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See the original image at politico.com —

The worst debate ever

politico.com — With the country at one of its most interesting —not to mention terrifying—moments in a generation, John McCain and Barack Obama met in Nashville for what was surely one of the dullest and was definitely the least satisfying presidential debate in memory.

Bury

crazy4bass 55 days ago

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23 Comments
Who Dugg It?

crazy4bass, on 10/08/2008, -0/+9I agree with the writer, too bad Brokaw couldn't just throw out the rules.
- BufordT, on 10/08/2008, -0/+2He could have, he was just too much of a pussy. Maybe he has a reputation to uphold, but would you rather have a reputation of following idiotic format rules, or a reputation of adjusting to the current situation and giving the people what they really want to see? Which is a debate, not a 90 minute question and answer session. What do we expect when the rules are set by the same people who only allow two candidates into the debates (with the exception of Ross Perot who probably bought his way in).
  - 10lbhammer, on 10/08/2008, -1/+1"greatest generation my ass! tom brokaw is a punk!"
  - 10lbhammer, on 10/08/2008, -0/+1I suppose I should clarify my previous statement: -feisty kid from taladega nights
    
    I actually like tom brokaw. I think he did fairly well last night, given the constraints. even if I think the constraints are bogus...
sultanica, on 10/08/2008, -0/+8I totally agree. This was more boring than watching my lawn grow.
Tinidril, on 10/08/2008, -1/+5I agree -- the debate was pure torture to watch.
- algaeturd, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1Torture? TORTURE? How dare you use that word? Mr. McCain was a P.O.W. don'tcha know?
pjr12345, on 10/08/2008, -4/+4It really was a yawner. And like most debates, it slanted left. With few exception, every question was posed from a leftist world-view. I wanted to barf when that wimp asked about the US using its military as "a force of peace in the world". What a moron. And nary a question was allowed that tread upon issues of character. That would have put the leftist's candidate in a major deficit position, so it was certainly not going to be allowed.

I'm sick of the left-wing force-feeding we've tolerated for years. I want the government out of my life, not further engaged in it.
- algaeturd, on 10/09/2008, -2/+1Jesus ***** christ. Another wingnut with his 'educated' views for all of us.
  Look, man. This whole country is right wing ***** crazy. YOUR precious right wing clipped the left wing and this country has gone to *****.
  To *****. What part of that don't you understand?
  The media slants right at all times save for one major media network. Rupert Murdoch owns almost every ***** print/web/broadcast outlet you can think of. And you ***** have to cry out 'leftist!' every ***** time there's any kind of rational debate. If it's rational or fair, it must be leftist, right?
  Your president and his administration has butchered this nation in the past 8 years. THAT's the ***** RIGHT WING...a wing that had a chance and BLEW IT. Completely. On every level.
  So I respectfully suggest it's not the event or the media that's slanted; it's that your view of reality is WAY slanted. And maybe you're a bit brainwashed from the past 8 years of ignorance and failure.
  Either way, I think you're wrong. Horribly wrong. Not that it'll satisfy you because you guys have had your way for 8 years and out of all the destruction and damage done to this country, you're not satisfied with that. Whatever.
  It's called sanity, clarity and logic. When you can see things in reality, you'll realize that the whole game is thrown to the right, unfortunately.
  - pjr12345, on 10/09/2008, -0/+2You really need to become better informed. The mortgage meltdown we're embroiled in today is the direct result of (1) the Democrat-created Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mac) forcing banks to make bad loans; (2) the Carter administration's expansion of the original mission of those institutions through the CRA; (3) the expansion of the CRA by the Clinton adiministraton; and (4) the vehement defense of these institution by the likes of Barney Frank. Other bad pieces of regulation fueled the fire (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley), but nothing was more directly responsible than the four items listed above.
    
    Democrat operatives like Raines, Johnson, Gorelick, and others (like Frank's gay lover, whose name escapes me at the moment) ran these institutions. They made fortunes, enriched Dem politicians through generous political contributions ( 0-bama is the all-time #2 recipient, and in just 2 short years). Notice the scarcity of Republicans on the list.
    
    The Bush administration is certainly the origination of the nationalization of the mortgage industry; and many Republicans in Congress voted for the pork-laden obscenity. So from that perspective, the Republicans share the blood. But trying to pin the blame on free market capitalism is nuts. It was the lack of a free market created by government meddling that caused the mess.
  - RedInBlueState, on 10/10/2008, -0/+0Your choice of words indicates that you are sexually repressed. Good luck with that.
brokenex, on 10/08/2008, -0/+3The audience members should have just stood up and demanded a more direct answer when their questions were skirted. Even though their mics were shut off after their question they should have just stood up and yelled that the question wasn't answered. It's a free country they should have no fear of reprisal. In fact I'm willing to beat most people in the country and world would be incredibly grateful to the person.
- BellaVitaGirl, on 10/08/2008, -0/+2The only problem is is that generally you have to sign agreements that you will remain silent throughout the rest of the debate or you will be removed from the venue. The audience seemed like it was chosen with care to "represent" America (and to make sure they wouldn't cause a disturbance). Besides, did you see the people getting photos with the candidates after? No one is going to jeopardize that to call out politicians on being politicians.
mareln72, on 10/08/2008, -5/+2You can really tell who the MEDIA wants to win. They all but gave it to NOBAMA.
Lets have a freeze on news coverage till after the election.
JediJJ, on 10/08/2008, -0/+5It's so refreshing to read an article that does set of my 'Spin-detector.'
I think both of them lost this debate for being dodgy politicians when they should have been honest and specific.
maxlife1, on 10/08/2008, -3/+2I wish everyone would stop referring to Obama as an African-American. He is bi-racial, not black or white, but both. Is it just convenient (advantageous) for Obama to be characterized one way or the other. My children are bi-racial. Nobody refers to them as white or Filipino, they are just great kids. The double standards are obvious....it's ok to refer to Obama as the "African-American" canidate, but certtainly not ok to call McCain the "White" candidate. In the 40+ years I've been around, it seems we have made very little progress in recognizing people as people. If a driver cuts you off on the freeway, does it matter if that person is of one race or the other, no. Lets keep things straight....Obama is the senator from Illinois and McCain is the senator from Arizona, period. Peace be with you all.
pearcewg, on 10/08/2008, -1/+5They are both pretty weak candidates.
autex, on 10/08/2008, -2/+1Agree it was diffidently worst and most boring debate ever. Both candidates didn't really answer anything. I do give Mr.Obama an A- for dodging the questions more eloquently. Mr.McCain did exhibit a more optimistic mentality while Mr.Obama more or less reminded me how bad things are. I'm still trying to figure out how Mr.Obama's plans to have 95% of the people to get a tax cut when only 45% of the people pay taxes.These type of debates are non-challenging and full of double talk. The people basically come out saying,"huh?" Whom ever the next president is, they're going to have hell because they will be taking on a huge mess. So who is best to deal with the mess? Experience or On the job training? I do think it would've been more exciting and informative if Mr.O'Rielly was the moderator. (Sorry, I did like his piece with Barney Frank.) and I do think rating would've went threw the roof. But I think they would have to get rid of the commission in order to do that so I can see candidates being challenged on their ideas and straight talk enforced.
RedInBlueState, on 10/08/2008, -1/+1Here's the detail missing from the debate that would have made it more interesting:

