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ORIGINAL: CherishedbyGod

I was listening to one of the major networks interviewing Obama this morning.

I have to say I was insulted. This man must think the average voter has 0 intellect. He kept talking his change theme and yet said not one word how he was going to change things. It was pure fluff. He had absolutely nothing to say on how he intends to bring about change.

When the interviewer pressed him on why he refused town hall meetings to discuss more on what he means when he talks about change, (and other things) he turned it around and critisized McCain for wanting the town hall meetings.

Pure fluff and empty words and, frankly, very insulting.

Mr. Obama....! You have been talking, talking, talking about change. But where's the beef? How are you going to change things? I think the American people deserve an answer from you as to how you will specifically bring about change.

Almost all I heard this morning was you bashing the Bush administration and trying to link McCain/Palin to that administration.

But you, Mr Obama for months and months and months have talked about change but not told us how you are going to specifically bring about change.

I would be interested for anyone that visits and posts in this election folder to show me specifically what the man has presented to the American people as to how he will bring about change. What has he done to prove to us that he is an agent of change?

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ORIGINAL: CherishedbyGod

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ORIGINAL: sylvan

Hmm - since McCain addresses the "issues" so thoroughly, what is his economic plan. Ha, he's like a deer in headlights with that question - "Oh, we're for the people and I'm a straight talker - we're gonna get-er-done".

Interviewer: "How Mr. McCain?

McCain: "I'm not sure, I'm not strong with economics. But we're gonna get-er-done".

Is that what it means to address the "issues"? Just curious?

Fine...Let's go to the town hall meetings and find out where both of them stand....we will watch both of them address the issues. Why is Obama afraid of that? Why is he avoiding that?

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Be careful what you wish for. McCain likes the town hall meetings because HE is comfortable in that environment. It's more intimate and less formal, and external conditions are actually easier to control - it is the perfect atmosphere for FLUFF! The GENERAL (less informed) public asks GENERAL questions and candidates give GENERAL answers - and/or have the ability to deflect questions they don't like. It show's his vulnerability and insecurity, not Obama's. It's much different from being in the hot seat and being pinned down with hard questions, in front of the nation. If you've ever watched McCain, he gets real frustrated being questioned (that's his big ego - how dare you question me). His temper and whiney nature is well known - look back at GWB and McCain in 2000. McCain's best opportunity to win the election is to stay out of the public eye as much as possible - and he and his staff know it. Obama, being the good speaker that he is, will come across better than McCain in any format. McCain is still a good politician and has some skills in his bag - but McCain's personality eventually shows through and it is not a pretty one. That's why they called him McNasty in highschool. I've seen him lose it in town hall meetings before, and he will again because the nastiness is in his nature. Just wait and see. He still might win the election, but it's only because he's facing a black guy that scares a large portion of America.

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He still might win the election, but it's only because he's facing a black guy that scares a large portion of America.

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ORIGINAL: Jhud

It always amazes me how much the left hates the 'general' public - they are always 'uninformed' incapable of questioning their leaders, unable to handle any personality that doesn't fit a certain mold. Only the media elites have the power and foresight to ask the 'correct' questions in the correct way. It's so ridiculously elitest it is little wonder that the electorate has been flocking to the down to earth common sense Palin.

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It always amazes me how much hatred you attribute to liberals.

The public is largely uninformed. The public isn't the best at making decisions. Collectively, people get confused, have arguments, aren't particularly reasonable, and are collectively indecisive except in dire straits (and even then...). They aren't particularly well informed about public policy (collectively), but that's no reason to dispise the public. It's a good reason to be weary of the public, though. It's one of the reasons we have an executive to deal with foreign powers, and representatives to deal with pretty much everything else. Smaller deliberative bodies can get more done with fewer people getting killed by mobs.

The public is largely uninformed because of the media. More than any other bias in the media, there is a sensationalism bias, and a bias towards appearing unbiased (even when issues are rather clear). It amazes me how much you misunderstand the left's attitude towards "media elites". Going down a simple laundry list of popular lefty blogs- TPM, Yglesias, Greenwald (Glen), they despise the way the media approaches politics.

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ORIGINAL: Jhud

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It always amazes me how much hatred you attribute to liberals.

