Missed the debates the day of, watching it now on Hulu.com...

So far (about halfway through), I'm seeing better points from Obama on the economy but they're both doing pretty well in that regard (though McCain doesn't come off as totally believable when it comes to spending cuts)... and I seem to be seeing better points coming from McCain on military strategy (Note: I didn't say foreign policy, I said military strategy)... still haven't seen much from either on social issues or non-military foreign policy.

Also, in the brief time they discussed energy policy, I thought McCain was the solid winner... mostly because he is very pro-nuclear, though I'm not too big a fan of offshore drilling for oil. I like that Obama stresses alternative energies to oil but if he would just specify or support nuclear power even once I would like him a LOT more.

In terms of composure and presence behind the podium... I barely give a shit about that; you might as well be voting by who "looks better"... but McCain is doing much better than his normal with speaking, since in the debate he didn't look/sound like a robot reading index cards... but I'd still give Obama the edge in this category, he's simply a great public speaker, "umm"s or not. I also find it funny how he more-often-than-not accidentally calls McCain something other than "John". Also I'm a poor judge of stage behavior and such anyway, because I'm basically just listening and looking at other things in other tabs/windows.

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 1:44 AM. Reason : .]

9/28/2008 1:22:42 AM

I support nuclear power plants, but I think Obama's thinking is that if we can get electricity not from nuclear, then other countries have no excuse to be pursuing a nuclear program under the guise of power generation. That's what Iran did afterall.

I'm starting to wonder though if the goal of stopping nuclear proliferation is even possible without preemptively attacking any country that tries.

9/28/2008 1:43:05 AM

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 2:01 AM. Reason : nm, I read that wrong]

9/28/2008 1:44:41 AM

^McCain seems to be more focused on addressing and speaking to the audience, while Obama seems more focused on having a conversation with McCain.

I can't say I dislike either style of debate.

9/28/2008 1:46:23 AM

^ McCain was looking at the moderator the entire time - not the studio audience or the TV audience.
Obama pretty evenly split his time between looking at the camera, at McCain, or at the moderator.

9/28/2008 12:25:24 PM

THE EARMARKS ARE KILLING US. FOR GOD'S SAKE, SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!

9/28/2008 2:21:23 PM

Before, I was thinking reducing earmarks/pork was a positive for McCain. Now that I've found out how utterly insigificant they are in the scope of the national budget, I can't believe he's actually using that as a seemingly major part of his platform.

And what really defines what "pork" is? Republicans always bring up funding for silly sounding scientific work as examples. Well, scientific work can sound silly to the layman, but maybe it was critical in some way to our understanding of the world. But I guess it's wasteful crap if it doesn't have some immediately evident practical purpose...

9/28/2008 5:54:17 PM

Quote :

" Debate Watchers Give Obama Edge Over McCain 46% to 34% September 28, 2008 A USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted Saturday, Sept. 27, shows that Americans who watched the first presidential debate gave Barack Obama the edge over John McCain as having done the better job, by a 46% to 34% margin."

This is for those who predicted a debate with no clear winner. Don't quit your day job.

Quote :

"Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 50% to 42% Lead September 28, 2008 Barack Obama leads John McCain, 50% to 42%, among registered voters in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday -- just one point shy of his strongest showing of the year. "

This is for those who predicted the debate would have no change on the Gallup poll. Yeah... I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday.

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 9:01 PM. Reason : -]

9/28/2008 9:01:37 PM

Can any McCain supporters on here explain why Johnny Boy did not look Barack Obama in the eye once, not even when they shook hands before and after the debate?

9/28/2008 11:08:19 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG1aOORf8Pc

McCain clips of things Obama said during the debate

9/29/2008 2:21:49 PM

Quote :

"Can any McCain supporters on here explain why Johnny Boy did not look Barack Obama in the eye once, not even when they shook hands before and after the debate? "

Ive stated that I thought Obama would get a bounce in the polls from the debate. Mainly because he performed better. McCain was much better on actual issues, but Obama "looked" better. imo. And really that and what this poster asked ^, is what our population has come down to on making thier decision. Which is sad.

