2008 US Presidential Race, Obama vs McCain

[Charlotte_native]

Biden is the one with the experience, leadership, and bipartisan record. Instead you have the less experienced, less qualified candidate leading the ticket. If Obama wanted to continue with the "change " theme,

[Charlotteman]

In the 1980s, Biden was a fierce Drug Warrior. In one speech (back then) he even quipped that bringing back horse-whipping for dealers wasn't a bad idea. His legislative attacks on crack cocaine were so extreme that recently he admitted he had been wrong.

I appreciate his admission that he was wrong, but I still wonder how many people have suffered in prison for his desire to "appear tough on drugs". I don't admire, nor do I trust Biden. I wish Barack had chosen Evan Bayh.

[cpeakesqr]

I want a discussion, a legitimate one, but realize i won't get one at an Obama rally. I would have gotten one at the Town Hall meetings that Obama agreed to conduct with McCain, but backed out of immediately after getting a majority of Democratic delegates. So unfortunately we won't know until the debates start

[spiker3]

Please... The town halls where McCain stacked them with Republicans? I don't think so.

The Ron Paul supporters had a legitimate question on monetary policy, and Obama honestly addressed it. If you had a question that was truly legitimate and not some rehashed smear, then you should have gone and tried to ask. The problem is that many McCain supporters, including you maybe, are not that enthused about John McCain, and lack the strong will to support your candidate that the Paul supporters have.

[rusthebuss]

I totally agree with spikers3. Alot of those questions asked were not really answered either. He walke around the questions. Alot of people are supporting him just because his opposition to the war.

[monsoon]

Just a reminder that we don't allow link only posts.

[cityboi]

I was also surprised at how good of a speaker Biden is. In the pool of people, Biden was the best choice. But I hope those women Hillary supporters who say they are going to vote for John McCain or not vote realize that if McCain becomes president, he will appoint someone on the supreme court that will lead to the overturning of Roe vs Wade. McCain has even said he wants it overturned. So that means the women's right to choose goes out the window. Thats what will set women back. It just goes to show that people's "emotions" over takes all rational thinking. Its just baffling that some people would rather for this country to go down the tubes than to vote for the person that beat their candidate in the primaries and the republicans are sitting back laughing at it all.

[Charlotteman]

.......I was also surprised at how good of a speaker Biden is.

[krazeeboi]

Another reason why I think Obama chose Biden is because Biden is a bit more ruthless when he's on the offensive unlike Obama.

[cityboi]

I agree. I do think Obama does has to bring his speech at the convention more "down to earth" and speak in more detail about his plans for the economy. That was one big reason why Clinton won in 1992. He basically laid out his plans in steps and told the people exactly what he was going to do. Now days, politicians are a little more vague when they talk about their plans. But its important that Obama does this because he does need to build that base of blue collar workers.

[Charlotteman]

Anyone want to lay any bets on McCain's VP choice? lol I'm still convinced he'll chose Mitt Romney.

The two deserve each other.

[monsoon]

I don't think McCain's VP pick matters that much. The people who are going to vote for him are doing so for reasons where the VP won't matter. As long as he doesn't pick someone to piss off the corporate interests, the neo-cons, and the religious fanatics, it's irrelevant. Anyone remember Dan Quayle?

[erdogs]

Don't be surprised if it's Lindsay Graham. That would be my choice.

[cpeakesqr]

The idea that McCain would have organized a town hall meeting 'stacked' with Republican supporters is like assuming that the presidential debates will be nothing but national security and pro-life questions. The national networks were organizing the meetings, not the McCain camp; CBS even had a date and venue booked before Obama backed out.

I was a far more ardent support of John McCain in 2000 than I am now admittedly, but while I may have supported another candidate prior to his winning the nomination, I am fully aware that the most likely opportunity for a GOP candidate to be elected would be with John McCain as the nominee, a fact that is proving itself in the polls currently (McCain v Obama +5%, Dem v GOP in Congressional races, on average GOP -11%) In fact, McCain supports have backed their candidate far more quickly than Democrats, with HRC supporters only supporting Obama 51% currently. That's a staggering number, especially in contrast to GOP candidates. While obviously Obama's supporters are passionate and enthusiastic, Democrats have had a much harder time gathering their base and support outside of the hardcore Obama supporters.

I've personally never gotten the Ron Paul 'Revolution.' But my candidate for president is John McCain, who i look forward to voting for in two and a half months.

