As I'm watching this, I can't stop thinking MCCAIN IS BEING A JERK! Gee, do you think you could let Obama finish a sentence or two? No? Well then...
I've never seen this side of him. On one hand, he seems to be a little bit more confident. But on the other hand, he's looking really rude. Maybe it's because he knows he has nothing to lose, but everything to gain if he does it right.
All while Obama sits, nods, and smiles. How graceful of you, sir. I applaud you!
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17 comments:
I know huh!?! I think his demeanor and attitude may come to bite him in the butt. McCain is already behind in the polls, and I don't think this kind of attitude, intentional or not, was a smart move. It's a rather simple layout. Question, one candidate's response, and then the other candidate's response. I don't know why McCain feels the need to butt in once he hears something that he disagrees with. He would have gotten his turn and he should have just remained calm and jotted it down. I also took down in my notes that McCain had a lot of nervous giggle and smiles as Obama was talking. That's not to say that Obama didn't do some of the same things, but I thought that McCain's clearly audible chuckles in the middle of Obama's answers came off as rude and disrespectful. It also bugged me when McCain couldn't get off the topic of the negative aspect of the campaign. This is the last debate for this election, and its more important to be addressing the issues than harping on negativity (which we all expected anyways). I felt like he just kept trying to guilt-trip Obama into apologizing or something for what some of his party and campaigners have said. The remarks were made on both sides, and it bugged me that McCain kept bringing that same issue up over and over and kept stressing that Obama was associated with a terrorist.
I also thought that the VP discussion (yay, we predicted correctly in class) was very interesting. Although Obama noticeably stuttered and paused when the moderator asked whether he thought Palin was ready to be the president of the United States, I think he played it off very well. To say that Palin would not be ready for the presidency may have come out at disrespectful, and I think that by choosing his words more carefully, he may have dodged that bullet.
Overall, I thought that debate was so much more interesting than the last one...and I'm not sure that McCain is going to be able to pull himself up in those polls after that performance
After watching the debate I thought that McCain seemed to get much more agitated at Obama when he made comments towards his policies. It even looked like he was biting down too hard and his lower jaw was sticking out from stress or something. On the other hand, Obama waited patiently for his turn to answer questions. I agree with you Kate Lin,McCain was acting very rude...he even interrupted the moderator several times. I also thought that McCain was trying to play the pity card when they were talking about the "mean" campaign tactics that the other side used. McCain kept trying to go back and focus on how much money Obama has spent on "mean" adds and how Obama didn't revoke the rude statements people said about McCain. I could not believe how much time they spent on the topic. Obama seemed to want to get away from the topic and focus on policy issues, but McCain kept bringing it up.
Im watching the anaylisis of the debate on CNN and even they said that McCain looked like " A grumpy old man".
He even rolled his eyes at somethings that Obama said. That was disrespectful.
AND WHAT IS WITH JOE THE PLUIMBER!!?!
And I agree with Sarah, that McCain kept bringing up the same issues like Columbian free trade and Obamas activity with "terroists".
McCain also stumbled a lot, while Obama spoke very well.
I think that a lot of the questions were very clever, like the one that was like would you appoint judges that agreed with you in regards to Roe v. Wade opinions. And I think McCain damaged getting some more liberal votes by being SO Pro-life. It would have been better for him to sound more moderate on that issue rather than straight up conseervative. Most of the debate was typical differences between liberals and conservstives. In the past McCain has been said to be a more liberal republican and I didnt see any of that in this debate.
Also, calling Palin a hero was annoying. And his defence of Palin was so close to the answer that Mr. Silton gave when he was being McCain in the practice debate scoring thing. He focused that Palin was a reformer and thats what we need. And made a lot of emphasis on Palin's child with special needs, like he was fishing for sympathy for people to like her. He brought it up at the end of the debate too.
