McLame writing notes IMMEDIATELY at start of debate

[Broken Acorn]

My wife pointed out at the start of the debate last night to me how weird it was that McLame immediately, after shaking hands with Obama, went to his chair and started writing down notes furiously even before Brokaw started talking.

So many questions I have as to why he did that, but the main concern I have is if this assclown becomes our President, what on Earth could he be noting before the start of the debate? I joked to my wife that maybe he was writing down his name and the date at the top of the page in case he forgot where he was or who he is.

But on a serious note, this type of actions just continues to bring out huge red flags for me on his capacity to lead and his mental threshold for information and comprehension. Just scary!

[LibraLiz1973]

1. I also thought it was really weird that he started writing right away.

What the hell was that all about?

I thought it was great that Obama wrote almost not at all. He was focused on the responses and the people.
McCain was focused on writing page after page.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. He wrote: "My name is John McCain."

I noticed it, too.

[myrna minx]

3. My friend and I noticed that as well.

:shrug: Maybe he needed to write down mnemonic memory triggers.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. We were able to read the page via clairvoyance.

It said

Tom bro-caw (like crow-caw)

Brak Oh-Bah-ma

Exit door to left behind podium

[my2sense]

5. I noticed this as well

It was quite strange. I also figured he was writing his name on the paper - LOL. There was also another moment when they were asked to prioritize the top 3 major issues in their administration and he was having difficulty remembering them - again it appeared he was trying to write them down.

[riqster]

6. Bad sign

...a President needs to be able to deal with all sorts of decision-makling situations: what happens if he has no note pads?

[Avalux]

7. I noticed that too. He was writing the 3 issues Brokaw mentioned.

He even had to ask Brokaw to repeat them; could he really not remember? One of the things that annnoyed the crap out of me was his 'wandering' around on stage making hand signals (or waves if you want to call them that) at audience members while Obama was speaking. Very rude. Obama sat quietly and listened to McCain.

[Aloha Spirit]

8. Noticed that too. Decided he was writing down what his close would be so he wouldn't forget.

...when times are tough, we need a steady hand at the tiller and the great honor of my life was to always put my country first.

I thought that was a well-crafted closer, stood out from the rest of his lines.

[JohnMcCant2008]

9. He wrote "don't forget the 'that one' jab. It'll go over huge"

and "don't say POW,don't say POW,don't say POW"

[RichGirl]

10. Palin did the same thing and was constantly reading off her notes.

Here's what I think...they had crib notes written on the palms of their hands in INVISABLE INK so they had to quickly transfer them to paper before they were gone...LOL!

[Lucky 13]

11. Just to play devil's advocate here....

If I had to do a live debate with no notes, I'd be nervous as hell. Under that pressure, I forget stuff. He was probably writing down his key talking points for the evening. That way he can go back to them and be sure to work those key points into his answers at various points in the night. It's especially smart if you have a propensity to go off on long rambling non-sensical tangents... ahem.

There's plenty of weird stuff to slam him for... that evil creepy little smile, walking in front of cameras, going way over his time allotment, "That One", his bizarro explanation of Bomb-Bomb-Iran...

This is only a minor oddity in comparison.

[zipplewrath]

16. Many possibilities

He could have been just setting up some format for note taking, maybe a "good/bad" column or some such thing. It could have been a set of "reminders" for himself (smile, check your tie, mention Ohio, etc). It could have been key numbers or facts that can easily get mixed up or mistated. Considering though that this was a "townhall" and involved alot of wandering, notes would seem fairly hard to use without being obvious or looking "dependent" upon them.

[Historic NY]

12. hey he is McBush.............

[grasswire]

13. Chris Mathews said that's a tactic

He complained about it last night. He said they cram at the last minute, and then walk out and regurgitate all the facts onto paper immediately so they don't forget the stats they need later.

[eShirl]

14. if he can write, he can use a handwriting-recognition tablet computer

can't he?

[jdadd]

15. I think he's just trying to impress us....

All work and no play make John a dull boy. All work and no play make John a dull boy. All work and no play make John a dull boy.