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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7575
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - 05:47 pm: | 
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What to Watch for
By Katharine Q. Seelye
NYT
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/watch-to-watch-for-during-round-2/ ?excamp=GGPOpresidentialdebate&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=PO-S-E-GG-NA-S- presidential_debate
If Senator John McCain is in fact trying to shift the focus of attention away from his ability to deal with the economy, it should show up tonight on the debate stage.
Mr. McCain meets Senator Barack Obama at Belmont University in Nashville in the second of three presidential debates.
The event starts at 9 p.m. Eastern and runs for 90 minutes. You can see it on the networks, most of the cable shows, all over the Internet and, of course, right here, live. We will also be live blogging the debate as it unfolds and fact-checking along the way. And tonight we have asked members of the U.S. military to watch the debate along with us and share their thoughts.
The debate comes just a month before Election Day, a time when undecided voters — are there really any left? — traditionally start making up their minds. It affords Mr. Obama a chance to “seal the deal,” since most opinion polls show him leading Mr. McCain.
This should make for a riveting encounter. Mr. McCain needs to do something dramatic to halt his slide. He and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have taken a sharply negative turn on the campaign trail, and he may well continue that tone tonight.
The format is a town-hall style meeting, with about 80 uncommitted voters on stage with the two candidates, and that may play to Mr. McCain’s strength. He has a way of warming up with a live audience and feeding off their energy. (Update: For a little amusement, check out this video from the Democratic National Committee, which hypes expectations about Mr. McCain’s ability to perform at Superman level in the town-hall format.)
But here’s the thing about voters: they are concerned with their pocketbooks (or wallets, as the case may be). So while Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin have been trying to get some mileage out of Mr. Obama’s past — and fleeting — association with a former 1960s radical, it seems likely that the voters will pull tonight’s conversation back to issues that matter most to them, like the economy, health care and education.
Questions posted on the Internet for the debate show that voters are intensely interested in what the candidates will do to shore up the tanking financial system. They also want to know how the $700 billion bailout for Wall Street will alter their plans for other domestic and foreign programs.
In their first debate, which centered on foreign affairs, Mr. McCain repeatedly tried to cast Mr. Obama as a naïf, someone who does not understand the complexities of a perilous world.
Mr. McCain is likely to underscore that message tonight, casting Mr. Obama as too inexperienced on the world stage and too liberal on domestic matters, someone who has not and cannot reach across the aisle to Republicans to get anything done. This in turn will give Mr. McCain a chance to emphasize his own bipartisan approach and, of course, to highlight his image as a “maverick.”
But Mr. McCain needs to add something to his formula if he is going to change the dynamics of the race. So watch for him to try to steer the conversation toward the doubts that he and Ms. Palin have been raising on the campaign trail about Mr. Obama’s character and judgment.
Mr. McCain said of Mr. Obama on Monday: “My opponent’s touchiness every time he is questioned about his record should make us only more concerned.” Expect him to follow that line of attack tonight.
As for Mr. Obama, watch for him to continue to try to link Mr. McCain with President Bush as he makes the point that most voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
He may also repeat his words from the first debate, when he called the financial mess “a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain.”
Mr. Obama also won points in that first debate, according to opinion surveys, for not shooting back when Mr. McCain fired at him. While pundits thought he had missed some opportunities, many voters thought he appeared above the fray.
Look for him to try to hold that ground tonight — unless Mr. McCain comes on too strong.
In that case, Mr. Obama is likely to amplify the message of one of his recent television commercials: that while the financial system is in turmoil, Mr. McCain has shown himself to be “erratic in a crisis” and “out of touch on the economy.” Attacks from Mr. McCain, he will likely say, are attempts at distraction from the overriding issue of the economy.
Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama have revealed certain debating styles over the last year or so, and those approaches are likely to be evident again tonight. Watch for Mr. McCain to present a hotter, more confrontational persona, while Mr. Obama will show his cooler self, both in the sense of remaining unruffled and in staying at more of a remove from the audience. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7576
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - 05:49 pm: |
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My money's on Obama! |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7577
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - 11:19 pm: |
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Obama won it AGAIN hands down! |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7578
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - 11:20 pm: |
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I'm surprised McCain did so POORLY on SUCH an important night: http://www.gallup.com/poll/111004/Gallup-Daily-9Point-Obama-Lead-Ties-Campaign-H igh.aspx |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3231
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 10:06 am: |
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Where an (at best) odd turn of phrase becomes co-opted as a symbol of power...
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Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3232
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 10:07 am: |
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Sorry--links for abv:
http://www.cafepress.com/sanedesign.315052267
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattmay/2923797716/ |
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