[Edited on September 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM. Reason : .]

9/29/2008 2:37:02 PM

Hey, Doc, to some people McCain's mannerisms and body language speaks to the type of person he is. To some people it was a sign of a lack of respect or even contempt for Obama. That, coupled with his remarks about Obama supported that. One could expand on that and wonder how a foreign head of state with which he is engaged in negotiations would respond to that. It might make or break a deal. There is nothing sad about considering peoples mannerisms and disposition in making an informed decision.

[Edited on September 29, 2008 at 3:25 PM. Reason : .]

9/29/2008 3:24:40 PM

Yes there is.

I dont give a shit what someone looks like, speaks, or looks at. As long as he can do the job and has good policies. Adults are taught to put emotions aside, and wiegh facts when making a decision. Children make decisions based on emtional responses. imo

"IM going to vote for mccain.. I think the use of the finger point means he means business, and that is exactly what we need. But i was SO dissapointed that he didnt look at the kid in the first row. How disrespectful." hahah, seriously

[Edited on September 29, 2008 at 3:43 PM. Reason : .]

9/29/2008 3:39:28 PM

Quote :

""This bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain. ... But, you know, this is a bipartisan accomplishment, a bipartisan success. And if people want to get something done in Washington, they just watch John McCain." — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, 9/29/08 "Earlier in the week, when Senator McCain came back to Washington, there had been no deal reached. ... What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all the parties to the table, including the House Republicans." — Senior adviser Steve Schmidt, 9/28/08 "But here are the facts, and I’m not overselling anything. The fact is that the House Republicans were not in the mix at all. John didn’t phone this one in. He came and actually did something. ... You can’t phone something like this in. Thank God John came back." — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), 9/28/08 "Before John McCain suspended his campaign yesterday, the situation that we’re looking at today looked very different then. After he showed leadership and called for bipartisanship, for us to partisanship aside and tackle this solution head on, here we are." — Spokesman Tucker Bounds, 9/25/08"

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAH, McCain is done

9/29/2008 4:07:33 PM

Quote :

"Sen. John Kerry, appearing on Fox News Sunday, claimed that "the four principal components of this deal represent the exact four principles that Senator Obama laid out two weeks ago. They represent the exact principles that we put forward and almost agreed on last Thursday before politics entered into this."

9/29/2008 4:11:31 PM

They will get something worked out. The fact is this bill failed by 21 votes, right? They didnt need the repubs to pass this one. If everyone would just calm the fuck down and actually make an informed decision about this thing.. not a rash one bc elections are in november.

9/29/2008 4:19:24 PM

9/29/2008 4:21:05 PM

McCain to the resc- O WAIT.

9/29/2008 4:44:58 PM

Quote :

"Quote : ""This bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain. ... But, you know, this is a bipartisan accomplishment, a bipartisan success. And if people want to get something done in Washington, they just watch John McCain." — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, 9/29/08 "Earlier in the week, when Senator McCain came back to Washington, there had been no deal reached. ... What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all the parties to the table, including the House Republicans." — Senior adviser Steve Schmidt, 9/28/08 "But here are the facts, and I’m not overselling anything. The fact is that the House Republicans were not in the mix at all. John didn’t phone this one in. He came and actually did something. ... You can’t phone something like this in. Thank God John came back." — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), 9/28/08 "Before John McCain suspended his campaign yesterday, the situation that we’re looking at today looked very different then. After he showed leadership and called for bipartisanship, for us to partisanship aside and tackle this solution head on, here we are." — Spokesman Tucker Bounds, 9/25/08" HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAH, McCain is done"

I know, they look so damn erratic and retarded right about now. I mean this just flat out failed....no other way to put it.

9/29/2008 5:01:17 PM

from a story i just read on the front page of siren.gif.com, republicans blamed pelosi for hurting their feelings in a speech just before the vote, so they decided to switch

9/29/2008 5:20:36 PM

Next one on Tuesday at Belmont University in Nashville....

Maybe this time it'll actually be a debate, and McCain will direct his comments towards Obama... maybe.....

