in advance. He was rehearsed and started answering questions before the guy finished asking.
It seemed like a set up.

You call it appropriate for the room -- I call it sucking up, something McCain has been doing his whole life.

--

Dave

Support Peace

n/t

"touching" war story and add the clip of him saying he hate all the gooks/not sure the word he used.

This program is very annoying - there are lots of people waiting in the phone line, but David Bender keeps on talking and saying nothing.

Worst of all, he also does not let people finish their sentences - when I am very interested in what they are saying.

David Bender has basically repeated the same stuff over and over again ad nasueum - please let the callers have their say.

Even though McCain seemed to come out on top at the end of the evening, the nature of the two candidates' responses to the interview frame what is a central issue in this presidential election. Are the answers to the questions that our nation must face in the coming years simple or complex?

Simple answers are easier to digest. Something in me wants the answers to the big questions of life to be simple. If the answers are simple, things don't seem so overwhelming. Much of the success of the evangelical Christian movement, of which Rick Warren is a part, has been a result of its ability to take easily definable positions on and to give simple answers to the complex questions of life. It's no surprise that last night's audience responded more enthusiastically to McCain.

McCain believes that evil exists, can be easily identified, and defeated. Obama agrees that evil exists, but reminds us that much evil has been done in the name of eradicating evil, and implies that we must carefully consider how to respond to evil each time we face it.

McCain's position is appealing, but it doesn't square with real life. For example, sexual molestation of children is evil, but most child molesters were childhood victims of another child molester. How do you stop the cycle? Can anyone offer a simple answer to that question?

McCain "knows" that "life" begins at conception. Obama, unquestionably a brilliant man, says he doesn't know exactly when "life" begins, but believes we should figure out how to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. McCain's clear answer on when life begins and his anti-abortion position drew applause from the evangelical audience, but a good follow-up question would have been, "Why does the Republican party do so little to help non-aborted children born into environments surrounded by poverty and crime?" Or, "Give us a simple answer on how to guide such children away from the gates of Hell?" Or, "Why do you have such a concern for honoring life at conception, but little hesitancy to send young soldiers to die in a war based on false premises?" Or, "If all of human life is so precious to you, why does our government led by your party fail to even count Iraqi deaths in the current war?"

A key question in this election is, "How much are we willing to really think through the issues?" "Are we willing to grapple with complex questions, or will we once again opt out for the simple answers that help us feel that life is not so hard after all?" I hope our country will choose Obama, and in so doing, opt for the excitement of real progress in facing global warming, addressing health care issues, becoming energy independent, regaining respect from our allies around the world, and making peace with our enemies over the excitement of one-liner answers crafted to generate applause.

To read more go to http://startelegrameditwriters.typepad.com/donkeytales08/2008/08/rick-wa...

Although some thought McCain short simple answers were received better then Osama’s, I have to say that I can't agree with that. I'm tired of having a leader who can't articulate his thoughts or don't have the ability to answer complex questions. We have leaders who can't give us an answers with a why he feel this way and examples of how it would work or why it wont work...I'm not sure McCain can give us real answer or any reason why he feels a certain way. The only thing he can go deep about is his time as a POW and some of that is made up to capture those who don't know any better. We've spent 8 years with a simple leader who can't solve the hard questions!

... when answering questions on the fly, especially when speaking to COMMONFOLK.

My explanation: I think Obama does best speaking to commonfolk (or even simple-minded people) when he FIRST gives his answer in one sentence or less. Then he can go on to give disclaimers, history, background, reasoning, and definitions or whatever. Currently, on the fly, Obama often speaks like an academic, explaining his reasoning first, verbally processing his ideas, meandering around and playing process-of-elimination, before finally getting out the punchline. By then, simple-minded commonfolk are already lost. It sounds like old politics and doublespeak to them. They want the answer up front as much as possible and then they'll listen to his reasoning. Obama does this sometimes, but needs to do it more often. I think this is partially why he lost many blue collar voters to Hillary. She answered questions by first saying what she would do and then explaining how or why she would do it.

David, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in that I live in a small Kentucky community where my choice in talk radio is completely limited to Laura Ingram, Rush and Bill-O...

Fortunately, I have the ability to spend plenty of time with my podcasts. As I spent my Sunday lounging and listening to my collection of the weeks media, I so wanted to call in to throw my 2-cents. Not an option.

During the Saddleback forum, there was one single statement made by Senator McCain that I have heard NO ONE mention. It was so damning and telling that I think it begs for commentary.

Senator McCain loudly and proudly said that he (I would use his exact quote, however I can't seem to find the transcript at the moment... I can remember closely enough to paraphrase) would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell and he knew how to get him. This is important for everyone to at least ponder. If John McCain "KNOWS" how to "get" bin Laden, WHAT HAS HE BEEN DOING SINCE 2001?????? As a senior Republican Senator, with a partisan Republican administration, he had ample opportunity to discuss his "plan" with the President himself. His inability to discuss his "winning" strategy with anyone in the administration who could put it in to motion, blatently and completely shows his lack of ability to lead. He is NOT WORTHY OF THE PRESIDENCY!!!!!!!

I hate to say this Mr. Bender, but if John McCain becomes the next President of the United States, I will have to, once again, admit that my finger is way off of the pulse of America and shoved directly up my own rectum. It would be easy to say, "Canada here I come." But, damnit, America is my home. I believe in this social experiment and hope that my fellow Americans realize that we cannot handle another non-reading, non-thinking administration. I prefer the thought that my leaders are more intelligent than I. I admire thoughtfulness and someone who I believe will think a bit before they speak and much more before they act (or react as has been the case).

I think we deserve that much.

Suppose it's true that McCain got the questions during the half-hour before his turn at Rick Warren's church event. McCain was able to learn his lines well. This means that he's not dumb. We can't expect him to mess up for us at every public appearance.
Actually, he'd have to be very good, and his staff would have to be very good, to come up with memorable lines on short notice. It's likely that McCain and his staff anticipated, perhaps with help from Rick Warren or his people, what the questions would be and practiced answers. His tactic of switching from short answers to stories was surely well practiced in advance. My conclusion is that McCain is smart. We can't expect him to self-destruct for us.