My take on Obama is this: While clearly a captivating and charismatic speaker, it's easy to be caught up in the moment. But review a transcript of the speeches, simply on paper. Just read it. What's there? Visiting 57 states? A tornado that killed 10,000 people (real number: 12) Or like today, the 'next president of the United States' Joe Biden? There are miscues and tongue slips aplenty and at the end of the day, Obama/Biden will do far more damage to themselves than any 'smear' ad ever could.

Apologies for drifting from the 'Virginia' portion of the Coffee House, lol

[monsoon]

Lindsay Graham would reflect perfectly the type of people who support McCain and the current administration.

[Lowerdeck]

Is Huckabee still in any consideration for the VP spot?

All I keep hearing up here is Romney and maybe Pawlenty as a darkhorse.

[Charlotteman]

I still think Romney as VP would be a super bitter pill for McCain to swallow.....the two made brutal charges against one another in the primaries. Bringing him onboard can't be discounted though, and similar decisions have been made throughout history.

I assume Gov. Hucklebury is still a serious contender(?)

[spiker3]

Hillary owed her success to women, women that won't stand for a President who isn't pro-choice. I'd also like to see the poll where you got 51%...

I'm reluctant to even respond to your "take" on Obama, because frankly it's ludicrous. You judge one candidate by his gaffes, that don't have any bearing on any issue the country currently faces, and in the same breath you give the other candidate a pass. Oh how I wish a Republican could come up with an original and legitimate reason to support McCain over Obama. Picking any stance that is contrary to Obama's would be sufficient. Your answer only proves to me that it's not Obamacans who haven't put much thought into their decision, but McCainiacs.

[cpeakesqr]

The Poll - Wall Street Journal

The reason(s) I support McCain is simple: he supports offshore drilling, tax cuts, pro-choice, conservative judges rather than judicial activists, carries a unimpeachable military background, pro-gun, smaller government and supports the War in Iraq. You may disagree with one or several or all of those stances, which is clearly your choice.

I certainly do not give John McCain a pass on his gaffes, although i do think this current 'housing' debate it beyond trivial, I still cringed when he said it. Slips of the tongue are human nature. My point on Obama was that now that he's been in the spotlight for a year and a half and is soon to be the nominee, people are looking at him more and more, going beyond those rousing and capitivating speeches. Broad, generic policies and soaring rhetoric is fantastic on the stump and on television. Obama should be +10-20 points in the polls right now, given the current political climate. He's not. He's everywhere from +5% to -5%. This is the election year that Democrats can't lose, yet they're in a position to do just that. If the GOP nominee were Romney, Huckabee or Guiliani, this race would be over right now. But given the choice of candidates, it's still up in the air. The summer has been non-stop Obama-mania, Paris, Berlin, etc. Why is this still a race? American people know him by now. He has near 100% name recognition.

There is one thing John McCain can do in two weeks to lock up the race (he won't do, i'm sure) Announce he's serving for only one term, to be able to truly put partisan politics aside and get his agenda accomplished. It allows the American people to punt the decision another four years, and there would be nothing Obama would be able to do to combat that one. Unfortunately, it won't happen.

[rusthebuss]

All that we can go by with Obamanation is what he has done as a Senator. He has helped to take away right of legal gun owners in the city of Chicago. I do agree with his stand on NAFTA. That was pushed by Dems and Republicans. I fear that with him in office that we will have more socialized services. I do not want socialized healthcare. Look how its affecting Canada. Both McCain and Obama are weak on illegal immigration. If you want to know what illegal immigration is really doing to this country watch Lou Dobbs. Obama wants big govt., which i oppose greatly. I do not want to end up like Canada and Australia. Both tickets this year are a joke.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

I'm terrified to jump into the fray... but I'll bite. Why the Hell not.

If we're going to criticize Obama for his gaffes (mostly statistical), let's criticize McCain for his (mostly merely factual) - for instance, the indisputable fact that Czechoslovakia ceased to exist over 15 years ago (now Slovakia and the Czeck Republic). Or his routinely-occurring "Iran is training al Qaeda" gaffe (at least three times in televised interviews: Iran is Shi'ite, predominantly, al Qaeda is Sunni, they're fundamentally ideologically opposed and hate eachother. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he just misspoke. The alternative - the man who could become in charge of a complex war in Iraq and the man who may have to take a leading role in determining Mideast policy while not knowing the difference between Shi'a and Sunni Islam - is far more terrifying).