10/5/2008 5:49:53 PM

mccain is supposed to own obama in townhall style events

10/5/2008 9:44:50 PM

Quote :

"from a story i just read on the front page of siren.gif.com, republicans blamed pelosi for hurting their feelings in a speech just before the vote, so they decided to switch "

but adults are supposed to be taught to make decisions based on facts, not emotions. How could that be?

10/5/2008 9:49:33 PM

Lets bring this back to the top for tonight's debate!

10/7/2008 6:13:04 PM

McCain says the gloves will come off tonight. Should be good.

10/7/2008 6:22:53 PM

^So all this was while keeping the gloves on?

10/7/2008 6:26:53 PM

*Official* Presidential Debates Thread for Obama Supporters To Post In

10/7/2008 6:58:25 PM

not everyone can stay as objective and independent as you good sir

10/7/2008 7:03:27 PM

just look at the last page...aside from eyedrb, its all obama supporters...im pointing out a fact, at least about page 7

10/7/2008 7:43:02 PM

Quote :

"*Official* Presidential Debates Thread for Obama Supporters To Post In"

certainly wasn't what i was going for.....

10/7/2008 8:38:21 PM

nevermind found it at 9

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 8:42 PM. Reason : .]

10/7/2008 8:40:36 PM

^^i do realize that lunak i was just commenting on the last page in particular, good and necessary thread overall

^9:00pm

my personal recommendation is to watch it on either CBS, ABC or NBC and avoid watching it on CNN, MCNBC, or Fox News

10/7/2008 8:40:56 PM

i would recommend watching it on PBS or CSPAN, personally.


Also, hulu.com will be streaming it live. For the previous debates, they've put them up after the fact, but this is the first one that will be streamed. It will be interesting to see how live internet streaming is used
http://www.hulu.com/spotlight/election08

ah, looks like the hulu.com stream is just the NBC feed. makes sense, i guess...
and interesting - it looks like the hulu.com stream is actually a couple seconds ahead of the TV feed. I would have thought it would be the other way around

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 9:01 PM. Reason : .]

10/7/2008 8:57:38 PM

Quote :

"PBS or CSPAN"

yeah i'm sure those are just as good as the networks...i just prefer watching it myself and not getting bogged down with a bunch of analysis before i have a chance to analyze it myself, like they have on the cable news channels

10/7/2008 8:59:30 PM

Obama won the coin flip, huh?

10/7/2008 9:04:10 PM

or maybe it's like football - he won, then deferred, and McCain chose to go 2nd so he could defend!

10/7/2008 9:04:55 PM

Hell yeah let's fire some executives.

10/7/2008 9:06:04 PM

the government can't fire people in private companies

10/7/2008 9:07:25 PM

OOOOH ITS NOT THE CORPORATIONS FAULT IS IT JOHN

ITS THE GOVERNMENT LIKE ALWAYS HUH

10/7/2008 9:07:37 PM

mccain sounds kind of nervous to me

10/7/2008 9:08:56 PM

MY FREINDS

my ass

10/7/2008 9:09:03 PM

at least McCain is actually looking at/talking to Obama today

10/7/2008 9:09:23 PM

oh sure

running a corporation is the same thing as running the treasury

10/7/2008 9:10:06 PM

did anyone catch the "its good to be with you at a townhall" by McCain?

kind of a snide comment about Obama's refusal to do townhalls over the summer

10/7/2008 9:11:05 PM

Warren Buffet or Jimmy Buffett, who do you trust more?

10/7/2008 9:11:09 PM

You think McCain will retire from the Senate once he gets creamed by Obama(electoral college). I figure he wouldnt want to stick around in the Senate when the Dems have 57 or 58 seats.

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 9:12 PM. Reason : v]

10/7/2008 9:11:26 PM

hahaha, rules guys. please follow them.

10/7/2008 9:11:28 PM

good question oliver aka dwyane wade

10/7/2008 9:11:50 PM

Brokaw, laying down the law.

McCain wanted him, and now he's shooting McCain down.

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 9:12 PM. Reason : Cronies is the new Maverick]

10/7/2008 9:12:08 PM

Tom just laid it down!

10/7/2008 9:12:11 PM