I cant beleive CNN is saying that McCain was the clear winner and that Obama didnt step up to the plate, when even they admited that MCCain was a "grumpy old man".
Okay i completely agree about the blumber comments!! Nothing angers me more than watching listening to McCain refer to a hypothetical plumber named joe. I think McCain was once again outshined by Obama and this time he really couldn't afford to be. McCain was condescending and plain mean at times. He also appeared petty while discussing the less than ethical tactics that both campaigns are using to hurt their opponent. I also think that that specific question was a waste of time. I dont think anyone cares about whether or not the candidates feelings are hurt. I know i dont. And to be completely honest watching the two of them go at it with one another was quite exhausting. I thought that this style debate was far more beneficial to the public than the last debate was and it showed that Obama would make the better President. He was consistently calm and used critical thinking while McCain was very repetitive and contsistently talked about a man named Joe.
Based on tonights debate, I think Joe's going to vote for Obama in November.
The cackle and snort after the last comments about vouchers was what did it for me in terms of McCain's behavior. He also seemed to have that smile on his face the entire time as if in his own mind he was just destroying Obama. McCain's obsession with Joe the plumber was also interesting it seemed he was trying to magnify a problem that wouldn't effect many Americans and then twist it in a way to make it appear like it would hurt the average citizen. The Bill Ayers issue also seemed to benefit Obama as his dignified response and use of logic contrasted greatly with McCain's pitbull like attacks. There almost seemed to be an air of desperation in McCain's attacks tonight, though that might just be my prejudice. A couple of McCain's comments did really bother me though
1) "we need to change the culture of America"- even though he might not have meant to use those particular words it came off as if he would like to change what makes the country unique.
2) The troops becoming teachers without any training idea seemed a little irresponsible to me.
Haha laura. As much as I also dislike the hypothetical people, especially Joe sixpack, the news stations are saying that Joe the plumber is actually real. Technically, I think they were adressing the average American person, but apparently, a plumber, by the name of Joe Wurzelbacher, confronted Obama at one of his rallies.
heres a youtube clip of Joe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDVM7ODUBn8
The behavior during the debate was appalling. When Obama was speaking, McCain would interrupt him during his explanations. McCain was definitely attacking Obama during the debate.
I also thought there were some interesting points brought up about Education. I believe that they have yet a lot to find out about the current status of education in America. But McCain talked about how, when military forces return to the states that if they want to become teachers, they should be able to avoid examinations and credentials. How will that help our schools? It would be a burden on our schools. But, they are both right when they say we need money and reform. But, McCain also said that we could fix many of these problems without increases in money. I question what schools he has been looking at. We need money in our schools. We don’t have enough to start with! But, the one thing I disagree with is competition. They say we need more competition in schools. I believe that we have enough competition in schools. Look at the college acceptance rates and what is required to get in. The grades get higher and so do the stakes. There is enough competition.
Overall a good debate, more eventful than the last.
In terms of Joe the plummer, do most of you honestly believe that there's not that many families with small businesses or salaries that are $250,000 - $1,000,000? The Joe the plummer example isn't restricted to a person trying to assume the leadership of a small business, but the middle to upper middle class in general. I found it humorous how Obama tried to portray the wealthy supporting his tax plans through the example of Warren Buffet. Yes, Warren Buffet as in the billionaire business tycoon that would most likely be unaffected by a $10 million or so tax increase in his multi-billion dollar salary. Obama's tax plan severely hurts the middle-to upper middle class citizens and put people in the same financial situation as Joe the plummer into financial dilemnas. McCain is ultimately right, Obama is punishing success. More taxes on these kinds of businesses will lead to inflation and lay-offs in order for companies to simply break even.
On the other side, I agree that McCain's behavior was at times disrespectful and it was most likely in an attempt to rile Obama. It's almost painfully obvious that McCain's behind in the election and it's Obama's election to lose. A flustered Obama could have helped lose it.
