Just saw the forum held in Lake Forest, CA with John McCain and Barack Obama. My immediate reaction was the huge difference in emotion between the two candidates. McCain was very quick, almost knee-jerk in his answers to Rick Warren's questions. Obama was more contempletive, thoughtful in his responses.
I guess this should have been no surprise to me, seeing how the two have acted on their respective "stumps". But after seeing them answer the same questions at different points in the evening, the contrasts were quite stark.
Interested in your comments.
I did a quick search to see if there was any streaming video available of the debate, but as of yet, haven't found any. Please post if you happen to find a good link. Thanks and looking forward to discussing further your reactions to this poignant moment in the campaign to date.
2 comments:
So, you actually still watch political debates as if a modern politician will have anything to say beyond empty rhetoric, with actual substance? Will, or even CAN, a presidential candidate tell us the Truth about our country and still be elected, or does s/he have to blow nationalistic, patriotic smoke up our asses to get a 4-year guaranteed contract? Forgive my cynicism, but I've grown so very tired of the entire process. Ross Perot for President!
Duly noted points on empty rhetoric and actual substance.
And no cynicism apologies needed from the Misanthrope ;) Fully expected, and like to see it
For me though, Rob, just about anything in life from buying groceries at the local supermarket to pulling the crank in the ballot box, requires a "taking good with bad" approach. I wish it wasn't so, but the older I get the more I realize life is just one big murky grey mess of things. And in this country of nearly 300 million people with opinions all over the map from abortion rights to xenophobia, that murky grey mess is tough to manage. I have a hard enough time managing my own little world, much less managing the “free" one.
Guess what I am trying to say is that a certain amount of pandering is just going to be part and parcel of the "political game". Always has been, and, as far as I can tell, always will be.
Yes, they do spout a lot of nonsense..."nationalistic, patriotic smoke" as you put it. And yes, I tire of the "prepared" remarks, and long for "truth about our country". But despite it all, this country is still an AMAZING political experiment getting better and better with people willing to take on the challenges of our day; people like you who are teaching our young people, the future, how to think critically about important issues.
I have to answer your opening question, yes, that I do still watch these candidates with the hope that they can speak beyond what are platitudes. I want to see how they handle themselves when in a "hotseat". I want to hear their responses to tough questions and see if THEY can think critically about difficult topics.
Lincoln in the debates he had with Douglas sounded very much like he would favor freeing the slaves and abolishing the slave trade from the get-go of his presidency. A lot of people fault him for not doing what he said he would do sooner. However, politicians, good ones anyway, know that any change is not immediate, and certainly not from a country as large as the United States, even back in the day.
Lincoln knew he needed time to institute radical policies that would effect so much of the South, and the rest of the nation, and I think whoever gets elected to the presidency will have to know that too if they expect to get anything done.
I think we are living in a remarkable time in the history of our planet when the votes we cast this election cycle will begin a process of change toward a more perfect union. I have to believe that because I hate thinking of the alternative (there’s probably a logical fallacy in there, but I’ll suffer it at the moment). But even having said all that, whoever we elect as president, they must follow the rule of law set forth by generations of leaders before them, and despite what the Bush administration has been able to pull off in a time of war, as the old saying goes, they can run, but they can't hide. Rules of law at the end of the day are all we have to keep stability in our world. The system of government we have set up before us that was so painstakingly hashed out in the latter part of the 18th century in Philadelphia still functions fantastically well. Are there problems? You bet. Can we tweak the system? Sure. We just need more people to wake up and realize how much power all of us share, and how close we are to effecting real change in our world. Peace out my brother, thanks for posting, and would enjoy continuing the conversation hearing more of your thoughts!
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