|
Post by Spaced Out Looney on Aug 22, 2008 9:18:17 GMT -5
For those who might be interested: Rick Warren (author of "The Purpose Driven Life") will be interviewing both Obama and McCain (separately) one hour each: news.yahoo.com/story/csm/20080815/ts_csm/awarren;_ylt=Ai.eDoL2yAVKpa3XrmQqNalh24cA A few short quotes: On Saturday, pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," will do what no one else has yet accomplished: bring the presumptive GOP and Democratic presidential nominees onto the same stage to discuss their views. The event, back-to-back one-hour interviews at Mr. Warren's California megachurch, will be broadcast live on CNN and streamed on the Web. Warren personally invited the two candidates – "friends of mine" – via their cellphones. His event at the Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, Calif., – the nation's fourth-largest church – has among its aims "helping the Church regain credibility and encouraging our society to return to civility." "This is a critical time for our nation, and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart – without interruption – in a civil and thoughtful format absent the partisan 'gotcha' questions that typically produce heat instead of light," Warren said on announcing the event, called a Saddleback Civil Forum. His questions will focus on how the candidates lead and make decisions and will cover five topics: leadership, stewardship, worldview, compassion issues, and their vision for America. Well, missed bits due to having to watch some Olympic swimming as well, but I wrote this to my siblings. It hardly covers everything but to sum up: I thought those 3 hours (Rick Warren did one hour with each candidate and CNN did a followup hour with it's commentators) was easily the most informative 3 hours of politics I've watched in forever. Now, some of that is because, in general, I don't stay very long with the debates. I get frustrated with the questions, the evasions, the "answers" aka canned political speeches, the sound bites. I really liked the format and the non-confrontationalness. If you get the chance, try to find it on the internet, or on a repeat. I don't much think many votes would be switched, but if you didn't know much about either guy this would be helpful. What I wrote my sibs: (Hardly covers it all, but maybe someone else watched and this will get the ball rolling): I found the CNN thing fascinating. I think Rick Warren did a HUGE favor to the evangelical/Christian community---simply by being NOT Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson or James Dobson. I really liked the format and the informality and the wide range of questions. Warren didn't really press either of them if they dodged or wimped out, but he did succeed in the "civil conversation" concept. I also watched the full hour of commentary afterwards and found it also fascinating. The commentators seemed to think that McCain had done himself a great deal of good with his core constituents. He was repeatedly described as "straight, blunt, short answers" and Obama as "nuanced."
My mind wasn't changed at all. If anything I became even more of an Obama supporter. I LIKE "nuanced." I think the world is a complicated place and you can't just say "no! or yes!" to almost anything globally without any qualifications (nuances). Whether it's wise to attempt to convey that to the American public, I don't know...... I didn't so much think McCain was a straight talker as that he turned the questions as much as possible into opportunities for personal anecdotes, many of them about being a POW, and also into forums about being tough on terrorism. But I'm guessing that his supporters may have seen Obama's answers as less than straightforward because of the "nuance" thing. And I suspect that none of the 12% of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim were much swayed because either a) they don't watch CNN or b) they just assume he's lying anyway. Sigh. They were each asked about evil. McCain: "We have to DEFEAT it! And I can promise you that I will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of Hell to capture him and punish him. And I know how to do it." (loud applause). [See, I saw that as simplistic and promising what you may not be able to deliver and besides, catching Bin Laden isn't really going to FIX all/the greatest evils in the world."] Obama: "Evil exists. We see it in Darfur, we see it in parent's who abuse their children.... We have to confront it--wherever and whenever we encounter it. But we, as individuals, will never be able to erase all evil from the world. That's God's battle. And we have to confront evil with a certain amount of humility. Because there has been evil done in the name of attempting to do "good". .... All true, but possibly not a big vote getter. They also showed a post program interview that Obama had with a CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) reporter asking about ads that accused him of voting against some bill while he was a state senator in Illinois about treating babies.....something. Clearly there is an ad which says he was for allowing babies to die by withholding medical treatment (maybe victims of late term abortion???). He said it was a LIE (his voice and face said it was a low down dirty lie.) He explained what the bill really intended and that IL already had a perfectly good law in place ensuring that any/every baby would always be treated.... apparently he voted in line with the entire medical association from Illinois. He got pretty worked about a commercial that accused him "and all the doctors in IL" of wanting to withhold medical treatment from babies!!!!!!!!! Basically said "you'd have to be a complete and total idiot to believe that any feeling HUMAN being" would condone such a thing. He said it's necessary to confront such lies, but it's tough to confront such lies without getting down to the level as those who are spreading them. Anyway. If you knew nothing about either guy I think this was one of the best 2 hours I've seen and would allow you to differentiate between them on substance, style, personality, etc. And some would choose A, for fair reasons; while others would choose B; also for valid reasons. There really is a choice, it's a decent choice, neither man is the devil or stupid; and neither are their supporters. Props to Rick Warren for pulling this off and good on CNN for televising it.