Obama didn't seem to hold his own against McCain in the back-and-forth dialogue over the mudslinging and "hurtful remarks" throughout their campaigns. Although, it was definitely not a significant issue that I felt deserved 15 - 20 minutes in the final presidential debate.
I do believe McCain had specific policy issues, but I'm sure the 98% democratic population of the Aragon AP Gov classes will report that, so I'll stick with Obama criticism.
In terms of the overall winner, I saw this debate as a push, so McCain loses in the long run. He needed to win this debate to get back into the race and I believe earlier this week he even guaranteed he would win tonight.
I agree. What's up with you and Joe the Plumber, McCain?!
I loooved when Obama said something like "I'd like to talk to you, Joe, if you're out there."
Priceless.
McCain's definitely out. Nice knowing you, buddy. (But not really.)
The problem with McCain is that the debate is only a few weeks, three to be exact, away from the election, and there is no way that McCain can alter the attitude of the public in any other way. This Debate was basically the Do or Die debate for McCain so i really don't blame him too much for being a bit aggressive. I thought McCain was so overstressed it seemed his mind wasn't even going right, I noticed that he called Palin, "Senator Palin" and called Obama, "Senator Government". What McCain was tonight was an old man trying to do his best to entice the world once more, and while it was certainly worth a try, he was just simply too old. I mean if you can't even state the current position of your running mate, you're getting too careless for the job.
Also, was it me or was McCain blinking excessively today? Was he blinking "SOS! SOS! SAVE ME!!!!!"
Kate, I was thinking the same thing while watching the debate. I think that McCain's eye-rolling and eyebrow raising took attention away from his answers. What I mean is, instead of remembering McCain's responses to the debate questions, I remember much more of his irritated attitude.
This debate went over some relevant questions that were helpful to the viewers, such as those about education, healthcare, the economy, and abortion, because they were able to show more of the views of the candidates. A negative of this debate was the enormous amount of time spent on the "negative campaigning" question. I was surprised that McCain repeatedly said negative and disrespectful things while "answering" this question. His repetitive attacks led to more time spent on the question, even though the things he was saying probably were not things that the American people want to know. On the other hand, the way Obama handled these attacks was gracefully, which probably was good for him.
I was just curious about whether the amount of money spent on negative campaigns stated by McCain was true, so I did a quick search. According to http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_campaigns_ad_spending_n.php
, about half of the money spent on Obama"s campaigns are so called "positive" ads and don't even mention McCain at all, while almost all of McCain's ads currently running mention Obama and are "negative ads." Obama's overall amount spent on ads is almost twice of McCain's spending though, supposedly.
Definitely blinking a lot.
Smiling creepily a lot.
Laughing awkwardly a lot.
Moving his arms around awkwardly a lot.
Interrupting Obama a lot.
Not that this is biased at all or anything...
I was really disappointed with his performance. He should have been more professional. Although I can understand that he may have been upset knowing that he's behind in every poll taken. Still, it's not a sufficient excuse for being so rude.
Overall, I think that Obama won the debate, appaering very presidential. McCain, on the other hand, seemed, to borrow a phrase from my dad, "like a deer in headlights." A few points:
I thought McCain seemed rude when he interrupted Bob Schieffer.
I think McCain contradicted himself on his health care plan ($5000 credits on avg. costing plans of $5800 = loss of $800= no fiscal sense).
I thought that McCain was strong on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and that Obama looked bad for not supporting it (though he gave a good response why not).
Obama was overall more detailed in how he'd address health care, education, the economy, energy than McCain. I think this suited Obama.
As noted by I think George Stephanopoulos, after Obama noted that it was time to get back to the issues, McCain, unprompted, brought up Ayers and ACORN. This was a mistake as McCain looked combative and like he didn't care about issues.
I think that Obama's response to the Rep. Lewis issue was very good.
