Before and After Debate Three

Anticipation
Did I say anticipation? The debate is tonight and as I ponder what the outcome may be, I suddenly realize that deep down; I don't want either one of these characters to be the President. I will vote for McCain only because he represents less socialism than Obama. Not that I think he will be a great leader.

George W. Bush burned me by making the case that he would lead. The clues were all around about the type of government he would form, but at the time, those clues didn't register with me. Now along comes John McCain with the same approach as Bush. Bush ran on the slogan of 'compassionate conservatism' and here is McCain doing the same thing with his 'reach across the aisle' crap. Neither one has a clue about leadership. Both McCain and Bush lead in the same way. Make proposals and throw them out like food for dogs to chew on. What is left of the proposal is a plate of mush with a generous serving of fat added.

When I support a candidate, I expect better. Candidates running for office know exactly what to say, and then when elected, allow themselves to be wooed into doing the Washington shuffle. The perks offered for their cooperation seems to overcome their desire to do right by their constituents. Nothing disgusts me more than to see a politician crumple up his principles like a wet paper bag purely for self-interest. Where are the leaders with principles?

For eight long years, McCain has been courting the tepid undecided fence straddlers. The idea of championing an issue by leading the charge for his ideas doesn't occur to him. Instead, he patronizes the moderates by trying to give them the impression that he thinks as they do. By their very nature, moderates do not take a stand, instead they think of themselves as having the ability to see all sides of an issue. That all-seeing ability keeps moderates on the fence. Leadership, not patronage will win their votes. Those people have no point of view; they are just hanging on the fence waiting for candidate to convince them that he has the answers. Again, patronage with moderates does not work!

Instead of backing McCain with their dollars, the RNC needs to promote the ballot undercard. That area will bring the most bangs for the buck. Instead, McCain is sucking all of the money and effort in a losing cause. We can live with Obama if we elect a Republican Congress. And unless McCain strikes a knockout blow tonight, it will be difficult for him to win.

After the Debate
Well for starters, McCain did better in this one. However, he didn't close the deal for most listeners. A tie goes to Obama and the debate was a virtual tie. Obama did a creditable job of defending his positions and McCain did not take advantage of his opportunities to gain headway. Most Americans are angry at the status quo. That anger should be an advantage to Obama but Obama hasn't been able to eliminate McCain.

For his part, McCain has allowed the premise that the Federal Government has the ability to fix the economy as the defacto truth. I expect that position from Obama but not from someone who purports to be a free market advocate. It is hard for me to grasp a situation where the supposedly free market advocates want the taxpayer to prop up failed enterprises. I expect the Democrats to promote Socialism, but not the Republicans. To quote Maureen Dowd, "Who would have dreamed that when socialism finally came to the U.S.A., it would be brought not by the Bolsheviks in blue jeans, but by Wall Street brokers in Gucci loafers?" The bailout, aided and abetted by the Congress, puts American business on notice that if you get yourself into trouble, then Uncle Sam will use taxpayer dollars to help you recover from your greed and stupidity. The market economy has been dealt a blow from which will be hard to recover.

The throttling tentacles of big government are slowly choking the life out of individualism. When people can no longer fail, then they never learn. Failure is one of life's most endearing teachers. It is how we perfect the craft of progress.

It was impossible for McCain to out-promise Obama, but I find his capitulation to the use of big government repugnant. Because McCain would not hit a homerun off of the hanging curve balls from Obama, he only managed a tie. McCain failed to make the case for lower taxes, restoring education to local control, against Obama's plan to roll back the bush tax-cuts, and his own health plan. He dribbled out small incomplete answers to all, but did not manage to drive home the salient points for the main issues.

I only wish I could report that McCain was able to corner Obama on several of today's key issues but I can't. Even though he did remarkably better in this debate than the last two, the effort still fell short.

Cheers,

-Robert-