Anyway, the primary reason I would never support McCain is because he had the heinous ill-fortune of hitching his political ride to George W. Bush. Not only has he voted 95% of the time in accordance with Bush's directives/opinions, etc., but I am terrified he'll be the sort of non-Conservative "Compassionate" Conservative George Bush has been. Bush is not a real Conservative: real conservatives embrace small government, George Bush has vastly expanded it (e.g. Homeland Security was promised to "consolidate" services and combine the intelligence branches; instead, many jobs were replicated, and the intelligence services are really no better at communicating than they were pre-9/11). Real conservatives embrace fiscal conservatism, yet Bush's #2 Dick Cheney has stated (and I quote) "Deficits don't matter." Really? The United States is nearly $10 trillion in debt; our budget deficits have climbed steadily since 2001, and are well into the hundreds of billions per year. There was a statistic I heard the other day, that all combined, private and public debts in the United States exceed $50 trillion; that is more than the total value of all the goods and services produced by every country in the world combined in a year (a "global GDP" if you will - which is between $40-45tril.). That's a staggering thought - that over the last 7.5 years, the US has accelerated (or decelerated) its economy by building it upon money that doesn't exist (see: Fannie Mae, Enron, US automakers, Citi). Our economy is out of whack, the greatest minds of economics agree, and some of the "Compassionate Conservatives" believe we're actually BETTER off than we were before 2001. I guess it's all the same when you're a multi-millionaire. Especially if you've been benefitting from the tax burden shifting from the wealthiest 1% to the middle and lower classes. But, then again, who is Ben Bernanke or Alan Greenspan to talk about the economy? ...

And then there's the general global disdain for the "American" brandname. There was a time where most people in the world, including those in the most radical of places like Syria or Saudi Arabia, made a distinction between the politicians of America, and the citizens of America. They hated Clinton, they hated Reagan, but they still (predominantly) embraced Americans (and, of course, our cash $ ). Over the last 7.5 years, there's been a dramatic shift (see the writings of Edward Said, just prior to his death); American politics (and the actions of those politicians, such as Iraq) and American people have become inseparable in some minds. An acquaintance of mine has traveled to Syria to study Arabic every year for the last 3 summers and has said that year by year his reception (except among friends, obviously) has become colder and colder; in 2004, it was overwhelmingly positive, now overwhelmingly negative. Moreover, the past 7.5 years have completely ignored serious problems in Darfur, Zimbabwe, and Palestine (which the current Administration wouldn't even call "a problem" since the Israelis "have it under control"... right). Our role in the world has gone from admirable aspiration to arrogant hypocrite.

And, after 7.5 years of this sort of an Administration, John McCain has hitched his campaign to the man who engineered all this? That's unconscionable. And highly unfortunate. What happened to the "original Maverick?" John McCain is undoubtedly an honorable man who has dedicated the majority of his life to protecting and improving America. He has sacrificed more than most could ever dream. But his campaign has left me dumbfounded. Such an "honorable" man running smear ads Karl Rove would pee his pants with glee over? The Hilton/Spears ads? Ads that are blatantly factually incorrect? Please. If nothing else, I can rest assured on that Tuesday night in November that I didn't vote for someone who couldn't even talk about their views in a single ad, but decided to lie and contort the truth instead.

I just wish the last 3 elections hadn't come down to "the lesser of two evils." Oh, American politics.

[rusthebuss]

Thats what this election is. The lesser of 2 evils. Its really been like that for a long time. All politics is evil. Most of them are not in this for the people. They are in it for themselves and their comrades. I imagine the creators of this country are turning over in their graves now. This country is like Walmart. The creator of that store did not mean for it to be the way it is now. We have seriously gone off track for what this country should be on. The sad thing is that most people that you talk to can't tell you what the true reasons who they will be voting for.

[Telmnstr]

The Poll - Wall Street Journal

The reason(s) I support McCain is simple: he supports offshore drilling, tax cuts, pro-choice, conservative judges rather than judicial activists, carries a unimpeachable military background, pro-gun, smaller government and supports the War in Iraq. You may disagree with one or several or all of those stances, which is clearly your choice.

[Durhamite]

Thats what this election is. The lesser of 2 evils. Its really been like that for a long time. All politics is evil. Most of them are not in this for the people. They are in it for themselves and their comrades. I imagine the creators of this country are turning over in their graves now. This country is like Walmart. The creator of that store did not mean for it to be the way it is now. We have seriously gone off track for what this country should be on. The sad thing is that most people that you talk to can't tell you what the true reasons who they will be voting for.

[cityboi]

Is Huckabee still in any consideration for the VP spot?

All I keep hearing up here is Romney and maybe Pawlenty as a darkhorse.