|
September 26, 2008
– I'll
get to the debate in a moment, but... post debate, Senator Joe Biden,
Obama's runningmate, made the rounds defending his candidate's
performance, restating positions.
Where was Sarah?
Regardless of what reason is given, regardless of how
she does in her debate, the fact that John McCain didn't have an
ally on the air tonight is a huge loss. And, of course, it
looked really bad. It was joked about after Biden was talked
to on CNN. One analyst said he didn't think Sarah Palin would
be coming on tonight to talk to them. Anderson Cooper just
snickered and said, "Right, like that will happen."
When you choose a runningmate, you are choosing your
second in command, someone to get your back. Where is she -
and where is even an explanation of why she couldn't make basic
rounds? This has to be really really bad.
And if you look at the questioning that went on
tonight, which got in depth at times - and not in the "gotcha" way
it can - Governor Palin... well, we'll have to wait and see.
The question many people in America have had for
Democrats until tonight was this: why, in this most important
of times for America, when Americans were leaning toward them, when
they had a well-known, electable torch bearer in Hillary Clinton,
did they opt to pin all of their hopes not just on a black man, but
a relatively inexperienced black man.
It may not sound nice to say, but that's been the
question. Shouldn't they have just chosen someone more easily
electable rather than test barriers, history, and take somewhat of a
risk?
But what America saw tonight was the answer.
No, it was not the type of debate where one says, "This guy knocked
the other guy out," or, "That guy was so much better or worse."
What America did see though was a Democratic torch bearer who
articulately and charismatically hit exactly the points they never
felt Kerry or Gore hit in a way that got them across. After
years of watching Gore calculate and alter answers and bite his
tongue, and Kerry give good points but just not have that "cool"
connect that Obama strikes, the Democrats certainly cheered that at
last they have a worthy messenger.
And here is the moment the election turned and was
likely decided. John McCain was answering about the lessons of
the Iraq War, trying to put the focus on "The Surge" yet again, and
then diverted into some obscure attack about some subcommittee role
Barack played or didn't play: (from the
CNN transcript):
MCCAIN:
...Senator Obama said the surge could not work, said it would
increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure.
Recently on a television program, he said it exceed our wildest
expectations.
But yet, after conceding that, he still says that
he would oppose the surge if he had to decide that again today.
Incredibly, incredibly Senator Obama didn't go to Iraq for 900
days and never
LEHRER:
Well, let's go at some of these things...
MCCAIN:
Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights
NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day, he has never had a
hearing.
LEHRER:
What about that point?
MCCAIN:
I mean, it's remarkable.
LEHRER:
All right. What about that point?
And the two things that happened next combined to
make the moment that changed it all.
First, Obama broke out something neither Gore nor
Kerry ever had access to - connectable cool. In addressing the
point about the subcommittee that most Americans couldn't care less
about, Obama started to address the point but then said:
OBAMA:
Look, I'm very proud of my vice presidential selection, Joe
Biden, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, and as he explains, and as John well knows, the
issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like
that, don't go through my subcommittee because they're done as a
committee as a whole.
But that's Senate inside baseball. But
let's get back to the core issue here.
That was coolness, and that was connection. The
one place where racism disappears in this country is in sports.
And whenever Obama goes that route - when he talks about McCain's
attacks on the media as "working the refs" as he has - he suddenly
is anything but aloof or odd or foreign. He becomes just
another guy telling McCain, "Whatever, dork." That moment,
that language, and the calm tone he delivered it in said, unlike
Kerry and Gore, I'm not the one in loserland. This time, it's
the guy on their side.
That part was a nice touch. But what Obama did
next was the moment that changed the game. He turned directly
to John McCain, stood toe to toe, eye to eye, and called the veteran
out boldly and directly. He started a bit less direct, about
to address McCain in the third person as he did most of the night.
But then, he turned, and the skinny new guy told the old expert
what's what:
OBAMA: ...And so John likes -- (he
turned directly to McCain) John, you like to pretend like the
war started in 2007. You talk about the surge. The war started
in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was
going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons
of mass destruction were. You were wrong. You said that we
were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said
that there was no history of violence between Shiite and Sunni.
And you were wrong. And so my question is...
LEHRER:
Senator Obama...
OBAMA:
... if the question is who is best-equipped as the next
president to make good decisions about how we use our military,
how we make sure that we are prepared and ready for the next
conflict, then I think we can take a look at our judgment.
Done. Game over. Yes, this or that
McChaotic game can still pop up and shift things before election
day, and there's the mystery of how race will play out, but no
longer can McCain make any claim that Barack Obama isn't ready for
prime time. He showed up at prime time (while McCain tried to
get out of it,) he stood there prime time, and, ultimately, he
showed that not only can he handle it, but that he can beat the old
wise man.
McCain still has the McCain problem - no one likes
him. Not conservatives, not Democrats, and not really
independents.
And then, yes, there's Palin. The word around
America is this: McCain has now twice shown he is a bit
spooky. Erratic is the word that is being used. People
can't quite describe it because it's so bizarre to them. They
are just, generally, saying there really seems to be something wrong
with the man, that maybe he is really sick (as in mentally ill.)
First he picked Palin, which seemed insane and created chaos.
Then this past week's mess.
And to top it off, the not so talked about Couric/Palin
interview - that is having a massive effect out there. If you
haven't seen it, go to CBS News' website and watch. You have
to watch her as she tries to say she has foreign policy experience
because Alaska is the first place Russian leaders would fly over
when coming to America; you know, because it's just right there next
to Alaska. Not only is the obvious point that having a person
fly over your state doesn't constitute foreign policy experience,
but if she had any basic geographic knowledge or basic knowledge of
Russia, she would know Moscow - where leaders like Putin reside - is
an entire continent away from Alaska. Alaska is next to
Siberia - if Putin flew to America, as in the Washington DC or New
York, where he tends to go, he would not decide to circle the entire
planet so he could pass over Alaska, but rather would take the
simple 9 hour flight directly from Moscow - over Europe - to New
York.
But it wasn't even those mistakes, as big as they
were. It was the look on her face and the tone of her voice
while saying these absurd things which said, "See, I really do know
- you can't argue with this - I am the executive of the state Putin
would fly over first - see, who's stupid now?"
McCain has a lot - a lot - to make up for in a short
time, on top of being on the wrong/Bush side of all the issues in
voters' eyes.
Of course, anything is possible, but this election is
likely over, and by a landslide. The only thing oddly enough
that can save John now is Palin - if she kills the debate and starts
a resurgence.
All I'm saying is: I wouldn't want my entire
election hopes to rest on that bet.
|