I finally watched this. Well, I started watching the CNN commentary at the end, but then skipped it, because they were starting to annoy me. IMHO, McCain told the audience exactly what they wanted to hear. And he seemed to be stumping rather than having a dialog with Warren, which was what it was supposed to be. And it didn't occur to me at the time, but this article points out the contradiction between McCain's pat answer of "life begins at conception" and his support of embryonic stem cell research, and also how no one in the mainstream media seems to have picked up on it. I actually like McCain in a lot of ways. But even if I didn't find Obama so inspiring and so forth, the big sticking issue for me is McCain's stance on the war. And his response to the question about evil being to equate evil with Al Queda and Bin Laden (read: stumping, read: message that obviously appeals to a lot of people) and nothing but deeply disturbs me. Obama's acknowledgment of evil sometimes being perpetuated in the course of fighting evil is absolutely correct, I think, and it's a shame that McCain didn't even mention this a tiny bit, or the idea of good and evil being in all of us or some such thing. McCain's foreign policy in this regard deeply scares me. It also deeply scares me that my dad would completely agree with him.
|
|
|
Post by Sue on Aug 22, 2008 11:37:56 GMT -5
Well, missed bits due to having to watch some Olympic swimming as well, but I wrote this to my siblings. It hardly covers everything but to sum up: I thought those 3 hours (Rick Warren did one hour with each candidate and CNN did a followup hour with it's commentators) was easily the most informative 3 hours of politics I've watched in forever. Now, some of that is because, in general, I don't stay very long with the debates. I get frustrated with the questions, the evasions, the "answers" aka canned political speeches, the sound bites. I really liked the format and the non-confrontationalness. If you get the chance, try to find it on the internet, or on a repeat. I don't much think many votes would be switched, but if you didn't know much about either guy this would be helpful. What I wrote my sibs: (Hardly covers it all, but maybe someone else watched and this will get the ball rolling): I found the CNN thing fascinating. I think Rick Warren did a HUGE favor to the evangelical/Christian community---simply by being NOT Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson or James Dobson. I really liked the format and the informality and the wide range of questions. Warren didn't really press either of them if they dodged or wimped out, but he did succeed in the "civil conversation" concept. I also watched the full hour of commentary afterwards and found it also fascinating. The commentators seemed to think that McCain had done himself a great deal of good with his core constituents. He was repeatedly described as "straight, blunt, short answers" and Obama as "nuanced."
