John McCain Was a Disaster at the Saddleback Forum
For anyone listening to his words and not, instead, enraptured by his goofy, threat-laced caricature of confident leadership, John McCain was a disaster at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency on August 16, 2008.
Among clear statements and intentions made by John McCain were:
- To overturn Roe v. Wade via the nomination of pro-life justices to the Supreme Court;
- To officially decimate public education via vouchers and similar; and
- Defining "rich" as those making over $5 million a year.
When talking about world affairs, McCain made not one reference to working with other countries, the international community or the United Nations. And he looked a bit nutty and three years out of date by again weirdly obsessing about chasing Osama bin Laden "to the gates of hell."
When asked about tax proposals for financially ailing middle-class and lower income families, McCain replied:
"Some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are unhappy.I think that rich is -- should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one we inherited.
I don't want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich."
Huh? Sappy Hallmark sentiments as policy? Fairy tale wishes for universal riches as sound leadership?
Not to mention the obvious: if a secure home, a good job, a high-quality education, a prosperous economy and a safer world are the measures of "rich," under the Bush administration and Republican leadership, the U.S. has sunk to poverty level extremes for the majority of Americans.
John McCain predictably invoked Ronald Reagan's name as much as possible.
And whenever Warren's questions veered into uncomfortable terrain... McCain's moral failings in his first marriage, tough decision-making, anything related to God or religion... McCain played his 35-year-old, heart-wrenching POW card. Over and over and over again.
And yet, talking head pundits agreed after Saturday's Saddleback Forum and on the Sunday talk programs that Republican presidential nominee John McCain made a good, credible showing in responding to Pastor Rick Warren.
Huh? Were you listening to his words? Or were your expectations so incredibly low that you celebrate anything by McCain not rambling and logically semi-incoherent?
At the Saddleback Forum, John McCain didn't evidence inspiring leadership. He aped inspiring leadership, complete with heart-touching yarns.
Reality is that McCain acted more like a thumbs-up, fist-pounding, eye-popping comedic send-up of a political leader than like a well-versed leader who has served admirably in the U.S. Senate for over 20 years.
What I don't understand is this: Why is the media giving John McCain a free pass?
(Photo taken on August 16, 2008: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
NOTE - More to come soon on Pastor Rick Warren and the new post-partisanship of many evangelical Christians, and on the large role of religious faith at the Democratic Convention in Denver.
Comments
Deborah,
What color is the air on your planet?
McCain’s responses: clear, decisive, straight-forward.
Obama’s responses: charming, eloquent, full of bologna.
McCain is showing he’s living legend, a real American hero with the experience, honor, trust and judgment to be Commander in Chief.
Obama very eloquently can’t make a decision without a focus-group telling him what his response should be. He appears indecisive, inexperienced, and can’t or won’t give a clear answer to any of the truly challenging questions.
NOTE: First paragraph deleted for inappropriate language.
Your article proves one thing conclusively, that the liberal panic has begun. This the beginning of the end for Osama. It will be fun watching libs hyperventilate for air over the next few weeks as Osama’s poll numbers plummet through the floor. I will savor every moment.
not sniffing glue, if you wanted to address Deborah’s post on its merits rather than on the muck of your malinformed envies it might help you to sniff something other than your dog’s nethers you so inelegantly alluded to, though given your second paragraph’s bigoted pun I doubt you can rise much higher than nether levels. I’ll give you this though: If by “Osama” you mean lion, which is what that utterly common name means in its native tongue, then yes, we have a lion of a candidate running for president, a preferable alternative it seems to me to the octogenarian chameleon sliming his way into reactionaries’ clenched hearts on the opposite ticket.
Well written and it points out that McCain can’t truly answer questions without using diversions and sound bites from his stump speeches. I don’t think he’s a hero, I think he’s a sellout and a joke. He looked like he was about to keel over at times during his speech. He is clearly unfit to be the President. He’s immoral and he takes money from lobbyists like the rest of the corporate whores running this country right now. It’s time for a change.
And to “not sniffing glue” – if you can’t make comments without making nasty remarks and being generally immature, perhaps you SHOULD start sniffing glue. It might be an improvement.
Ah, the simple-minded people, as expected, eat it up when John McCain delivers a set of political cliches so moldy that it’s a miracle he could remember them all. Rah, rah, kill, kill, go get ‘em. We don’t live in that world anymore. We need diplomacy, we need genuine understanding, and we need someone who’s smarter than a fifth-grader. Haven’t we already seen what happens when an underachieving, spoiled rich boy gets to be president? I don’t want another day, much less another four years, of a corporate-run political machine steering the course of this once-great nation.
It was so painful watching a doddering McCain charm the pants off of the evangelicals as he offered aboslutely nothing different in substance from what Bush and the GOP have given this country in the past 8 years…war, tax cuts for the rich, and a further decimation of the quality of life in America.
McCain will be a disaster for this country! I pray the rest of America is not as gullible as the born agains were at Saddleback, but truthfully, I don’t hold out much hope.
You and I must have watched a different debate. I personally thought that McCain trounced Obama at Saddleback.
