McCain Shows His Childish, Immature Side at Last Night's Debate
The 2008 Presidential Election has become something of a train wreck for me and I just can't look away.
This is why I found myself eagerly anticipating the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. I'd looked them up online to find out dates and times, put them in my calendar. I wasn't about to miss any of them. Especially the VP debate since I'm an alumnus of the University where it'll be held. So imagine my disappointment when John McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign to rush back to Washington and work on the bailout plan.
I don't know if anyone else found this ironic or not, but I thought it was pretty ill-advised to claim you have to cancel a debate that cost over $5 million to make happen in order to work through a financial crisis. Dude, when you don't have any money, you don't go around wasting $5 million of it quite as lightly as John McCain claimed he was about to do. This doesn't even account for the snowball effect this boneheaded move would have on the other debates.
Friday morning rolled around and there was still no word on whether McCain would be a no show or not. Then at long last, the announcement came that he would indeed do the country a great favor and grace us with his presence at the debate. Though I suspect after taking a look at the polls afterwards, he probably wishes he had stayed in Washington.
But he has no one to blame except himself for not stepping up to the plate. John McCain chose to act like a petulant, whiny child, instead of with the calm poise of someone fit to be President of the United States.
This debate was supposed to be the one in which McCain shone because he does have fairly extensive foreign policy experience even if Obama is a much better orator. John McCain should've had this stuff down pat. His answers should've actually said something beyond his talking points and smart alecky comments. He should've dropped some knowledge on those of us who don't have his experiences.
Instead, he chose to spend 90 minutes smirking and talking down to everyone with his smarmy, condescending tone. He chose to be snarky and try to continue his lies about Obama's record. But the thing that rankled most, that showed his complete and utter disregard for Barack Obama - he didn't look at him once beyond the initial moments of their handshake.
How rude was that? Especially with the moderator repeatedly asking the candidates to talk to each other. Okay. We get it. McCain doesn't like Obama. But refusing to look at him for 90 minutes of a conversation they're supposed to be having with each other is just plain immature. Is this the kind of behavior we can expect from him if he's elected into office? If the world doesn't already hate us enough, can you imagine how they'd feel after being subjected to him for the next four years?
As I said before, I have no idea how I managed to become this interested in the coming Election. Maybe I'm just growing up and finally putting away childish things. I just wish John McCain would do the same.
Published by Lori Crawford
Lori Crawford is a screenwriter and synchronized swimmer who deeply loves the Lord Jesus Christ. View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentAbsolutely. He seems like he's about the fly off the handle at any minute.
I didn't have your visceral response to the debate, but I did notice how Obama looked presisential and respectful. He even made a point of complimenting McCain on the issue of torture and McCain didn't even look back at him. I guess I'm done with ungentlemanly, condesceninding office holders. Mr. McCain couldn't negotiate the topic of economics and he spouted anger and slogans on issues of foreign relations (but I thought he knew those issues well). On issues it was about a tie, maybe an edge to Obama for knowing as much about defense and more about economics. On demeanor and conduct in a debate it was a clear victory for Obama. A debate is not shouting or lying, it is defining the best argument, based on facts and analysis, of a pressing issue or issues. There is also basic decorum in a debate and you correctly point out McCain was not decorous.
Then I read a comment from one of the survivors of the recent hurricanes. If he freezes all government spending, it'll screw over all of the people who've lost their homes to the hurricanes. The woman who commented was terrified because she's only able to get from day to day with the help of government funds. As someone who lost an apartment in a six alarm fire, I know it's no easy task to get back on your feet after something like that. It also takes a really long time. Armed with this new info, it just reiterated again that McCain could care less about the average American.
Aaron, you read me again. I thought sure you wouldn't want anything more to do with me after the other article! As for what Obama/McCain said about the economy, I thought Obama was much more solid. But then, I've read his Blueprint which lays out his stance on all the issues so I possibly read more into what he said than someone who hadn't. As for McCain, I thought it was silly of him to blurt out he would freeze all government spending except for the war.
Thanks for reading and commenting, BB. I only have speculation on why it costs so much for the debate, but I did live it my sophomore year of college. Our campus underwent a complete overhaul around the Athletic Complex. Lots of it would have to do with security I would imagine, but then they had to beautify it. After all, the debate is major publicity for the host school. I'm not talking just closing off a few doors. There was major construction happening. That's just on campus. A huge amount of that price tag must go to paychecks. You've got the construction crews, extra security on top of the Secret Service/FBI, local police departments placing multiple officers to close off city streets. All of this starts to add up after awhile. And now that the economy is so bad, all of these things cost more because the fuel prices, etc. are passed to the customer. But like I said, this is idle speculation.
I thought McCain and Obama both debated pretty well actually, but on the economic side they both were very light on details.
I do lean republican and I thought McCain made a tactical error when he said he might not go to the debate. I think it really hurt him. On that we agree. In these hard economic times can someone explain to me why it cost over $5 million to do a debate. That is ridiculous!
Hi Julia. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
I agree.