at the bottom of his Navy class, aproximately 890th out of 900 people. Also, he got shot down in Vietnam, so he wasn't even a very good pilot.
Getting caught does deserve respest and appreciation for him, but sorry to say that definately doesn't qualify him to run this country.
Whoa Dudes. Let's not get nasty about this. BTW Steve, when the national media went to the White House so did Obama so be a little less partisan.
The qualities that I want in a president are patriotism, loyalty, dedication; strength and ability to not only lead the nation but to inspire Americans to do great things.
John Kennedy inspired the nation.
Ronald Reagan inspired the nation.
Bill Clinton had the ability to inspire but more often than not he was… distracted.
I am sure I can trust McCain but not so sure I can trust Obama. Obama is however an inspirational speaker but McCain is well… boring.
Palin is a breath of fresh air but she has a lot to learn. Biden has verbal diarrhea and he substitutes plagiarism for real learning.
On policy issues I am not so sure I like the ‘hawkish’ policies of McCain but he is a tested patriot and a leader who can cross the aisle. Obama and his money spending buddies Pelosi and Reid are pretty scary. I think they might tax us all into oblivion.
This is an interesting election at a moment in history that is serious as a hear attack. The fact that George Bush looks more like a leader these last few days than does Obama, Biden, Palin, McCain, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, Barney Frank and all the rest is pretty scary.
Don’t base your vote on age, race or sermons. Think about what America will look like in two, five or eight years with each of these teams and decide what is best for you and best for our country.
I am leaning McCain but a burst of real facts from Obama could sway me and millions of other voters.
Enough with the attacks. Let’s talk real policy here.
And Obama's qualifications would be?????????????????????????????????
There are only two choices.
Justify yours instead of simply attacking mine.
6:26, I doubt your sincerity, you are pretty clearly pro-Republican but are including minor criticisms of McCain to enhance your credibility. It's nice for you to say McCain is boring, yet you say you can't TRUST Obama??? Way to be fair.
"If it wasn't for his bad luck in getting shot down in Viet Nam, John McCain..."
-Perhaps also it's the fact that he led the largest naval squadron in Viet Nam, was an Annapolis grad, the fact that he endured years of pain for his fellow service-men AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
-If Obama was white he'd be selling magazines.
Oh, 6:26, you think Palin is a breath of fresh air? Seriously? More like hot air, or just an airhead, she is a proven liar and exaggerater, and god help us if she would ever be President. And Biden did have a plagiarism issue a long time ago and talks too much, but he is very smart and has forgotten more about foreign policy than Palin could ever hope to learn in her lifetime.
McCain = 1
Obama = 0
4:55 pm:
You've probably never flown in an F-4 (I have) and I assure you, getting shot down in one is generally considered bad luck. I'm pretty sure Senator McCain would agree.
Unknowns or faceless cowards don't really have any credibilty. We just humor them like they humor themselves. They really are predictable and amusing.
McCain won.
I'm not going to post about who I thought won or lost the debate. I'm a McCain supporter, and the debate didn't do much to change that. It's tough in that kind of format for either candidate to make much headway. Both candidates are intelligent, but when speaking in short intervals, it almost becomes a battle of soundbites to convince the undecided.
That said, my biggest impression coming out of the debate was that Jim Lehrer did an outstanding job as moderator. He really tried to make it an actual "debate," rather than a couple of hours of the candidates speaking to the cameras. Hopefully he'll get the call to moderate more in the future.
I think Sarah Palin could take on Obama in a debate and really clean his clock!
The debate was a yawner!
"Biden did have a plagiarism issue a long time ago and talks too much, but he is very smart"
Lets see....Biden got an F-grade in a class for boldly copying enormous chunks of someone else’s law review article.
Biden attempted to excuse the plagiarism by claiming it was a “mistake of youth.” He went before the school Deans and pleaded that they not expel him completely. He was allowed to retake the course and the cheating grade was later expunged from his record.
In response to the shocking revelation, Biden released all of his school transcripts including written evaluation by his teachers. The Syracuse transcripts revealed a candidate who had generally poor grades and only mixed reviews from his professors.
Apparently Biden has a history of supplementing his perceived failings by borrowing from others or simply exaggerating or lying. The final straw in his first presidential race was when he lied about the number of degrees he had received, the reason for his scholarship, and his graduating rank in class. Joe Biden was near the bottom of his class despite having that F-grade removed for plagiarism.
The voters will decide for themselves if Joe Biden is worthy of the VP office. The 1987/88 election run was a long time ago. I guess only some people choose to remember Joe Biden’s shame. And if the public can forgive Biden, they will have to decide if they want two copycats in the White House given a similar problem by Obama that was largely ignored by the press....and you think Ms. Palin is the "liar and exaggerater" ???? (think again!)
Hey 12:37,
If Barack Obama's name was Barry O'Brien and his father from Kentucky rather than Kenya, he never would have been admitted to Ivy League colleges let alone be been elected to anything.
12:35
Please get your facts correct. McCain flew A4s not F4s. There is a big difference between the 2. I have never flown in either, just the odd flight in the UH-1H.