My mind wasn't changed at all. If anything I became even more of an Obama supporter. I LIKE "nuanced." I think the world is a complicated place and you can't just say "no! or yes!" to almost anything globally without any qualifications (nuances). Whether it's wise to attempt to convey that to the American public, I don't know...... I didn't so much think McCain was a straight talker as that he turned the questions as much as possible into opportunities for personal anecdotes, many of them about being a POW, and also into forums about being tough on terrorism. But I'm guessing that his supporters may have seen Obama's answers as less than straightforward because of the "nuance" thing. And I suspect that none of the 12% of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim were much swayed because either a) they don't watch CNN or b) they just assume he's lying anyway. Sigh. They were each asked about evil. McCain: "We have to DEFEAT it! And I can promise you that I will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of Hell to capture him and punish him. And I know how to do it." (loud applause). [See, I saw that as simplistic and promising what you may not be able to deliver and besides, catching Bin Laden isn't really going to FIX all/the greatest evils in the world."] Obama: "Evil exists. We see it in Darfur, we see it in parent's who abuse their children.... We have to confront it--wherever and whenever we encounter it. But we, as individuals, will never be able to erase all evil from the world. That's God's battle. And we have to confront evil with a certain amount of humility. Because there has been evil done in the name of attempting to do "good". .... All true, but possibly not a big vote getter. They also showed a post program interview that Obama had with a CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) reporter asking about ads that accused him of voting against some bill while he was a state senator in Illinois about treating babies.....something. Clearly there is an ad which says he was for allowing babies to die by withholding medical treatment (maybe victims of late term abortion???). He said it was a LIE (his voice and face said it was a low down dirty lie.) He explained what the bill really intended and that IL already had a perfectly good law in place ensuring that any/every baby would always be treated.... apparently he voted in line with the entire medical association from Illinois. He got pretty worked about a commercial that accused him "and all the doctors in IL" of wanting to withhold medical treatment from babies!!!!!!!!! Basically said "you'd have to be a complete and total idiot to believe that any feeling HUMAN being" would condone such a thing. He said it's necessary to confront such lies, but it's tough to confront such lies without getting down to the level as those who are spreading them. Anyway. If you knew nothing about either guy I think this was one of the best 2 hours I've seen and would allow you to differentiate between them on substance, style, personality, etc. And some would choose A, for fair reasons; while others would choose B; also for valid reasons. There really is a choice, it's a decent choice, neither man is the devil or stupid; and neither are their supporters. Props to Rick Warren for pulling this off and good on CNN for televising it.
I finally watched this. Well, I started watching the CNN commentary at the end, but then skipped it, because they were starting to annoy me. IMHO, McCain told the audience exactly what they wanted to hear. And he seemed to be stumping rather than having a dialog with Warren, which was what it was supposed to be. And it didn't occur to me at the time, but this article points out the contradiction between McCain's pat answer of "live begins at conception" and his support of embryonic stem cell research, and also how no one in the mainstream media seems to have picked up on it. I actually like McCain in a lot of ways. But even if I didn't find Obama so inspiring and so forth, the big sticking issue for me is McCain's stance on the war. And his response to the question about evil being to equate evil with Al Queda and Bin Laden (read: stumping, read: message that obviously appeals to a lot of people) and nothing deeply disturbs me. Obama's acknowledgment of evil sometimes being perpetuated in the course of fighting evil is absolutely correct, I think, and it's a shame that McCain didn't even mention this a tiny bit, or the idea of good and evil being in all of us or some such thing. McCain's foreign policy in this regard deeply scares me. It also deeply scares me that my dad would completely agree with him. Yeah. I didn't write more at the time, but I really really noticed the generational thing going on with McCain. He reminded me so much of my dad, who lived with me for 4 years and framed everything in terms of his WWII experience. Granted, my dad's mind was failing, but McCain seemed to frame a lot of his answers using anecdotes from the 70's. Okay, that time was largely responsible for making him who he is today----but it was off-putting to me, because I want someone who lives in and understands today and can take lessons from not only recent times, but outside of the U.S. and personal experience as well. Also, by using so many military anecdotes (as well as the answer I quoted regarding evil) it seemed to me that he screens everything through a world view of U.S. military power. On the other hand, I loved the "nuanced" answers of Obama because I get that this are complex issues and complex answers (and non-answers in many cases --- some things you can't "fix" but only attempt to improve and that by serious compromise.) But I could easily see by someone who doesn't care for him to begin with would see his answers as evasive and prefer McCain's simplistic "yes" or "no."
|
|
|
Post by Sue on Aug 22, 2008 12:00:43 GMT -5
Where is my email from Mr. Obama?