The public is largely uninformed. The public isn't the best at making decisions. Collectively, people get confused, have arguments, aren't particularly reasonable, and are collectively indecisive except in dire straits (and even then...). They aren't particularly well informed about public policy (collectively), but that's no reason to despise the public. It's a good reason to be weary of the public, though. It's one of the reasons we have an executive to deal with foreign powers, and representatives to deal with pretty much everything else. Smaller deliberative bodies can get more done with fewer people getting killed by mobs.

The public is largely uninformed because of the media.

As I said, this talk is exactly the same talk we have heard from elitists, monarchs, and dictators throughout the ages - the common man is too stupid to think for himself, he is unacquainted with what is truly important, he can't make these decisions for himself so we will make it for him. It is an unAmerican viewpoint, and should be rejected by the electorate.

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I'm not convinced you actually read what I wrote. If you'd like to have another crack at it, I deleted some explanations that you'd probably find boring and added formatting to guide your eye to things you appear to have a proclivity towards ignoring or misunderstanding.

Also, a clue: "The public" =/= "the common man". "The public" is a group. "The common man" is a mythical beast that frequently operates under the alias of John (or Jane) Q. Public and is the general target of a great deal of pandering, political and otherwise.

quote:

I should add, Jhud's misinterpretation (willful or unconscious), and the general thrust of this thread (I'm insulted!) and recent political hay (pig, pork, lipstick!) points me towards the conclusion that some people are desperately falling over themselves to find excuses to chestpound over the most contrived and/or nonsensical of offenses. It's a culture of taking umbrage. I'm not a huge fan of the left's needing to rush out and protest over every little thing (I question the tactic's effectiveness and the message that it puts out, not to mention the ridiculousness of some of the issues...), but it's pretty ridiculous on the right as well, and entirely hypocritical. People will whine about encroaching political correctness standards one moment, and the next, actively seek to be offended by an elaborate six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon-like filter of reality.

I doubt that the sentiment (being insulted all the time) is genuine. I think (I hope) people are generally reasonably bright....

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ORIGINAL: Jhud

quote:

Be careful what you wish for. McCain likes the town hall meetings because HE is comfortable in that environment. It's more intimate and less formal, and external conditions are actually easier to control - it is the perfect atmosphere for FLUFF! The GENERAL (less informed) public asks GENERAL questions and candidates give GENERAL answers - and/or have the ability to deflect questions they don't like. It show's his vulnerability and insecurity, not Obama's. It's much different from being in the hot seat and being pinned down with hard questions, in front of the nation. If you've ever watched McCain, he gets real frustrated being questioned (that's his big ego - how dare you question me). His temper and whiney nature is well known - look back at GWB and McCain in 2000. McCain's best opportunity to win the election is to stay out of the public eye as much as possible - and he and his staff know it. Obama, being the good speaker that he is, will come across better than McCain in any format. McCain is still a good politician and has some skills in his bag - but McCain's personality eventually shows through and it is not a pretty one. That's why they called him McNasty in highschool. I've seen him lose it in town hall meetings before, and he will again because the nastiness is in his nature. Just wait and see. He still might win the election, but it's only because he's facing a black guy that scares a large portion of America.

It always amazes me how much the left hates the 'general' public - they are always 'uninformed' incapable of questioning their leaders, unable to handle any personality that doesn't fit a certain mold. Only the media elites have the power and foresight to ask the 'correct' questions in the correct way. It's so ridiculously elitest it is little wonder that the electorate has been flocking to the down to earth common sense Palin.

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ORIGINAL: YeshuaWeCan

You know you can go to Obama's website and look at a lot of details on how he wants to "change" America. He also went into a lot of detail at his acceptance speech.

I don't get it when people complain about Obama not having details when they watch him on TV. Do you expect him to spend every minute on TV laying out detailed policies with bullet points? It's not like McCain goes into detail when he goes on TV.

I've looked at both McCain's and Obama's policies on their websites and Obama's are much more detailed than McCain's.