McCain knows the difference between attacking Pakistan, which he claimed Obama supports, and launching a raid on Taliban forces hiding across the border in Pakistan, which is what Obama supports and the US is in fact doing. This bitter old man is so desperate to get elected that he is willing to lie to the American people about how we are conducting the war on terrorism. He has lost what little sense of honor he still had back when this campaign began.
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8
years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while
sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then
you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real
Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you teach children about sexual predators, you are irresponsible and eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your
unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values
don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that hates America and advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
8:24--well, if you are going to bring up college performance, John McCain graduated 894th out of 899 at the Naval Academy. That might explain why he got shot down in Vietnam, he was too busy being a playboy instead of studying and mastering his combat skills.
The A-4 is a single-seat bomber, and the F-4 is a two-seat fighter/bomber; both were used extensively in the war. Hardly a "big difference" and certainly not to the guy who gets shot down flying one.
9:54 What is a "community organizer"? Law Review...well, school activities are nice. State Senator...so is Tom Colapietro, and I wouldn't want him for President. Mayor, governor...now those are positions where there is a huge amount of responsibility on your shoulders. There is one crisis after another, some big, some small, but you've got to deal with every one, and you do it 24/7. You're not just one of a bunch of people going to Washington once in awhile to vote. The fact that McCain picked Palin guaranteed my vote for McCain.
With all due respect, 6:30PM, you've also just guaranteed yourself to be viewed as a fool with clouded judgement by a growing majority of U.S. citizens who still retain the right to think clearly.
And we will exercise that right by voting for the most intelligent leaders: Senators Obama and Biden.
OBAMA & BIDEN will lead this country, and the world, out of the mess G"W"B and his posse of thieves have so thoughtlessly and ruthlessly created (Iraq War, Failed Economy, Broken Healthcare, Under-funded Education, Corrupt Justice System, Increased Poverty, etc., etc.).
We DO NOT need another out-of-control addict (Dubya=Alcohol/Drugs, McTraitor=Gambling) running this country. Wake Up!!!
Stand up for what is right and stop blindly marching to this retarded republican drumbeat of dereliction! Think for yourself!!!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4!
Like you were ever going to even consider voting for Obama? Don't make me laugh. Anyone so blinded by his or her ideology that they actually think Palin is qualified to be President (let's not kid ourselves, that's what's at stake here) was never coming within a mile of voting for Obama. You might have stayed home in November without Palin on the ticket, but you were NEVER voting for Obama.
"OBAMA & BIDEN will lead this country, and the world"
...they will part the seas, change water to wine, heal the lepers...
What a joke! You want me to vote for a guy who gives pretty speeches but has absolutely NO experience and is not even sure whose side he's on, and his sidekick, a lying plagiarist???? Uh gee...no thanks!
McCain/Palin!!!!
Here's a familiar song to go along with your mindless drumbeat. You're a lost cause. More problem than solution. Thank GOD your ignorant way of thinking is quickly becoming a minority point of view. Your arguments amount to nothing more than ridiculous sound bites that will NOT hold up under debate and intellectual reasoning soundly based on rational and realistic dialogue; traits that Barack and Joe can skillfully demonstrate, while McCoward and "Failing Palin" cannot even come close to understanding, never mind demonstrate!
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy.
Father and I went down to camp
Along with Captain Gooding
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy
There was Captain Washington
Upon a slapping stallion
A-giving orders to his men
I guess there was a million.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy.
9:34 - Silly nicknames and yankee doodle are the best the dems can do I guess.
We need McCain/Palin!
So, Obama/Biden fans, what's the dynamic duo actually going to do? You are insulting President Bush, Senator McCain, and Governor Palin. You are bad-mouthing the United States of America. You are trashing anyone on this blog if they sound like they lean the teeniest bit to the right. But you have no concrete plan of action to make anything better, and neither do your candidates.
11:27 You are absolutely correct. I might not have voted in this election, if it were not for two things: 1) The more I see of Obama, the more I distrust him for being too good at saying absolutely nothing. 2)McCain has shown geat wisdom in choosing Palin. (And the picture of how H. Clinton must have reacted is just so entertaining...)
The civilized world (i.e. everyone but the Christian Right) is horrified about McCain's choice of Palin not because she's an unqualified small town mayor, but because she's an unqualified small town mayor and card-carrying ignoramus. She couldn't name a single local newspaper during her interview with Katie Couric? She couldn't name a single Supreme Court decision other than Roe Vs. Wade (the one she wants to overturn)? McCain has sold his soul to become President.
Sold his soul? Because he found a VP candidate that fascinates "the civilized world"? There hasn't been a woman so admired since Princess Diana. It sounds to me like the big green monster jealousy has raised its head among the Left.
9:15 What world do you live in ? Certainly not the civilized one you talk about ! If she fascinates you you are sick !
She's a smart, gorgeous, outdoors-type woman who can shoot, fish, and run the state of Alaska. Yes, I think there's a lot to admire there. She's not someone you run into every day at Stop & Shop, that's for sure.
You betcha! Go, Sarah!
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