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) set numerical targets banks must hit to avoid financial penalties. Such targets forced banks to write more mortgages in poor neighborhoods or be punished for supposedly ‘redlining’ these neighborhoods. They could only hit these targets by lending money to people with bad credit, as bad credit, not racism, was the real reason banks were not lending money there in the first place. The banks obediently lowering credit standards as the only way possible to increase lending in these neighborhoods. So the sub-prime mortgage industry was created. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and some private banks bought and sold so many of these bad loans that they went bankrupt. Now there is not enough money left in the banking system to finance normal business activity (a liquidity crisis). So the stock market crashed. Naturally it was the Democrats shaking down banks, forcing them to loan money to people without the means to pay it back, while claiming or implying that anyone who tried to stop them was a racist. Those who honor their financial commitments automatically get good credit scores based on the records kept at the credit bureaus. If they happen to live in the ghetto, they have a much better chance of being able to move out to more desirable neighborhoods. So these People who don't make promises they can't keep get rewarded for honoring their commitments. Then they have no reason to stay in the ghetto, making it difficult for banks to find credit worthy people in such places, that are supposedly redlined. Mortgages get approved by people of every race, who don't even know the races of the customers they don't even get to see. They use mathematical ratios, not racial profiles. The Democrats created this scandal by punishing innocent people for racist practices that did not exist, and the Democrat MSM refuses to admit which members of their own party are responsible, proving their partisanship.

Obama has been involved with this scandal as a community organizer putting pressure on banks, as the Senator who received the most political contributions from Fannie & Freddie per year, and for selecting as campaign advisors Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson, two former CEOs driven out of Fannie Mae in the midst of scandal. If the debate was boring, it was only because John McCain was too polite to force this issue.
- algaeturd, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1Oh, yeah. McCain was super polite last night. A truly honorable man.
  Referring to Obama as 'that one?'
  True work of class. True honor.
  /s.
  That old man is too confused to speak, let alone debate.
  "MY FELLOW PRISONERS!'
  FAIL.
  - RedInBlueState, on 10/10/2008, -0/+0Saying 'that one', was far more polite than saying 'that associate and political ally of domestic terrorist William Ayers' who killed people by bombing government buildings like Timothy McVeigh', or ‘that 20-year follower of the bigoted Rev. Wright’. We have to keep these things in perspective. Obama is the 'one' who said, "We are the ones we've been waiting for”. Such a messiah complex deserves some ridicule. He is not the ‘second coming’ his followers seem to think he is.
algaeturd, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1It was boring but the one thing a public speaking situation does is to separate the men from the boys. Regardless of what side you support, if you looked at it through realistic eyes, McCain was condescending, lurched over, very standoffish towards Obama and crept creepily up right into the faces of the people he was answering. (Karl Rove: "Hey john, when you answer those questions, act like you're not disgusted. Get right up on them and give them an answer!")
Obama was polite, smooth and showed his mastery of the english language. He was relaxed, confident and ready.
Say what you want...MOST americans aren't watching to hear them both say, 'LOOK AT OUR RECORDS!" They want to see how the men are, how they interact with people, how confident they look and how stable they appear. That's human nature when you're 'judging' anyone. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's what those debates are for mostly when they're moderated down to nothing.
22KingRat, on 10/10/2008, -0/+0Where was Bob Barr? He's America's solution!!!

Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr believes in 'reducing' federal government spending! The National Taxpayers Union released a report on September 25th. It analyzes each of the three leading Presidential candidates in their 'first year' federal budget spending proposals as President. Barack Obama would 'add' $292,954,000,000 to annual spending! John McCain would 'add' $92,437,000,000 to annual spending! Bob Barr would 'cut' $200,928,000,000 from annual spending!

You can read the cover letter of the report at http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=1048&org ... and the report at http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=141 .

You can read more about Bob Barr in general at http://www.bobbarr2008.com/ which is his campaign's website. Here is one of his videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5waL8brexY and one of his articles http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/economic-ch ... each on the current economic 'bailout' problem.

Help the Third Party Political System 'grow' in America by voting for Bob Barr for President of the United States!!!
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The worst debate ever

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