Tonight at the Saddleback Civil Forum Obama was good, but seemed to be playing it safe while McCain, dear old John McCain, brought his A game.
I am stunned, because I did not know he even had a B game.
John McCain was better than Senator Obama. I actually liked John McCain, liked him, for the first time in this campaign.
I tried to be neutral and thought Obama had nice moments, but when pressed on issues he had nothing much to say. When asked, we discovered that Obama loves his mother and his wife. His biggest choices were, well, not very big. Wrestling with issues of war and peace from the Illinois State Legislature lacks the force of McCain telling of his standing up to Reagan (!) on Lebanon.
Obama mentioned politics and his vote on the War as courage. Was it politically tough to make this call for Obama in his district or when had to face Democrat primary voters in his next major run? Why didn’t Obama even mention the War on Terror?
McCain talked about major service to the country and a record of great personal commitment to the nation and pain that sounded like real pain.
Senator Obama came across as a swell fellow, but McCain as a hero.
Obama is a fine communicator and would make a great professor, but McCain spoke and debated like a commander in chief in a country at war. Perhaps we can have the best of both! Senator Obama can return to the Senate and run again in 2032 when he will have gained McCain’s experience.
We can be sure that we cannot wait until 2032 to elect John McCain, so we better get the old hero into office now.
After all, since Senator Obama thinks Justice Thomas, with more government experience than Senator Obama, was not qualified for the Supreme Court, perhaps we should heed his advice and keep Senator Obama in the Senate to get some more time to mature.
Senator Obama stuttered and stammered his way through his hour. His answer regarding campaign finance reform was stunning . . . given McCain was the leader on it and Senator Obama was frustrating and let McCain down.
If you didn’t know Obama was a standard liberal, you know he is now. In answering a question about abortion, surely the most predictable question of the evening, Obama had nothing to say. Evidently having a view on abortion is above his pay grade. What job would Obama have to seek in order to bother to get an answer: Tsar of America?
He should have just said he was pro-choice, received points for sticking to his ideas in a tough venue, and moved on to something else. Instead in one move, Senator Obama stuck himself with a phrase (”above my pay grade”) that will (I predict) haunt him the entire campaign.
It was a big, big advantage for McCain to go last.
Senator Obama set a good bar and McCain cleared it. McCain answered questions crisply, told good stories, and looked ready for prime time.
This was so unexpected to me, that I am still stunned.
My favorite silly comment after the debate was, “We have heard John McCain’s stories before now.”
Memo to the press: most Americans still have not heard these stories. Most Americans are just starting to pay attention now.
Second memo point: some powerful tales are so good and true that repeating them is fine. I will be tired of hearing John McCain tell stories of his courage when he stops tearing up, naturally and authentically, as he thinks about that time and his love for our nation.
As bards from Homer forward realized, to speak in familiar ways or patterns is comforting to the audience and helps them get their bearings. John McCain was the wise old sage tonight.
Senator Obama hardly mentioned our battle against terror. He may have forgotten tonight that terrorists still plot attacks, but John McCain had not. He does not forget for one minute.
As for the event, it was better than friends had hoped and allayed all fears. This entire event was amazing. Southern California should be proud of Saddleback Church and the great job they did.
Rick Warren was steady, kept out of the way, and made sure the evening did not bog down. He managed to tone down his tendency to get a bit too civics class sincere. The questions were far better than in most professional media discussions.
Tonight John McCain become the Grand Old Man of the Grand Old Party.
(We had a reporter at the event, Rachel Motte, who will be submitting a piece today. This piece represents only my own opinion. JMNR)
