The Debate

[leobold1]

And why?

[Scrappy]

the pissant smiled more than mc cain in disagreement with him : D or you watch keith oberman, and I need to make my wife watch him, she doesn't know who he is....hopefully I'll be back

[Scrappy]

And why? rationality in decision for choice? You're asking a lot from us considering the breadth of discussion. I wish I was Obama's advisor, he could have hit harder.

[leobold1]

Obama, McCain clash over Iraq, Iran in first debate - Summary :

Obama, McCain clash over Iraq, Iran in first debate - Summary

Posted on : 2008-09-27 | Author : DPA
News Category :

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain clashed in their first debate Friday night over the war in Iraq and whether the next person to occupy the White House should meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two candidates disagreed sharply over the future course in Iraq, with Obama pitching his plan to set a timeframe for withdrawing most US combat forces from Iraq. McCain charged that any premature pullout would allow Iraq to slide into chaos and endanger US interests in the region.

"You were wrong," Obama told McCain, who supported President George W Bush's decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.

McCain sought to emphasize Obama's lack of experience by saying that some of the foreign policies his opponent advocates are "naive" and "dangerous."

"I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy," McCain said of the success that has been achieved in Iraq since Bush launched the buildup of US troops there in January 2007.

Obama and McCain held the first of three planned presidential debates at the University of Mississippi ahead of the November 4 election.

It marked the first time voters saw the men on stage together to discuss mostly foreign policy issues, but not until after the candidates outlined their positions on the financial crisis plaguing the US economy and sending shockwaves through global markets.

McCain, 72, was seen as having an advantage over the 47-year-old Obama on foreign policy, while polls show voters favouring Obama on the economy, which has become the top amid this month's Wall Street failures.

Both appeared confident in addressing both topics, and there was no clear-cut winner after the 90-minute exchange.

Obama said it was necessary to engage in dialogue with US foes to find areas of compromise and steadfastly defended his position of being open to meeting with Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off he map.

"Without preconditions you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking corpse," McCain said. "This isn't just naive, it's dangerous."

Both candidates blamed Bush for mismanaging the war following the ousting of Saddam's regime, but McCain touted the success of Bush's troop surge last year in bringing down violence in Iraq and said he had supported the move long before the president endorsed it.

"This strategy has succeeded, and we are winning in Iraq," McCain said.

"John, you like to pretend that the war started in 2007," Obama said, noting that more than 4,000 US soldiers have died in the conflict on which the United States has spent nearly 1 trillion dollars.

The debate started with a discussion of the financial crisis and Bush's 700-billion-dollar plan to rescue the troubled financial sector.

"We have to move swiftly, but we have to move wisely," Obama said.

Both candidates said that they backed Bush's plan - which would be the costliest government intervention into the free market in US history - but revealed little about their differences on the plan that is now being negotiated in Congress.

McCain called for consolidation of regulatory agencies that failed to prevent the current crisis on Wall Street and said that it was vital to "get spending under control in Washington," touting his record of opposing wasteful use of tax money and suggesting that a freeze in new spending for most federal programmes would be a good idea.

Obama called the current crisis a "final verdict" on the eight- year Bush administration and accused McCain of supporting the economic policies of Bush, who has the worst approval ratings of any president in more than 30 years.

The two men also differed over tax policy and the role of the federal government in the economy.

McCain said he would ensure that the US military has the necessary resources to finish off the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, while Obama sought to tie the failure to capture terrorist leader Osama bin Laden to Bush's decision, with the support of McCain, to invade Iraq.

McCain criticized Obama for not taking a tougher stance last month after Russia invaded Georgia in the dispute over the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"He doesn't understand that Russia committed serious aggression against Georgia," McCain said.

Both candidates reaffirmed their support for allowing Georgia and another former Soviet state, Ukraine, to join the NATO alliance.

"Our entire Russian approach has to be evaluated because a resurgent and very aggressive Russia is a threat to the peace and stability of the region," Obama said. "Their actions in Georgia were unacceptable."