Quick! Anybody want to make any last minute predictions or random guesses?
|
|
|
Post by Michelle on Aug 22, 2008 13:24:14 GMT -5
Where is my email from Mr. Obama? Quick! Anybody want to make any last minute predictions or random guesses? One article I read said Joe Biden. I don't know much about him yet to be glad, mad or sad about this.
|
|
|
Post by Onjel on Aug 22, 2008 15:17:43 GMT -5
Where is my email from Mr. Obama? Quick! Anybody want to make any last minute predictions or random guesses? He'd be wise to choose Biden, but I think it's going to be the guy from Virginia.
|
|
|
Post by Rachael on Aug 23, 2008 14:41:43 GMT -5
Where is my email from Mr. Obama? Quick! Anybody want to make any last minute predictions or random guesses? One article I read said Joe Biden. I don't know much about him yet to be glad, mad or sad about this. I am thrilled about Joe Biden. Had he still been in the race come California, I might have voted for him over Hillary. Maybe. And I just listened to his speech. Incredible, in the best way possible.
|
|
|
Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Aug 23, 2008 17:14:29 GMT -5
One article I read said Joe Biden. I don't know much about him yet to be glad, mad or sad about this. I am thrilled about Joe Biden. Had he still been in the race come California, I might have voted for him over Hillary. Maybe. And I just listened to his speech. Incredible, in the best way possible. Biden is a good in to blue-collar democrats, although he's getting some "plagiarism" accusations again. I'd be a lot more inclined to hold him up to judgement for that if it weren't that he and Neil McClintock have identical backstories. Not that there's a chance in hell I'd vot for anyone other than Obama; McCain's appointments to the supreme court alone are reason to guarantee that. Julia, needing to piffle, and everyone's off being busy elsewhere.
|
|
|
Post by Rachael on Aug 23, 2008 18:49:16 GMT -5
I am thrilled about Joe Biden. Had he still been in the race come California, I might have voted for him over Hillary. Maybe. And I just listened to his speech. Incredible, in the best way possible. Biden is a good in to blue-collar democrats, although he's getting some "plagiarism" accusations again. I'd be a lot more inclined to hold him up to judgement for that if it weren't that he and Neil McClintock have identical backstories. Not that there's a chance in hell I'd vot for anyone other than Obama; McCain's appointments to the supreme court alone are reason to guarantee that. Julia, needing to piffle, and everyone's off being busy elsewhere. Agreed - I'm not the person Obama needs to convince. I'm voting "anyone who can beat John McCain"...but I have to say I'm happy with this ticket, anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Spaced Out Looney on Aug 23, 2008 19:18:44 GMT -5
I agree. I liked Biden in the primaries, so I'm cool with the choice.
|
|
|
Post by Sue on Aug 23, 2008 22:46:43 GMT -5
Carolyn was uncertain, esp as the her intro was all the stupid things he has said, courtesy of the news outlets.
But she like this editorial by David Brooks, who is a conservative, but she trust his opinions and values, like George Will on a good day:
By DAVID BROOKSPublished: August 22, 2008 Barack Obama has decided upon a vice-presidential running mate. And while I don't know who it is as I write, for the good of the country, I hope he picked Joe Biden.
Biden's weaknesses are on the surface. He has said a number of idiotic things over the years and, in the days following his selection, those snippets would be aired again and again.
But that won't hurt all that much because voters are smart enough to forgive the genuine flaws of genuine people. And over the long haul, Biden provides what Obama needs:
Working-Class Roots. Biden is a lunch-bucket Democrat. His father was rich when he was young — played polo, cavorted on yachts, drove luxury cars. But through a series of bad personal and business decisions, he was broke by the time Joe Jr. came along. They lived with their in-laws in Scranton, Pa., then moved to a dingy working-class area in Wilmington, Del. At one point, the elder Biden cleaned boilers during the week and sold pennants and knickknacks at a farmer's market on the weekends.