Finally, I thought that McCain's proposal to send soldiers to the classroom without credentials seemed a little odd. I respect soldiers a lot and want them to have jobs, but they still need to be qualified for them.
I had so so many issues with some of the things that McCain was saying during the campaign but I have to say i thought he did relatively well in his debate. In a do or die situation for McCain, i honestly had expected for him to have been even more aggressive then he was... McCain definitely interrupted Obama so so so so many times... and I'm not sure if that would help his campaign very much. sure he's getting more ideas out and more air time but it just doesn;t look good.
Maybe I'm alone in saying that I feel like McCain wasn't as condescending as everyone is making him out to be. Well, maybe he was.. because while watching the debate I saw McCain do sort of chuckle as Obama talked and sort of smiled and rolled his eyes, but I saw Obama doing the exact same thing many times! It just feels like people are putting more emphasis on McCain's actions... After each debate, I also feel like I see McCain trying harder to be friendly while Obama often just seems withdrawn from McCain and oftentimes ignores him (his avoiding McCain after the debate seems like a particularly good example). I feel like these attempts and Obama's responses, however, actually makes McCain seem more awkward then the friendly image I'm sure McCain was trying for. Obama definitely did seem better relaxed and more in control during the debate, likely because he was leading in the polls.
Joe the Plumber. Apparently there really is a Joe the plumber out there... I wonder what it feels like to be a sort of figurehead for a certain demographic group that many politicians target. I guess only Joe would know...
While both candidates made great points, I had some problems with a few of the plans that McCain was advocating. One of which would be his aim to do more drilling in the U.S. and to utilize Nuclear Power Plants. I just don't think nuclear power plants are the right way to approach our energy and environmental problems. And as for domestic drilling... like Obama said... "We can't drill our way out of our problems".
Okay, I'm going to start ranting now. The thing that McCain said that bugged me MORE... and i mean way more than everything else was his "Troops to Teachers" plan. He supported this plan and said the plan was "where people after having served in the military can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations or have the certification that are required in some states. Look, we must improve education in this country" Is it just me, but his last sentence and the ones before completely contradict. How can we expect a better education for our country when we would be hiring teachers who need to neither have the right credentials nor pass the examinations to qualify as a teacher? The U.S's education programs results in a general education that is well below that of many other countries in the world even though we spend more on education than any other country! Hiring incompetent teachers would be the coup de grace for our educational system and I just don't think McCain should have made that statement at all. I understand that he was trying to get the veteran vote, since it's hard for them to get a job after their service, but it was not only just the wrong thing to say but he also said it at the worst possible time during the debate too...
Oh wow I do not remember typing this much.
I've heard a lot of criticism about McCain, both about his policies and the way he conducted himself in the debate.. I do believe Obama performed better last night, but I just want to share some positive thoughts on some of McCain's views.
I agreed with McCain when he said that there is "too much government and too much spending". He began the debate (the first question was about economy) by saying "let's not raise taxes for anyone". At the end of the debate, when discussing education, he explained that some of the worst schools have the most money. I really like his idea of not "throwing money" at the problem. More taxes means more money which means more spending, which is not always the solution. It is important to spend wisely and not let anything go to waste.
As for Obama's "spreading the wealth" idea... even by raising taxes for the rich, would there be enough to cover all of his plans?
Oh man, when McCain is going at it Obama just kind of sits there looking politely, but you can tell he's annoyed... At least I think he looks annoyed... But anyway, one reason I think Obama is so awesome is how articulate and presidential he seems, these traits are only magnified when he is being directly compared to McCain, who is a lot more awkward at answering the questions... (talking over the others, going right up to the end of his time)
I think that Obama did better overall in the debate. He seemed a lot more relaxed and also friendlier than McCain. I thought that joe the plummer was a hypothetical person when the candidates kept mentioning him too. It wasn't until after the debate that I realized that he was a real person that Obama talked to while campaigning. I wonder if other people knew that he was actually a real person while watching the debate.
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