This video by Crooks & Liars shows Fox News discussing John McCain's awful speech on the final night of the primaries when Barack Obama secured the nomination. Besides giving Colbert viewers endless laughs with the green screen background, McCain proved beyond any doubt that he has great difficulty conveying a sense of sincerity when giving a speech.
That, plus his extremely creepy smile while reiterating his phony "my friends" tag before just about every sentence, shows why McCain is terrified of looking like a complete putz next to Barack Obama in a debate. And why he only wants to appear with him in an environment where their differences won't be so obvious.
In the succeeding weeks McCain has been pushing for a minimum of ten "town hall" style meetings with Obama, obviously because there is a much better likelihood of softball questions being given to McCain and the style of the meetings won't emphasize McCain's lack of speech-making talent.
And, judging from the recent McCain-only town hall meeting, Fox News hopes to control the audience by limiting admittance only to Republicans and McCain supporters. We all know that Obama's people aren't falling for that one, and they're going to stick with a normal schedule of debates. The debates that McCain dreads.
Which will only help solidify the nation's increasing support for Barack.
6 comments:
The other major consideration, aside from the style of the debates, is the number of debates.
McCain clearly wants as many as possible (10 clearly is an "opening bid" -- neither candidate can afford to take one day every week away from the campaign). The logic behind this is simple: appearing side-by-side, especially when you're the underdog, can only enhance your standing. This is magnified by the less formal town-hall format.
Look for 3-4 debates, w/only the 2nd using the town-hall format.
youre wrong on this one. mccain is great at town hall meetings, and hes not half bad at debating either. obama is a great speaker, but hes not a great debater. mccain challenged him because its something hes better than obama at.
Where does this "he's not a great debater" meme come from? Those bogus TV farces, maybe? What had him so frustrated was that any attempts to really debate were quickly stifled.
Remember, Harvard Law. Editor of the Harvard Law Journal. They teach serious, world class debating at the Harvard Law School.
oldswede
have you watched any of the debates? obama goes off on irrelevant tangents and he rarely gives a straightforward answer (although few politicians do). by the way, there are lots of great debaters who didnt attend harvard.
The fact remains: Obama currently has momentum and that elusively-defined "excitement factor" going for him; and the risks of many town-hall debate formats -- REGARDLESS of each participant's debating abilities -- far outweigh any possible benefits for him.
QED, there will be the "standard" 3 to 4 debates, with only one debate using a town-hall format.
I don't think that possible risk is the main factor for Obama not wanting to waste time with town hall entertainments. The real concern would be the drain on his campaigning time. He has a lot of territory to cover in a limited time and showing up to help Old Lord John get free air time is not a good way to do it.
McC may have had some debating skills long, long ago, but the current rendition can't keep his own positions sorted out. In a town hall, he can play the folksy game and bullshit his way through, but in a properly structured debate, he's toast. Like Obama has said when declining a debate with McC: let him finish his debate with himself first.
It must take some serious self-medication for someone to believe that McC is competent in any way. But I can understand Repus want to get drugged out, since they will be in a world of pain.
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