Second Presidential Debate

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

That may be the case with some people. But your dentist is either really ignorant or has been sniffing something in his office if he really thinks that the only reason people are picking Obama is because he's "the popular guy" or because "Oprah told them to."

Some people are going with Obama because they sincerely believe, after {gasp} thinking about it, that he is the better choice. Some people, believe it or not, don't trust McCain any more than you trust Obama. Some people think that picking Sarah Palin to be a heartbeat away from the presidency demonstrated that McCain's judgment is sorely lacking. Some people disagree with McCain's approach to foreign policy in general and the Iraq War in particular. People support Obama and McCain for all kinds of reasons -- in both cases, some good, some bad.

And I've got to tell you -- I've had more than one conversation with Republicans who voted for Bush both times and who are not only supporting Obama but very turned off by McCain. And to a person, the economy is the reason.

It definitely works both ways - one of the things that has really turned me off to this election cycle is people, on both sides of the aisle, acting like there is only one reasonable pick for President. Again, as I've said before, I can understand being completely supportive of a candidate, falling for a candidate, so to speak, to the point where you don't see as many of their flaws.

But, I can't understand the mindset that there's only one reasonable pick, or that you have to be crazy, starstruck, or otherwise flawed to pick one candidate over another. I may not agree with people who support Obama, and I may have my own feelings about whether or not he is the best person to run the country, but I certainly understand why someone would want to vote for him. I would hope that others would give me the same respect about my decision to vote McCain, or that others would respect those who have chosen to vote Obama, but that "mutual partisan respect," so to speak, has been missing this election cycle.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I may not agree with people who support Obama, and I may have my own feelings about whether or not he is the best person to run the country, but I certainly understand why someone would want to vote for him. I would hope that others would give me the same respect about my decision to vote McCain, or that others would respect those who have chosen to vote Obama, but that "mutual partisan respect," so to speak, has been missing this election cycle.

Very well said. As you and I have discussed before, I agree completely.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I may not agree with people who support Obama, and I may have my own feelings about whether or not he is the best person to run the country, but I certainly understand why someone would want to vote for him. I would hope that others would give me the same respect about my decision to vote McCain, or that others would respect those who have chosen to vote Obama, but that "mutual partisan respect," so to speak, has been missing this election cycle.

You know, i've seen this too. Except i've seen that type of respect from McCain supporters. I still don't know who i'm voting for, but God help me if I mention (to my friends who support Obama) that i *might* vote for McCain. My vote is just as valid as theirs, and It should be respected.

I've even gotten the "well you must be racist" comment from people that I don't even know. Ummm...since when is NOT voting for Barack Obama mean that i'm racist against blacks?

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I would hope that others would give me the same respect about my decision to vote McCain, or that others would respect those who have chosen to vote Obama, but that "mutual partisan respect," so to speak, has been missing this election cycle.

I guess we're rolling in completely different circles, but I've seen nothing but "mutual partisan respect" in my own life, and for the most part on the Internet as well. Like I've said a bunch of times before, I could have gone either way before McCain selected Palin; if it had been Hillary instead of Barack, I probably would have gone McCain/Palin. Most people I know have perfectly viable reasons for selecting either candidate, and honestly could have gone either way.

This election seems much cleaner to me than 2004. 2000 is all a blur to me, so I can't recall that one very well.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I guess we're rolling in completely different circles, but I've seen nothing but "mutual partisan respect" in my own life, and for the most part on the Internet as well. Like I've said a bunch of times before, I could have gone either way before McCain selected Palin; if it had been Hillary instead of Barack, I probably would have gone McCain/Palin. Most people I know have perfectly viable reasons for selecting either candidate, and honestly could have gone either way.

This election seems much cleaner to me than 2004. 2000 is all a blur to me, so I can't recall that one very well.

In my own group of friends (college, law school, work, etc.), definitely, I've seen what you described. Outside of those groups, though, things have been the exact opposite for me. My memory, which may be flawed, is that the past election cycles involved more of the mutual respect.

Again, that may just be my subjective perception, and it might not be an accurate picture of the reality of the situation.

[pbear19]

Back to a topic from pages 2 and 3, about the comment from McCain that a questioner probably didn't know what Fannie Mae was. Here is the response from the questioner, as copied from Facebook on FirstRead:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...9/1523335.aspx

7. How did I feel about Sen. McCain stating “You probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this.”
Well Senator, I actually did. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I have a bachelor degree in Political Science from Tennessee State, so I try to keep myself up to date with current affairs. I have a Master degree in Legal Studies from Southern Illinois University, a few years in law school, and I am currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration from the University of Memphis. In defense of the Senator from Arizona I would say he is an older guy, and may have made an underestimation of my age. Honest mistake. However, it could be because I am a young African-American male. Whatever the case may be it was somewhat condescending regardless of my age to make an assumption regarding whether I was knowledgeable about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

And one other fun part to quote from the same link:

4. Was I nervous?
No. I was cool as a polar bear’s toe nails. Yes, of course I was nervous, they said the show was going to be seen by tens of millions of people, but hey I am son of Blood and Thunder so I held it down! Shout out to the Ques Roo!

Am I reading the reference to 'Ques' correctly, or is this something else?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by pbear19

Back to a topic from pages 2 and 3, about the comment from McCain that a questioner probably didn't know what Fannie Mae was. Here is the response from the questioner, as copied from Facebook on FirstRead:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...9/1523335.aspx



And one other fun part to quote from the same link:



Am I reading the reference to 'Ques' correctly, or is this something else?

What percentage of voters do you think knew what Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were six months ago? I think maybe a third. I think a higher percentage of voters had probably heard of them, but I doubt they knew what they did nearly as well as they do now.

While it was probably a condescending thing to say to any individual, I don't think McCain's comment was that far off the mark generally.

Most voters lived in happy ignorance of most of the institutions and practices that are failed/ are now failing.