Re: Democrat National Convention
 

i felt Kerry was the only Dem that really went after McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Low2It3dA40

the good stuff starts at 4:04

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

The 2004 election wasn't really decided on the debates. Most people knew which side of the fence they were on. What got conservatives riled up was Bush's promise to put attention on the amendment to ban gay marriage. This single issue got a lot of conservative voters to the polls; those same conservative voters felt betrayed when nothing happened and threatened to stay home in the last election cycle, which a lot of them did.

The reason why I feel Obama will emerge from the debates ahead of McCain isn't simply he's the better speaker but the issue of inexperience won't be on display as much as a discussion on the problems and solutions will. Although Obama and McCain both will accuse each other of flip-flopping, McCain has ahad a real problem getting facts straight over the past few months and, if he isn't sharp when the debates start, simple, lowest common denominator logic won't fly.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

i agree with deckard, kerry schooled him on debates and it didnt chnage shit. bush openly flopped on the first go-around ("uh....jim?") and he still squeaked in.
i watched the aftermath of that minister meeting bullshit between the two and mccain supposedly came out on top because according to some pundit obama seemed "too thoughtful"

i laughed and turned the tv off.

theres every expectation that mccain will hunker down with his talking points like gollum and his ring when obama eats him for breakfast, and the debate will cater to that because ol fudders shouldnt be outright embarassed.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

You just outlined a problem Obama has, though: he's too smart in his responses for most voters. A lot of voters are idiots. I've discussed issues with McCain supporters who can't list even a single policy stance he has. They only come up with "he's got the experience" but can't expand on that or define how that translates into good policy making.

Obama is really going to have to dumb down some of what he says.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

ok, but i hope that hasnt gone so far into practicality that it's not still depressing to hear.
obama isnt hard to follow, and the sooner we can shake this "a simple man for tough times" mentality through acts or by declaration the better. we've done the guy-who-knows-what-he-knows-and-it-aint-relativity gamble and it's panned out to be the worst decision in a time when we needed someone with multi-faceted judgement and perspective. obama's run his campaign on nebulous principles backed up by fantastic speeches and elaboration. if he dumbs it down it's just more hammy sloganeering than what we're already getting.
if he can remain 'thoughtful' and pull this off (which i think he should try, because despite this 'dead heat' talk i think it's the case simply because we havent seen enough of mccain in action, and all of this undecided business is going to get practical for democrats and their party when it comes voting time) it might set a better example for future campaigns.

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

Yeah I accept that. My point was that Kerry's (IMO) superior performance at debating did nothing to raise his standing in the opinion polls. It didn't do much to save him.

(and btw let me just add that I'm not saying that everyone who voted for Bush in '04 voted in the simplistic way I previously implied. Just that, um, probably a lot did ;) )

As a matter of interest, is gay marriage set to be much of an issue this year? I'm not seen too much talk of it this time round.

You could well have a point there.

Hahaha!

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

i really hope they jump on it hard if mccain blows the debates. it'd make a really strong case for their angle of Bush Pt. 3 to do comparisons if mccain can mirror some of that floundering incompetence on display back in 00 and 04

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

Gay marriage isn't an issue in this cycle...I think people have realized that the government is really quite powerless on this singular issue and that it's something that individual states are better equipped to handle.

The reason why I say Obama has to dumb it down is the general populace will remember simple catch phrases. Someone on CNN noted that people who want to go to their local boosters club will want to take direct quotes from candidates to push the message. If there is an elaborate statement with a lot of big words that simple people have a hard time passing through word of mouth, the message will be lost. That's why McCain has kept it really simple and has caught up, among other things.

Once the debates start and McCain can't behind the excuse of Obama's inexperience, he'll fall behind in the polls. I'm just hoping Iran keeps cool and so do we in relation to them.

In other news, is Hurricane Gustav going to be Katrina, the sequel?

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

From an interview with McCain that Time posted yesterday:

Umm... a little strange, no?

I mean, ok, it could have been worse (he could have called him a c***) but still, an unusual way to handle an interview at a time like this.

Maybe these upcoming debates will not work as well for him as I initially thought....

Re: Democrat National Convention
 

I see.

Hopefully Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's "normal" wedding will have taken another brick out the wall as well.