So I ended up watching the Saddleback forum last night. I wasn’t sure if I would or not. To me this was a rather large insult against our nation and founding fathers, a view shared by even people of very deep faith.
So what did I think? Well it wasn’t bad. I liked the format, and think it would have been better without questions of faith and religion. Obama did exceptionally well. McCain was parsing his stump speech to answer the questions. This did give us a very deep insight into each candidate, and one that should be used to base our voting decisions on. Obama is a man that will listen to the question, go through a thought process and then respond. McCain is like a robot, not thinking about the question, but rather quick to answer. I don’t want the later making decisions that will affect the state of our nation.
I think the biggest tell tail of the night was the question on how much a family should make a year before being taxed more, or receiving less tax credit. Obama is going for $250,000 a year. McCain didn’t answer the question, but joked around that it should be $5 million a year. After that statement by McCain, I don’t see how the media can try to paint Obama is the elitist anymore. As matter of fact, Obama is the epitome of the American dream. McCain is not. Obama would be a much better role model for the youth of this country, unless we get become inundated with multi-millionaire single women.
I will give McCain some credit here. He presented himself really well, and these one on one forums are a great venue for him. Again though, that is because he has his stump speech down so well he can just repeat it in pieces. Once we get to actual debates, McCain won’t look as good. Instead we will see him get flustered and make mistakes.
The bad side of McCain. He is a war monger. Almost every answer he tried to intertwine war into. We don’t need that anymore. Actually we never needed it, and that mentality is what has driven us to the current state we are in.
The war mentality was shown with the first question on the three smartest people. Obama gave general answers of people who would help him in a decision making process. McCain gave three specifics. Does McCain realize there are far more than three specific areas the President needs to concentrate on? His first answer was David Petraeus. I find that very interesting. Last night McCain gave Petraeus credit for coming up with the surge plan. Of course when it benefits McCain, then he takes credit for it. It sure sounds like he is setting Petraeus up on a pedestal. Yes Petraeus is good at what he does, but are we planning on being in nonstop wars forever?
Going deeper into the psyche of John McCain, his pick of Petraeus also opens a huge door. We should have someone who wants to hear ideas of diplomacy and negotiations, not war. Last night was the proof that McCain will bring more war, by his very first answer.
Over all, I give the night to Obama. He was warmly received, though the crowd seemed to like McCain more. If this really a fair judgment? No. You had an Evangelical crowd, which is supporting McCain 3-1 by recent polls. For Obama to be received so well is an excellent sign.