When Warren asked about the candidates’ toughest decisions and greatest failures, Obama’s answers were so minute compared to McCain’s. Speaking out against the Iraq War was the hardest call you ever had to make, back when you were just a state Senator and there was no real risk in you doing so? Really? Oh, and doing some drugs and being a selfish college student is *such* a moral failure. Way to come clean to the American people, Obama.
What I thought was especially funny was when Obama had to give an example of going against party loyalty, and the only answer he could give was an ethics reform bill that he briefly allied with McCain on but then quickly jumped back into the Democrat bandwagon. Hardly an impressive example of bipartisanship. When it was McCain’s turn, he had a whole laundry list full of examples.
The media giving John McCain a free pass? Puh-leez! They are head-over-heels in love with Obama, and even *they* believed that McCain had a strong showing.
McCain was the clear winner of the night, and is getting closer to regaining the trust of evangelical Christians.
Independent and Robert-
I assume you’ve heard the latest… that despite assurances by and to Rick Warren, McCain was NOT isolated in the “cone of silence,” and, in fact, arrived at the Saddleback more than 30 minutes after Obama’s interview started? Gosh… wonder if he or his staff had the questions ahead of time?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bergthold/leaks-in-mccains-cone-of_b_119444.html
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/pastor-warren-contradicts-self-on-cone.html
Since the only articles you cited that explicitly accuse McCain of “cheating” (Huffington Post, New York Times, etc.) are left-wing publications, who could only provide speculation at best, it’s pretty obvious that you are grasping at straws to try and explain away Obama’s mediocre performance at Saddleback. It’s not *that* shocking, considering how Obama frequently disappoints whenever he’s expected to give a statement that’s not a prepared speech. I can’t wait to see Obama trip over himself during the presidential debates and see his ardent supporters try to blame it on the Republicans.
I was so upset by the forum. Only people who don’t follow the news and don’t know the state of the country, our reputation abroad, the unnecessary war which has bankrupted us, the lying that has gone on in this government, the killing of the Constitution, and the dishonesty of our so-called ‘leaders’ would have believed McCain. He is just like Bush who has corrupted our entire government. How anybody could believe this ultra-rich person who dares to call Obama an ‘elitist’?
Did Senator Obama say that a TYPICAL BLACK PERSON can’t qualify to be on the supreme court of the US? Justice Thomas grew up in Pinpoint and Savanna Georgia and faced REAL prejudice in his life unlike Barack Obama growing up in multicultural Hawaii and Jakarta with few to no blacks or prejudice against blacks.
I would put up Justice Thomas’ professional and life experiences to Barack’s any day!!!
Justice Thomas could have easily beaten Senator Obama at Saddleback or in any forum/debate!!
John McCain’s answers to the questions posed were so self-assured that thinking people should be frightened. He doesn’t need to think about anything; he know what he will do as president. See Bush, George W.
A small Canadian voice again lets it be heard.
It is wonderful to hear an American express herself with such insight as to present this Republican’s presence in the presidential contest: to be consistent wih his inherent stupidity and his campaign with its lack of inherent content.
Look at us in Canada, we may have a Prime Minister who might be thought of as Sub-Prime, but the choices for us are few. In some countries this kind of expression of opinion is not tolerated. We, in both of our countries need to be sure that we elect the very best, and the smartest and build toward better, stronger democracies without any extreme concern for ‘party loyalties’ or other preconceptions.
Love to you all,
Don McLeod
donmcleodpeng@gmail.com
It’s humorous that Senator Obama must try to paint Senator McCain as President Bush in order to win points with the electorate! BHO is scared of direct, face-to-face debate sans teleprompter and fauning fans because he knows he doesn’t have the experience, the knowledge, or the depth of character to hang with McCain…and I’m NOT a McCain supporter! McCain clearly won the day at Saddleback.
You knew it was coming the marriage of religion and politics. No surprise. Religious zealots of Warren’s ilk have already conquered religion and busines by beomcing a business. How long before we have the coronation of the high priest of religion?
Hmm.. Here’s my take on the “forum(t)(c)2000″ recently “hosted(r)(c)2000″ by the “Evangelical political machine(r)(c)2000″, and featured “Democratic Presumptive Nominee(r)(c)” Barack Obama and “Senator(r)(c)” John McCain answering “Selected Questions(r)(c)2000″ from the forums attendees.
wake up please..
“Corporate citizens(r)(c)” of the world have succeeded in reducing the real citizens to slaves.
I have considered for the past week why I so appreciated Senator Obama’s performance at the Saddleback forum. It is because he spoke directly to me and the few like me with superior intelligence. I felt like he was speaking to me almost in code. I am so honored to have a candidate whom appreciates my need for NUANCED answers to world shaking questions.
As for Joe Biden as VP candidate can we all say GRAVITAS together. MNM all chant now!!
The whole forum was inappropriate. We are electing a commander-in-chief not a preacher-in-chief.
This is a typical liberal bias point of view… McCain was very straight forward. I am fed up with all of the moronic, idiotic liberals in this media. Your opinion is about worth as much as (OBSCENITY DELETED)… McCain and Sarah Paulin ‘08 will be known as the greatest tandem in 20 years of politics.
Thank you. I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought of Ms. Palin as a self righteous book burner and McCain as senile.
My cousin has an iphone and shes with AT&T they are charging her extra for texting people in Canada.
Is there a way for her to get free texting to Canada?