What we saw last night

[frogcycle]

disregarding the substance of the answers, was the beginning of the end

The talk of body language is spot-on. I have been saying for a couple of months that Obama can and should provoke mcnumbnuts, doing it oh-so-carefully so as not to have appeared to have "started the fight."

Here's the deal: mcswine is a bigot. He thinks, as do most right-wingers, that all people are NOT created equal. I am not saying specifically that he is racist, but, rather, that he thinks HE is above everyone else. His "How dare you address me like that?!?" reaction is visceral, and Obama can push the hell out of that button. I said "look him straight in the eye, lean toward him a little, and call him out on stuff." Anything. Just make accusations. Say he is wrong, say he is telling an untruth, and CALL HIM BY HIS FIRST NAME.

Well, he did that a few times, and mcmumbles reaction was palpable. You could actually see the bastard shake it off, force a smile, and change the topic. But he got nastier. That response about talking to Ahmedinijhad where he said "what are you going to do, say 'no you're not?'" is a good example. It was snotty. It probably scored with his fans, but so what?

Obama does that a few more times, back-to-back without allowing him a 'cooling off period' and he'll blow. He missed a few opportunities, when he was saying "that's just not true" while mcpow was rambling on - had he waited for the guy to finish and then just said, "John, that is not true, and you know it, and the American people know it. What happened to 'straight talk,' John?" and then just looked at him awaiting an answer, the silence would have been deafening, potentially followed by an explosion. But no matter. This was the opening round, and Obama was testing the tactic. It was, in my opinion, shown to be a good one.

What he can do is await the absolutely perfect opportunity, when mcdoofus has uttered the worst of inanities, undeniably untrue, preferably some personal attack, and then just flat call him out. Maybe even step away from the podium - just a half step, so he can turn his body to face him directly. Without actually saying it, he can channel the "you want a piece of me?" line. And then stand firm. I can't wait to see what the mf does. His record says he'd come at him physically. He might be able to contain himself from doing so, but the fury will be raging in his head so loud that he will be incoherent.

[Lochloosa]

1. Dead on.

[C_U_L8R]

2. McCain looked small

in every regard

[Justice]

3. great points. I hope obama reads them and uses them.

[boobooday]

4. Twice he called McCain by the wrong first name and then corrected himself

I don't know if it was on purpose, but it was brilliant, judging by McCain's reaction.

[K Gardner]

5. I think Obama will wait until the last debate to trip McCain's trigger.

[frogcycle]

6. probably so

until then, it's rope-a-dope

[Boz]

7. The very simple thing that offsets people is when someone asked a question gives an answer that HAS

nothing to do with the question, or a politician is asked for a direct yes or no answer and and their answer rambles on and says either no commitment or often worse commitment to BOTH yes and No.

Its one of the things that challenged Hillary in the primaries and one of the things that raised her negatives and it is exactally what most people picked up from McCain last night.

One of the other interesting points I saw was while we the political junkies and the pundits on tv mentioned was how many times Obama said John had it right or I agree with John, while this seems to have raised some hackles and McCain even jumped on it with a quick response ad, it is interesting that what is being held against Obama is that HE TOLD THE TRUTH hen he made those statements, everyone knows you don't admit the other guy is right even if he is.

Those two elements did not slip by John Q Public, those are the two things I saw watching non Political junkies watching the debate, was he answered questions he was asked but McCain didn't and that Obama admitted truthfully when he agreed with McCain.


And that s why all of the snap polls say Obama won, while most of the pundits say McCain, because Obama broke the cardinal political rule Obama told the truth and answered the questions he was asked and tahts what independents and non political junkies were looking at a man with the answers and telling the truth

[frogcycle]

9. good point

while some criticized Obama for the times he agreed with Tom - er, John - it can easily be seen as part of a rope-a-dope strategy. Say he's right when he is, get him softened up a little, then square around and flatten him when he's not. The former adds credibility to the latter.

[Hepburn]

8. I know the type you are describing....I saw them in the 1960s in the CR movement.

White intellectuals who wanted to help "those" people...but clearly saw themselves on an elevated level to "those" people.

Yeah, McCain is clearly to me in that category.

Then there were those of us who simply did NOT see skin color differences. I hopefully think of myself like that. I am white and I have friends who are not white ~~ and I realized a long time ago that I do not see them as being in some other category than me because we have different physical characteristics. After all, they are my friends because of things like personality and intelligence and not because we belong to the same physical category. Man, if I had made the dumb mistake all my life of looking to ONLY have people around me who were like me, I sure would have missed out on having a lot of very wonderful people in my life who made my life better for having known them.

JMHO...:hi:

[frogcycle]

10. Izzy agrees with you

[Hepburn]

11. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw, Izzy.......what a mega cutie!

Scotties are the best...pass it on, OK? :hi:

[alsame]

12. I loved the fact that Obama kept calling him John and McCain

kept referring to 'Senator Obama'. It made Obama appear to have seniority (in the good sense, LOL).

[frogcycle]

13. and more importantly

it will get under mcdoofus's skin

Here's the deal (please don't stop reading halfway through and call me a racist):

I am an old fart. I spent a good portion of my formative years in the South. I am all-too-familiar with certain "standards" that say a black person shall not make eye contact with a white person, shall not address directly without first being called upon, etc., etc. I have seen this first hand, time and time again. I have met black people on the street who, perhaps even subconsciously, step aside, avert their eyes. I see this frequently, even today. I live in the north now. I can encounter a black person I don't know in an office setting, or on the street, and nine times out of ten they remain stony-faced until I give a brief nod or somehow acknowledge them. Then they respond. Sometimes you can almost feel the sense of relief: "Oh, this guy isn't a bigot; good; I can say hello." This is not just in the South, and not just in the 40's/50's/60's. It is TODAY in Illinois, and everywhere else I go. African Americans don't develop this wariness for no reason. It is a response to treatment time and again during their formative years. They KNOW that some significant percentage of people see their color first and have a superiority complex over it. Hell, Barack joked about trying to hail a cab in NY. This is just fact. It is not JUST African-Americans. The same thing often applies when I encounter anyone in a service industry - the cleaning staff at the office, or the neighbor's gardeners. PLENTY of people are conditioned by experience to know that there is a not-insignificant group of Americans who think they are inferior. It is like the rules of etiquette in GB w/respect to the Queen. One just doesn't DO that, dontcha know.

Any suggestion that mcnumbnuts is NOT part of that group is idiotic. His upbringing as son of a senior military officer and marrying into big money have solidified his sense of superiority to the commoners. Barack can use that. Looking mcpow in the eye and calling him "john" is like sitting in the front of the bus, like trying to enroll in the U of Alabama, like raising the Black Power fist at the Olympics. And try as he might, mcspendingfreeze can't shake the crawly feeling it gives him.