[Bluehawk]

Suhprise, suhprise, suhprise, Sarge - both sides are declaring victory.

Dunno if I can state this properly... but, if Obama would just cease regurgitating the disgusting Democrat party anti-Bushwar propaganda of the past 7 years, and focus on HIS personal philosophy (e.g. owning up to the fact that the major difference between the two men is his preference for shifting the war costs to A&P'stans!!!!) - he could whip McCain at the margins of undecided or independent voters.

As it is, Obama is pissing a lot of us off because he is SO wrong about the war... and that ain't enough to offset his clear potential to neutralize most of the black on white racist nonsense of the past 50 years. Obama's stenographers in the MSM keep insisting that "Americans do NOT LIKE this war!", as if that were true and not a statement overflowing with intellectual feces. Unfortunately, the only media allies McCain has are on C-Span and FOX - the latter of which have been subsumed by Stalinist Democrats within their incessant anti-Dubya puke.

If Palin lets Biden wear her down with excess wordage in their debate, then McCain's landing gear is not gonna come down on base leg to final at 2030 hrs in 20 foot seas. The media is not gonna let up on her inexperience. The cat fight had better get going pretty soon, and Sarah had best put on her BDUs.

McCain does better when he's angry and unscripted. Quals-wise, he's got Obama hands down. Glitz-wise, it's Dirksen vs JFK.

I still maintain that it really doesn't matter all that much who gets elected in November, this time around. The JCOS and Pentagon are NOT gonna let a 47 year-old-smooth-talker-one-term-Senator-from-Illinois with his media legionnaires make any stupid mistakes with the best military in human history.

As for any differences in their economic outlooks, that doesn't matter either. The corporate juggernaught and party intelligentsia always win regardless of who's in the White House... so long as we cannot get above having less than 20 members of Congress with regular bowels who aren't Feminists or on the verge of senile dementia.

It'd almost be worth electing Obama just to get the Black Caucus's fingers off of our cultural short hairs for a change.

[3-8MikeGolf]

Obama scares me.....he sounds a lot like someone I remember from the 1990's with his carisma, charm, and ability to influence the HIP-HOP generation! God help us all!

[leobold1]

My vote was for neither.

Obama won the first half on the economy, but it wasn't a knockout.

Both had a chance to go for the kill, with openings ready to take the other out and leave him in the dust.

McCain could have won it by simply saying "we agree on the basic details of the bail out, but Obama wants to have the taxpayers pay for it, while I want the companies to pay for it and leave the taxpayer out of it."

McCain also thumped too hard on the earmarks, repeatedly. Once or twice, fine. But I think he went back to the trough five times on it. The horse is dead, stop beating it. Its his one trick.

Obama lost it when he couldn't come up with programs he would cut, instead saying how he may have to but some of the details on his major programs.

McCain won the second half.

Like Blue said, Obama thumped the Bushwar theme like a good Democrat, but decided that Iran wasn't connected to North Korea. Not all international politics are local.

McCain almost took him out with his "I've been there" stories, but fell short on explaining details on how he would inhibit Iran.

Obama won big on the first half, but the place where he really lost me, and maybe its how I was raised, but Obama seemed like he didn't have respect for McCain.

I've noticed throughout the campaign, and especially last night, Obama refers to McCain as "John" or "John McCain." McCain refers to Obama as "Senator Obama." McCain has certainly earned his title of Senator, like Obama has, and should be referred to as such.

When I'm writing here, I use last names, aside from the Clintons, unless there's little to no doubt as to which one I'm referring to. I don't use the title, because its a little less to type.

When I'm talking to almost anyone, I use either Mr. or Miss/Ms./Mrs., even if its someone I've know for years. Its only my best friends that use first names. And if there's a half-generation or more age difference, it doesn't matter the friendship, its Mr. or Miss/Ms./Mrs.

It makes Obama sound like he doesn't respect McCain, at least to me.

If he has to talk to Putin, would he refer to him as Prime Minister, or Vladimir?

First half went to Obama. Second half went to McCain.