Why doesn't Obama invite the conservatives to a formal debate?

[Onlooker]

Obama is a good debater and has outstanding stage presence, and the facts really are on his side. Let the right-wing put up whomever they want -- a scholarly academic from the CATO Institute, Rush Limbaugh, or one of their outstanding political leaders like Sarah Palin. I think they will have trouble arguing against the facts.

They have nothing. The idea that Congress is rushing it through, is b.s. There have been national health care bills introduced in Congress since at least the 1930s. Ted Kennedy is the 1970s and Hillary Clinton in the 1990s did an enormous amount of research. There is no point to taking more time. Now it's time to wade through the political hurdles, and that has to be done in two years, because otherwise, with a new Congress, you start from scratch.

The claims about costs are easily defended by pointing out that equally good systems in virtually all the western countries pay half or less of what we pay for insurance. While implementation is expensive, once the program is started there will be serious money saved.

Everything else they raise is just lies and fear mongering. A debate setting is great for dealing with that kind of thing. Obama himself should make the challenge, and he should allow the debate to run three hours because he's in great physical shape and could outlast just about anyone they put up.

[stray cat]

1. So they can stand on the stage as his equal in theory?

he is the president - why should he give people like Joe the Plumber and equal stage?

[high density]

2. There isn't a debate. There is nothing but fear and "no."

How is Obama supposed to debate people that say he's going to institute death panels? There's no common rational ground with these people.

[Onlooker]

3. It's not to win them over, ;;;

... it's to win everyone else over. The nuts will still be nuts, but the independents will walk away with far more confidence in a national health care plan.

[Clio the Leo]

4. He doesn't like debates.....

... at least according to Richard Wolffe's "Renegade." He sees them as political WWF shouting matches. A whole lotta blustering and grand standing, not much getting done.

He DOES however like forums in which two sides can express their opinions on a matter, calmly and couteously, in an attempt to find common ground.

Those USED to be called town halls. lol

[eleny]

5. Because he won that debate last November

[Uzybone]

9. +100000

[eleny]

10. _

[TheKentuckian]

6. People are misinformed but it is a very willful ignorance

In most cases they appear to me as those who sought a steaming pile of rat turds and paid to wallow in it. The things they are going off about are from so far in the outfield that no play can be made on the ball.

They "believe" such far fetched bullshit that it took volition to accept it in the first place and facts have almost no effect, they just shuffle the talking point to the back of the index and come back to it in a few days and pretend the "concern" was never addressed and at best and most reasonable construct bizarre end-arounds to make a case for refuted nonsense again.

[PretzelWarrior]

7. fuck that shit. they can go master debate somewhere else.

The president has a country to run. If ignorant fools want to listen to lying sacks of shit, that is their business.

[Dappleganger]

8. The election is over.

Obama won, btw.

[TxRider]

11. He did

He already offered to go over with them line by line in his office..

What more can you ask for?

[ksoze]

12. This is not about facts it is about ideology - zero sum debate

Cannot debate when the issue is the debater. He would be better just debating against clips of these fools and at least get the pleasure of mocking them with no screaming.

[GodlyDemocrat]

13. Funny I was thinking about this today but my conclusion was that it would be a bad idea

Not because healthy intelligent debate is not good ... it is, even from the conservatives. Rather, the President's goal, be it Bush or Obama, is to enact his agenda, and the best way for him to enact his agenda is to use the bully pulpit and hammer his point home. The President is not responsible to make sure that the opposing side gets equal time.

[SoFlaJet]

14. Why doesn't Obama invite the conservatives to a formal debate?

because they're frickin' idiots who are NOT concerned with the facts only their own ignorance of the issue. They could care less if he was giving out free ice cream, they'd STILL protest-it's all about hate and fear with them.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

15. It would be revealing just how cowardly and unintelligent members of the other side are

However, I'm going to agree with most here that we don't need it or want it. We had three debates between Obama and McCain last November and 53% of the public chose Obama/Biden and their agenda over McCain/Palin's *agenda* :eyes: and both of them had ample time to present an overview of their positions on the issues and what their respective agendas might be, so there is IMHO nothing really for him to debate at this point. A majority of the country obviously wanted what Obama was campaigning on, which includes REAL health care reform.

Also, IMHO the conservatives already HAVE plenty of forums-just name any 24-hour cable news channel. The liberal/progressive/Democratic side only gets about 2-3 WHOLE HOURS A DAY on cable news that is in any way skewed towards our perspective. Why do conservatives need ANOTHER forum to make their *points* (whatever in the hell those may possibly be)?

Also, WHO would you want to have Obama debate? Rove? Rove gets to debate luminaries like Howard Dean for crissakes!!!! I can't even believe Dean would agree to do THAT although I imagine that he will do an excellent job of reducing him to a pile of rubble- which would probably be just as good of a reason to see them try to put somebody up to debate Obama but OTOH I can just as well wait until 2012 for THAT.

[MadMaddie]

16. No! He won in November!

He is the President.

I don't recall the previous President inviting any Dems to anything....as a matter a fact * locked the Dems out of any decisions.

Everyone knows they are lying...it is not about the health care reform....it never has been. It wasn't even about the election when McCain/Quitter started the racist on their path that they are on today.

This is about a Black Man who is President.....that is what this is about.

[Orsino]

17. Oh, they'd love to turn this into a do-over of 2008. n/t