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Come on now! You can't be serious - LOL. Have you ever watched town hall style debates - it's often hilarious. I'm not being elitist, I'm stating fact. The majority of us are uninformed, there are just varying degrees. The political/corporate elite sure don't share private information with me. You? Have you ever watched the Q&A on Jay Leno when he asks questions on the street? Although funny, it is SHOCKING what the average American doesn't know about their own country, among other things. It's not elitist to say Americans are uninformed, but it is naive to assume we are informed. I'm not talking about the "left" or "right" - I'm talking about "us". It would be nice to have an objective and scholarly debate with non-biased inquiry an discussion - but, the American people just can't handle that and the politicians don't want that.

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Well its a good thing you have a website. Because if you didnt have access to the internet then you wouldnt know a thing about what Obama plans to do.

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ORIGINAL: LivingParadox
I'd much rather hear him address it himself without a teleprompter.

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ORIGINAL: huangshan

I doubt that the sentiment (being insulted all the time) is genuine.

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ORIGINAL: HighPlainsDrifter

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Well its a good thing you have a website. Because if you didnt have access to the internet then you wouldnt know a thing about what Obama plans to do.

Obama's best chance at becoming President lies in not having people know what he wants to do.

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ORIGINAL: iwillfearnoevil

i wouldn't, he sounds awful without one!

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ORIGINAL: HighPlainsDrifter


Obama's best chance at becoming President lies in not having people know what he wants to do.

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ORIGINAL: Jhud

quote:

I should add, Jhud's misinterpretation (willful or unconscious), and the general thrust of this thread (I'm insulted!) and recent political hay (pig, pork, lipstick!) points me towards the conclusion that some people are desperately falling over themselves to find excuses to chestpound over the most contrived and/or nonsensical of offenses. It's a culture of taking umbrage. I'm not a huge fan of the left's needing to rush out and protest over every little thing (I question the tactic's effectiveness and the message that it puts out, not to mention the ridiculousness of some of the issues...), but it's pretty ridiculous on the right as well, and entirely hypocritical. People will whine about encroaching political correctness standards one moment, and the next, actively seek to be offended by an elaborate six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon-like filter of reality.

I doubt that the sentiment (being insulted all the time) is genuine. I think (I hope) people are generally reasonably bright...

...as bright as 'you' of course.

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ORIGINAL: Jhud

quote:

"The public" =/= "the common man"

The post to which I replied referenced the 'general public'. You went on to agree, saying, "The public is largely uninformed". Now you want to wrangle over terminology; whatever moniker you choose, it comes down to the fact that you believe, like most leftists, that you know better what is good for other than they do themselves.

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ORIGINAL: huangshan

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jhud

It always amazes me how much the left hates the 'general' public - they are always 'uninformed' incapable of questioning their leaders, unable to handle any personality that doesn't fit a certain mold. Only the media elites have the power and foresight to ask the 'correct' questions in the correct way. It's so ridiculously elitest it is little wonder that the electorate has been flocking to the down to earth common sense Palin.

It always amazes me how much hatred you attribute to liberals.

The public is largely uninformed. The public isn't the best at making decisions. Collectively, people get confused, have arguments, aren't particularly reasonable, and are collectively indecisive except in dire straits (and even then...). They aren't particularly well informed about public policy (collectively), but that's no reason to dispise the public. It's a good reason to be weary of the public, though. It's one of the reasons we have an executive to deal with foreign powers, and representatives to deal with pretty much everything else. Smaller deliberative bodies can get more done with fewer people getting killed by mobs.

The public is largely uninformed because of the media. More than any other bias in the media, there is a sensationalism bias, and a bias towards appearing unbiased (even when issues are rather clear). It amazes me how much you misunderstand the left's attitude towards "media elites". Going down a simple laundry list of popular lefty blogs- TPM, Yglesias, Greenwald (Glen), they despise the way the media approaches politics.

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I think the amount of outrage is likely feigned, and a sneer isn't going to make that disingenuous go away. People aren't stupid, but they aren't always honest, either.

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I even gave you a clue. If you weren't willing to have an intelligible discussion in the first place, you could have had the courtesy to let me know before I felt the need to be all helpful.

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ORIGINAL: CherishedbyGod

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ORIGINAL: HighPlainsDrifter


Obama's best chance at becoming President lies in not having people know what he wants to do.

Bulls eye

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ORIGINAL: huangshan

I think the amount of outrage is likely feigned