His son was raised with a fierce working-class pride — no one is better than anyone else. Once, when Joe Sr. was working for a car dealership, the owner threw a Christmas party for the staff. Just as the dancing was to begin, the owner scattered silver dollars on the floor and watched from above as the mechanics and salesmen scrambled about for them. Joe Sr. quit that job on the spot.
Even today, after serving for decades in the world's most pompous workplace, Senator Biden retains an ostentatiously unpretentious manner. He campaigns with an army of Bidens who seem to emerge by the dozens from the old neighborhood in Scranton. He has disdain for privilege and for limousine liberals — the mark of an honest, working-class Democrat.
Democrats in general, and Obama in particular, have trouble connecting with working-class voters, especially Catholic ones. Biden would be the bridge.
Honesty. Biden's most notorious feature is his mouth. But in his youth, he had a stutter. As a freshman in high school he was exempted from public speaking because of his disability, and was ridiculed by teachers and peers. His nickname was Dash, because of his inability to finish a sentence.
He developed an odd smile as a way to relax his facial muscles (it still shows up while he's speaking today) and he's spent his adulthood making up for any comments that may have gone unmade during his youth.
Today, Biden's conversational style is tiresome to some, but it has one outstanding feature. He is direct. No matter who you are, he tells you exactly what he thinks, before he tells it to you a second, third and fourth time.
Presidents need someone who will be relentlessly direct. Obama, who attracts worshippers, not just staff members, needs that more than most.
Loyalty. Just after Biden was elected to the senate in 1972, his wife, Neilia, and daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash. His career has also been marked by lesser crises. His first presidential run ended in a plagiarism scandal. He nearly died of a brain aneurism.
New administrations are dominated by the young and the arrogant, and benefit from the presence of those who have been through the worst and who have a tinge of perspective. Moreover, there are moments when a president has to go into the cabinet room and announce a decision that nearly everyone else on his team disagrees with. In those moments, he needs a vice president who will provide absolute support. That sort of loyalty comes easiest to people who have been down themselves, and who had to rely on others in their own moments of need.
Experience. When Obama talks about postpartisanship, he talks about a grass-roots movement that will arise and sweep away the old ways of Washington. When John McCain talks about it, he describes a meeting of wise old heads who get together to craft compromises. Obama's vision is more romantic, but McCain's is more realistic.
When Biden was a young senator, he was mentored by Hubert Humphrey, Mike Mansfield and the like. He was schooled in senatorial procedure in the days when the Senate was less gridlocked. If Obama hopes to pass energy and health care legislation, he's going to need someone with that kind of legislative knowledge who can bring the battered old senators together, as in days of yore.
There are other veep choices. Tim Kaine seems like a solid man, but selecting him would be disastrous. It would underline all the anxieties voters have about youth and inexperience. Evan Bayh has impeccably centrist credentials, but the country is not in the mood for dispassionate caution.
Biden's the one. The only question is whether Obama was wise and self-aware enough to know that.
|
|
|
Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Aug 28, 2008 8:43:04 GMT -5
Article on Salon: Beating up on women never gets old for Fox
With a link to a piece on Fox News titled, I kid you not, Study: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Inspires Women to Leave Churches. "More than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel church is not relevant to their lives, according to a British academic study — and shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have played a role in the exodus.
The research, published in a new book called "Women and Religion in the West," says TV shows like "Buffy" offer women an appealing message of female empowerment while the old-fashioned attitudes and hierarchies of churches are causing a steep decline in the number of female worshippers.
"In short, women are abandoning the church," writes Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby. "Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by [the pagan religion] Wicca, popularized by the TV series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' "How can I put this? Okay, I didn't see Wicca presented on BtVS as empowering; in fact, the Wicca group Willow met were rather silly. BtVS is about using the power you have wisely and to do good, be it Slayer strength or magic or knowledge. That's empowerment, and it has nothing to do with religious beliefs or, for that matter, gender. I hope this makes sense - it's far too early in the morning for the big thinks.
|
|
|
Post by SpringSummers on Aug 28, 2008 9:32:55 GMT -5
Article on Salon: Beating up on women never gets old for Fox
With a link to a piece on Fox News titled, I kid you not, Study: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Inspires Women to Leave Churches. "More than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel church is not relevant to their lives, according to a British academic study — and shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have played a role in the exodus.
