John McCain had to deliver in tonight's debate--and he did not. Slipping in the national polls and behind substantially in the electoral college count, he needed to hit it out of the park.
Once again, Senator McCain did not forcefully differentiate himself from President Bush. Obama tied McCain to President Bush on foreign policy, economic policy, and energy policy. It was imperative for Senator McCain to communicate to the American people that he is the candidate of change because that's what we want--to be taken in a different direction.
And for goodness sakes, the next time Senator Obama places our economic woes on the back of President Bush and "eight failed years of Bush's economic policies," perhaps Senator McCain should remind everyone of the cards that President Bush was dealt eight months after being sworn in. September the 11th was the most catastrophic terroristic event in the history of our country. It struck at the heart of our economic, transportation, and military infrastructures. As a result we have spent billions of dollars and shed much blood in the course of fighting a war on two fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sure, big mistakes were made and we have lost faith with the current administration. But give credit where credit is due--George W. Bush has protected the homeland by preventing another attack. It has come at a cost and we need to be reminded of what is at stake.
Unfortunately, Senator McCain didn't make the necessary contrast between he and President Bush nor did he explain how we got into the mess we are in and how we get out of it. Obama claims the mantel of change and Americans are thirsty for it. We better be careful what we ask for because he's untested and does not have a track record of success like John McCain.
It's not too late for Senator McCain to win this election but the climb became harder tonight.
7 comments:
Mr. Hamilton,
This is a ridiculous statement and an excuse -- a right-wing talking point:
"September the 11th was the most catastrophic terroristic event in the history of our country. It struck at the heart of our economic, transportation, and military infrastructures. As a result we have spent billions of dollars and shed much blood in the course of fighting a war on two fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Was it a horrible and traumatic event? Absolutely. It in no way struck at the "infrastructure" of our country -- it was a blip on the screen in our financial institutions. We "spent billions" in an unwarranted war in Iraq and cutting taxes on profoundly wealthy people, nearly doubling our debt. Heh, the economy he inherited was paying off the debt.
We lose more people to food poisoning every year than we lost on 9/11. And, this administration was so incompetent in its leadership that we have allowed that gaping hole in our city remain -- heh, we should have rebuilt those towers exactly as they were but taller.
You know I love ya man -- join the human race, open your eyes, switch parties, and help us elect Obama.
Much love,
Nick
I fear Senator McCain's unbelievable new $300 billion dollar mortgage re-evaluation plan cost him the election and our children their future. We will no doubt get the change, much like that great oritor brought to Germany during times of financial distress. This time who will play the role of the USA?
Mr. Hodge,
My article stated that the September 11th attacks struck at the heart of our economic, military, and financial infrastructures. You disagree but let me explain my point.
Economic: The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United States and world markets.[181] The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. When the stock markets reopened, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stock market index fell 684 points, or 7.1%, to 8921, a record-setting one-day point decline.[182] By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1,369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history.[183] U.S. stocks lost $1.4 trillion in value for the week.[183] This is equivalent to $1.7 trillion in present day terms.[184] In New York City, about 430,000 job-months and $2.8 billion in wages were lost in the three months following the 9/11 attacks. The economic effects were mainly focused on the city's export economy sectors.[185] The city's GDP was estimated to have declined by $27.3 billion for the last three months of 2001 and all of 2002. The Federal government provided $11.2 billion in immediate assistance to the Government of New York City in September 2001, and $10.5 billion in early 2002 for economic development and infrastructure needs.
Military: The nerve center for the US military, the Pentagon, was attacked by terrorist that flew a commercial airliner into the building.
Transportation: For the first time in history, SCATANA was invoked forcing all non-emergency civilian aircraft in the United States and several other countries including Canada to be immediately grounded, stranding tens of thousands of passengers across the world.[131] Any international flights were closed to American airspace by the Federal Aviation Administration, causing flights to be redirected to other countries. Canada was one of the main recipients of diverted flights and launched Operation Yellow Ribbon to deal with the large numbers of grounded planes and stranded passengers.
Most of this information was taken verbatim from Wikipedia--
I rest my case--
Mr Hamilton,
Of course we closed the Stock Market -- as we should have. People were afraid, and when the market was open, we lost a lot of value in the economy. All of that is true. We quickly overcame and recovered what was lost. We have lost considerably more value recently for a lot of reasons -- both parties are responsible. Let's see how quickly we recover now; I hope quickly, but I fear not so much.
The attack on The Pentagon, while despicable, did no real harm -- heh, it was more or less like a fly landing on the butt of a gorilla which quickly squashed it.
As for transportation, yeah we shut down air travel, which was prudent -- and we quickly re-opened it when it became clear we had a relative grasp on the situation.
Finally regarding your response source, I often edit wikopedia -- as can anyone else -- it is not a particularly good, but neither terrible source.
The right used 9/11 to suspend habeas corpus, demolish reasonable expectations of privacy, invade a country having nothing to do with the fanatics who attacked us, and question the patriotism of anyone who questioned the wisdom of their actions.
McCain supported all those policies; unfortunately, so did too many democrats. A few thinking democrats and republicans resisted these radical policy shifts, but they were run over like an armadillo caught in the headlights of a semi.
McCain lost the debate because he was wrong on all those policies and his economic polices resemble Bush's as well -- Coolidge and Hoover revisited.
Most disturbing, however, is McCain's utter cowardice. With the filth being spewed about Obama's "associations" with "terrorists" by virtually every spinner in the RNC and Pallin, McCain never mentioned it. Either he knows it's all BS (and he does) or he was too much of a coward to look Obama in the eyes and say what his surrogates have said. Heh, he didn't because he knew Obama would have stuck Singlaub and his Neo--Nazis and the Keating five right up McCain's blue-jeaned sitter. We should all avoid the filth.
I loved McCain once, considered him a hero worthy of my admiration -- thanks to his campaign surrogates and Pallin, the tremendous respect I had is dust in the wind.
I am all for a genuine debate on issues -- the country needs good people in both parties. Republicans, while I disagree with their policies, are desperately needed by our country -- we need a balanced voice. Too many are screaming, frothing lunatics like the people shouting that Obama is a terrorist and "kill him" at Pallin rallies the last few days.
All of us should be revolted.
Hugs,
Nick
Although I too feel that our president should bear much of this blame. He should share it with a completely disfuctional do nothing democratic congress. They had such high hopes and have delivered... What? NOTHING.
Rich
Please. The republicans had power for 12 years -- and, I will grudgingly admit that some of their early work was actually impressive.
They have blocked every meaningful bit of legislative effort the last two years -- however, I readily admit that Harry Reid is a mealy mouthed, weak leader of the senate, and I am all for replacing him -- with Hillary.
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