What Did You SeeThis Time?

Here's the debate. Which wasn't a debate, it was two people making broad assertions.

Big Mac: Neither guy has a clue what to do about the economy, although McCain had the only new idea. What do we think of the buying up of bad mortgages idea? That's new and different, although he didn't follow it up enough. He also made the most interesting observation --about people having a little fear about finances.

I don't know what talking head I overheard observing that in fear, people seek safety, in anger, they seek change.

McCain's strategy seemed to be to make people fear the unknown Obama and stick with him for safety. Very unsatisfying to watch; I long for a Conservative to make an argument, persuade, and ask not only for support, but for a new Congress to go along. But maybe he helped himself, even though he seemed like a cranky --though feisty--old man. I am tired of the assertion that he knows what to do. I hear someone say that and I think, "if you did, you'd have less trouble telling me what that is."

Obama....dunno what to think. He sounds in command of the facts, but, like Biden, he just makes stuff up.

The Obama Doctrine, as expressed tonight:

• I will go to war with a nuclear Pakistan in pursuit of a single man.
• Meanwhile, I will sit down and talk to Abombnjihad.
  
• I will not go to war on behalf of our long-time ally, Israel, even if she is attacked by people intent on "wiping her off the map."
  
• But we have a moral obligation to intercede to stop genocide.
• We have to stop genocide, promote stable democracies, intervene before terrorists get a foothold in villainous countries, and hold dictators accountable.
• Except in Iraq.

Plus, his entire foreign policy consists in telling other countries what to do. Tell Pakistan what it has to do. Tell Iraq what it has to do. Tell Afghanistan what it has to do. Tell Russia what it has to do. Can you say, "Imperialism?" McCain has much more sense of how to actually listen and work with people rather than dictating to them.

In foreign policy, Obama's a disaster, because he's a Sophist --with an out-sized sense of what can be accomplished by speech.

And McCain's at a disadvantage on tv, because on tv, the glib man wins.

Television is for sophists, that's my take-away from this debate.

And I walk away disheartened, because I wanted McCain to do better. Although I'm not sure it's as bad as all that.

as the night went along, did you get the impression that Obama comes from the radical Left? Did you sense that he funded Leftist causes to the tune of tens of millions of dollars? Would you have guessed that he's pals with a guy who brags about bombing the Pentagon? Would you have guessed that he helped underwrite raging anti-Semites? Would you come away thinking, "Gee, he's proposing to transfer nearly a trillion dollars of wealth to third-world dictators through the UN"? Nope. McCain didn't want to go there. So Obama comes off as just your average Center-Left politician. Gonna raise your taxes a little, gonna negotiate reasonably with America's enemies; gonna rely on our very talented federal courts to fight terrorists and solve most of America's problems;

Maybe.

Update: Astonishingly, some folk think McCain won. Ed Morrissey. The Anchoress, who writes,

I think Obama did nothing good for himself tonight by sounding like a policywonk going-on-80, and failing to bring the charisma or even a modicum of humor. Obama made himself seem like any other politician. With his youth, he should have shown a brightness, a bounce to the step, even a cockiness; he should have walked all over the 72 year old McCain, and he didn’t do it. Instead, he was wonkish and grim to the point of coma, and he almost seems like he has to be prompted (in rebuttal) to say anything good about America. I think the nation needed to see a bit more Obama Ommph. They don’t expect it from McCain, but a little energy from Obama was really necessary. So, all in all, I think more than McCain winning “a little,” Obama actually lost “a lot.”