I watched all but the first 5 or 6 minutes of the Saddleback Civil Forum yesterday and much of the coverage afterwords. I must say, anyone who has been concerned about the media “love fest” for Sen. Obama should feel much better after listening to hosts from CNN, MSNBC and Fox News gushing over Sen. McCain. I heard one commentator say “McCain won the night going away” (CNN contributor Pat Buchanan). Am I confused? This wasn’t a debate and wasn’t something to be “won”. From my own viewpoint, I felt that Sen. Obama gave thoughtful, thorough answers to very difficult questions. Sen. McCain shot from the hip, hitting talking point after talking point with his typical, less-than-thoughtful manner. He was direct, abrasive, and he used the phrase “My Friends” entirely too many times. He was brash and it seemed to me that he didn’t take any time to ponder the questions being asked. I appreciate that he was a POW, but that was 30+ years ago and I don’t see all that much relevance to modern political challenges. I respect John McCain, but I don’t trust him to lead this country in the 21st century.
Also, I have discovered that John McCain was not isolated away to prevent him from hearing the questions asked of Sen. Obama. This goes directly against what was said by Pastor Warren at the start of the event. Anyone who thinks Sen. McCain didn’t know the questions before they were asked is simply fooling themselves.
Thanks,
Matt McGraw
2 responses so far ↓
1 Joshua Long // Aug 18, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hi matt,
Where did you read that McCain was able to hear the questions?
2 Matthew // Aug 18, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Josh ~
I didn’t read that he was able to. It has been admitted by the McCain campaign that the Senator was not in the building when Sen. Obama started taking questions. I do not believe that the McCain campaign simply “didn’t listen” as the questions were being asked live over the air. I don’t trust them that much.
Matty
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