The research, published in a new book called "Women and Religion in the West," says TV shows like "Buffy" offer women an appealing message of female empowerment while the old-fashioned attitudes and hierarchies of churches are causing a steep decline in the number of female worshippers.
"In short, women are abandoning the church," writes Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby. "Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by [the pagan religion] Wicca, popularized by the TV series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' "How can I put this? Okay, I didn't see Wicca presented on BtVS as empowering; in fact, the Wicca group Willow met were rather silly. BtVS is about using the power you have wisely and to do good, be it Slayer strength or magic or knowledge. That's empowerment, and it has nothing to do with religious beliefs or, for that matter, gender. I hope this makes sense - it's far too early in the morning for the big thinks. You make perfect sense; in my experience, the sort of "analysis" you mention above is made by persons who have never seen the show. Definitely, BtVS did not present "relying on magical powers" as a good thing. The message was always that such "short cuts" don't work, and ultimately won't keep you from having to do the hard work. As Spike, one of the show's main characters, said about magic, which I think represented the show's main message on this: "There's always consequences!"
|
|
|
Post by Karen on Aug 28, 2008 9:53:40 GMT -5
Article on Salon: Beating up on women never gets old for Fox
With a link to a piece on Fox News titled, I kid you not, Study: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Inspires Women to Leave Churches. "More than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel church is not relevant to their lives, according to a British academic study — and shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have played a role in the exodus.
The research, published in a new book called "Women and Religion in the West," says TV shows like "Buffy" offer women an appealing message of female empowerment while the old-fashioned attitudes and hierarchies of churches are causing a steep decline in the number of female worshippers.
"In short, women are abandoning the church," writes Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby. "Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by [the pagan religion] Wicca, popularized by the TV series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' "How can I put this? Okay, I didn't see Wicca presented on BtVS as empowering; in fact, the Wicca group Willow met were rather silly. BtVS is about using the power you have wisely and to do good, be it Slayer strength or magic or knowledge. That's empowerment, and it has nothing to do with religious beliefs or, for that matter, gender. I hope this makes sense - it's far too early in the morning for the big thinks. Huh. The author might not be all that wrong in that women are leaving the churches that promote old fashioned hierarchy and status quo, but I see BtVS as a reflection of current thinking, not a cause. If we're listening, you embrace what your inner self is trying to show you.
|
|
|
Post by SpringSummers on Aug 28, 2008 10:02:57 GMT -5
Just came to this thread to share quick impressions of the Dem convention thus far:
THE BEST MAJOR SPEECH: Hillary, by far. Next, Michelle Obama. Next Bill C. Next Joe B.
I like Biden, but was disappointed in his delivery of the speech. He can do better than that.
His son, Beau Biden, was GREAT, telling Joe's story. Very genuine love and affection there.
Hillary - wow! Best speech I've ever heard her give. Perfection. Wow, wow, wow.
Plan to watch the Republicans next week - will be curious to see what they come up with. The Dems have such a powerful "historical" thing going on, just by the nature of whole "woman and minority" candidate thing, it's hard for the Republicans to compete on the drama, gut-level intensity, this year. But we'll see!
What a year, and if I can quote Chris M quoting Tim Russert: "What a country."
THE PRESS: I've been watching MS-NBC mostly, and . . . I like Obama, but I don't think I'm imaging that the press is being "too fawning" on this. I mean, I don't care how much I like a candidate, I like to see objective reporting, and I'm not getting it here, from "main" anchors Chris M and Keith O. (I don't expect it and don't want it from clearly labeled "panels," which usually have reps of different persuasions - they are supposed to be representing their biases.)
