Last Night’s Debate

First of all let me confirm that I am an Avid Barack Obama Supporter.

However, unlike the majority of the people in this country, I do not rely exclusively on my candidate of choice to convey the 100% uncolored data that I need to make an informed decision about who I want in a particular position of power, especially when it comes to the position of President of the United States of America.

So with that said, I think that last night’s debate was far more exciting and energetic then the debate between John McCain and Barack Obama last week.

This was partly due to the reason that both candidates treated each other with dignity and respect; the kind of dignity and respect that is due another human being who is not violently threatening you in any way.

And last night, Senator Biden and Governor Palin did exhibit this respect, as did Senator Obama in the debate against John McCain last week.

However, the lead man on the ticket, John McCain, did not exhibit this type of respect and consideration for Barack Obama.


So respect for the opponent was definitely refreshing, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sarah Palin did not duplicate the behavior pattern of the grumpy old man; and for that, I applaud her.

Now before I go any further, I need to know why the bar is set so low for Sarah Palin.

We have a woman who has been chosen by a 72 year old man, with a history of severe medical problems who does not want his potential predecessor to face the public, the opposition, the media, or to be placed in any other difficult position where she would have to exhibit strength and intelligence.

Is such a person who is sheltered, who has to have her boss jump in and answer her questions for her during interviews or questions from the audience what this country needs for the 2nd. In command who has a high probability of becoming the first in command?

No!

So why was it that Joe Biden had to be so very careful about what he could, or could not say to her.

Why is this, such a major issue for Joe Biden?

As long as Joe Biden did not exhibit behavior that is unbecoming to a man in his position: why couldn’t he get tough with her, as the boys got tough with Senator Clinton during her campaign.

I don’t understand how Republicans who are concerned with putting country first, can be okay with a potential president who is being treated like a weak, unintelligent person.

Is this putting country first?

Now with that being said; I think that Sarah Palin did much better then expected, (even by her supporters), and definitely more then I or other Obama supporters thought that she would.

But was just doing better enough?

It was enough for the people who are already going to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin no matter what; lies, deceptions, distortions, misstatements, etc that the McCain Campaign has consistently been caught in.

But I do not think that her performance, (as good as it was, relatively speaking), packed enough punch to convince the voters who are still undecided to vote for John McCain.

I think in some cases, her performance worked the other way around, which was to get people who were leaning towards McCain, to turn around and choose Obama.

Now I am not taking away from Palin’s performance last night, because as I said before, I was quite impressed with how she handled herself against the Veteran Joe Biden

But it appears to me that Sarah Palin and John McCain are preaching to the choir every time they speak. And for some reason, the McCain Campaign is making the dyer mistake of repeating the same old empty rhetoric that excites their base, but that turns the undecided voters off.

And, the undecided voters are the ones who will decide this election.

And last night was no exception.

I still did not hear what their plan for the nation is.

And even though Palin was pretty much flawless in her delivery, there did not seem to be very much content in what she delivered that would convince the undecided voters to vote for John McCain for president, unless they had already decided to vote for John McCain for President.

On the other hand, Joe Biden continued with the same 1,2,3, A, B, C, approach that Barack Obama has been using since he began campaigning for the general election; and he did it with common courtesy and respect for his opponent.

However, Sarah Palin continued on with the same vague concepts that are thrown out by John McCain on a daily basis: “Change is coming to Washington”, “There is only one man who has fought for you and has the scars to prove it”, “ She’s been a mayor”, “she’s been a governor”, “She’s been a mayor”, “She’s been a governor”, “she’s a member of the PTA”, “Did I mention that she was a point guard for her basketball team?”

This is the kind of small talk that their republican audiences cheer so enthusiastically for, although it does not answer the question: What specifically are you going to do to correct the damage that has been done to our economy and our country over the last 8 years?

Then again, how can you answer that question, if you cannot acknowledge the damage that has been done over the last 8 years, because you support the same principals and policies that your predecessor does?

As a matter of fact, last night Sarah Palin, on several occasions tried to take the nations attention off of the past by accusing the Obama Campaign of focusing on the past, when they are telling the nation that they are concerned with the future.

This was a nice political dodge that once again, only brought a positive response from the republican base.

Because those who do not learn from their past mistakes, repeat their past mistakes.

So the past performance of the last 8 years cannot be overlooked.

She also could not overcome her propensity towards not answering direct questions.

On more then one occasion, she actually ignored the question of the moderator, and said, “let’s talk about this instead”.

And on more then one occasion, Joe Biden brought the debate right back to the topic.

Joe Biden also addressed each and every standard campaign misstatement; (lie)- that the McCain Campaign has become known for, not letting her get away with anything.

So coming from the non-emotional, logical, non-partisan part of me, if I had to pick a hand down winner, I couldn’t.

But if I had to pick a winner, I would have to say Joe Biden.

And that is coming form a guy who was so fed up and hateful of politicians before I stood still and listed to Barack Obama’s Message of Change; that I was considering not voting at all.

And just for the record, for all of you republicans who may be so far under the spell of John McCain and Sarah Palin that you may have not noticed; “The Message of Change” that Barack Obama is currently preaching, is the same message that Barack Obama started with and stayed with through out his entire campaign; (even while John McCain’s message was “Experience Verses Inexperience”). John McCain started using “The Message of Change” as if it was his own original creation, shortly after he chose Sarah Palin, before the Republican National Convention.

This is not consistency and focus of purpose.


This is not what America needs.


Greg Coleman



(Only) Around Election Time