Chris and Keith - I mean, I get that this is historic, and it is fine for them to point that out - in fact, they should be pointing that out. But for all their admiration for him, and despite the fact that (and I paraphrase Lloyd Benson from a distant campaign), they knew Tim, and they worked with Tim - they are no Tim Russerts.
Having said all that, I am LOVING this election year, and everything about it - in many ways, even the way it's hard for press people, on either side, to restrain their passions and keep them from showing.
Though I plan to vote for Obama, I have a lot of respect for McCain. He's no light-weight, and - IMO - we've still taken a big step upward, if he replaces GWB. And we've still taken a big step upward, just having such serious minority and female candidates for president this year, from a major party.
I DO think the country's ready to elect a woman or a minority candidate, but . . . if we aren't, we aren't. We're still closer, which is a good thing.
My biggest worry is for Obama's safety, because "what a country" has a good and bad side. Am looking forward to hearing his speech tonight.
Well, enough rambling. Would love to hear anyone's impressions of this convention and the GOP convention coming up next week.
|
|
|
Post by Squeemonster on Aug 28, 2008 10:36:24 GMT -5
Just came to this thread to share quick impressions of the Dem convention thus far: THE BEST MAJOR SPEECH: Hillary, by far. Next, Michelle Obama. Next Bill C. Next Joe B. I like Biden, but was disappointed in his delivery of the speech. He can do better than that. His son, Beau Biden, was GREAT, telling Joe's story. Very genuine love and affection there. Hillary - wow! Best speech I've ever heard her give. Perfection. Wow, wow, wow. Plan to watch the Republicans next week - will be curious to see what they come up with. The Dems have such a powerful "historical" thing going on, just by the nature of whole "woman and minority" candidate thing, it's hard for the Republicans to compete on the drama, gut-level intensity, this year. But we'll see! What a year, and if I can quote Chris M quoting Tim Russert: "What a country." THE PRESS: I've been watching MS-NBC mostly, and . . . I like Obama, but I don't think I'm imaging that the press is being "too fawning" on this. I mean, I don't care how much I like a candidate, I like to see objective reporting, and I'm not getting it here, from "main" anchors Chris M and Keith O. (I don't expect it and don't want it from clearly labeled "panels," which usually have reps of different persuasions - they are supposed to be representing their biases.) Chris and Keith - I mean, I get that this is historic, and it is fine for them to point that out - in fact, they should be pointing that out. But for all their admiration for him, and despite the fact that (and I paraphrase Lloyd Benson from a distant campaign), they knew Tim, and they worked with Tim - they are no Tim Russerts. Having said all that, I am LOVING this election year, and everything about it - in many ways, even the way it's hard for press people, on either side, to restrain their passions and keep them from showing. Though I plan to vote for Obama, I have a lot of respect for McCain. He's no light-weight, and - IMO - we've still taken a big step upward, if he replaces GWB. And we've still taken a big step upward, just having such serious minority and female candidates for president this year, from a major party. I DO think the country's ready to elect a woman or a minority candidate, but . . . if we aren't, we aren't. We're still closer, which is a good thing. My biggest worry is for Obama's safety, because "what a country" has a good and bad side. Am looking forward to hearing his speech tonight. Well, enough rambling. Would love to hear anyone's impressions of this convention and the GOP convention coming up next week. I'm loving this election year, as well. Most nights over the past few months have been spent watching political shows (mostly MSNBC). Not because there's nothing else on, but because I actually want to watch. In fact, my new satellite radio I had installed in my car has been used mostly for listening to political shows, so far. And I really loved Hillary's speech. And Michelle Obama's speech. I have yet to watch Bill's or Biden's speeches. I'll be watching those tonight, along with Obama's. The more I see and hear of Biden, the more I like him. I think he was a great veep choice. I do plan on watching the the GOP convention next week. I don't want to, but it's necessary to be well-rounded and informed, I suppose. That's all my quick and dirty feelings I have at the moment. ;D
|
|