Off the Meds
So is this the real John McCain?
No question the man who turned up last night did a better job than he'd done at the previous two debates. But here's the problem for McCain: he's either last week's guy, who seems to be on medication, or he's this week's guy, who seems to have been abruptly taken off it.
He gave the game away in his first answer when, in talking about the economy, he said that Americans were angry. But Americans aren't angry, they're poleaxed. They're terrified. They're afraid they're going to lose their jobs or their homes or their pensions. They're worried they won't be able to send their kids to college. If John McCain thinks they're angry, it's either because he's projecting, or else he's simply been going to too many of his own rallies.
As he smirked and blinked and raised his eyebrows, I couldn't help wondering what tonight's McCain seemed like to all those conservative pundits who'd been hoping a different McCain would show up. Is this what they meant? Is this the John McCain of Bill Kristol's dreams?
Whichever McCain shows up, some things stay the same. He's a towel-snapper. He can't land a joke. He seems old. (As Martin Short said on Letterman just after the debate, "The only time he doesn't have to pee is when he's peeing.") And he's an absolutely terrible actor. Every time McCain went into his Joe-the-plumber-bit, those undecided voters on CNN were unmoved. They were probably not saying barf, like some of us were, but that's only because they're not allowed to talk amongst themselves during the debate.
At the Time Politics conference this week, New York Times columnist Frank Rich asked, "Was there any way that the Sarah Palin choice might have played out differently?" CBS' Jeff Greenfield gave a wonderful answer. He said the question reminded him of a woman friend who'd said of her divorce, "We would have had a wonderful marriage if he had been a completely different person." Isn't that great? It's practically a Zen koan, not that I know what a Zen koan is. But one of the most remarkable things about Barack Obama is that he's the same person every time he shows up. And as for John McCain, a completely different person showed up tonight, and it didn't seem to matter.
Read more reactions to the Obama-McCain Hofstra Presidential Debate from HuffPost bloggers
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
I am beyond amazed that the GOP had eight years for this moment and this is the best that they can do. In preparation, they greatly expanded the powers of the Executive branch...t
--
Bottom line is that he is not one of their own---due to his less-than-zealous religious sensibility, his flirting with the center until 2002, his abandonment of his disabled first wife and his belligerent manner. However, none of the GOP presidential candidates were of the Bush/Dole pedigree. And I wonder what the heck happened? Did they just assume that the GOP was just bound to lose? I still think that if the ticket was Romney/Huckabee (or vice versa), they'd win easily. I'm glad that that's not the case and things are the way they are, but I just can't fathom this wholly incompetent McCain campaign and how he got to be the candidate in the first place. He and Palin are not the party's A-team, that's for sure.
After George W. Bush was elected twice, the Republican Party erroneously thought they could just trot out ANY candidate who had an "(R)" after his name.
Actually..
After the republicans were able to suppress the vote enough to STEAL two elections for bush the lesser they thought they could just trot out ANY candidate, plug him into the Rove Machine, and win.
Romney was key in any scenario. His religion is what killed the deal for the conservatives. They shot themselves in the foot by pandering to the zealots. The Palin pick was the equivalent of a crack high, effects of it went from sugar to s***t in a heartbeat.
McCain and Palin definitely aren't the GOP's best and brightest. Read my lips, Bobby Jindal 2012.
Love your articles. Funny and wise.
That whole Joe the Plumber schtick was absolutely cringe-worthy. And maybe I'm guilty of projecting, but when Obama looked into the camera and spoke out to "Joe", I had the distinct impression he was mocking McCain.
In any case, McCain's angry old man routine might have satisfied his own angry base, but I doubt it encouraged the undecideds.
I think Obama skated that razor's edge very well, it was clear he was mocking McCain for the constant mentions of Joe, but still not mocking plumbers or small business with his sincere and sober answers.
I also think he mocked McCain very effectively when he offered McCain "congratulations" on the Arizona Cardinals victory. He said it quickly enough and stepped on McCain's delivery in just the right manner and with impecable timing. He didn't try to elaborate on how McCain was pandering with that line, the way someone like Kerry might be tempted to, but he had just the right tone to say "give us a break".
Now, it appears that the Joe Plummer was a PLANT by the McCain camp, just so they could use him in the debate. They had the guy's telephone number and had visits to the morning shows set up BEFORE THE DEBATE.
I'd be willing to bet the only association McCain has with "Joe the Plumber" is when he has to call one when he has a problem in one of his nine residences. Am heartily sick of Joe Six Pack also, you betcha!
And why did McCain mention Sarah Palin knowing all about autism ... we know Ms. Palin's son has down syndrome but what has that to do with autism?
To McCain, they're one and the same.
Chirag, that's because McCain is too out of it to know the difference between autism and Down's Syndrome. One thing I found laughable is McCain kept saying Palin understands and he's going to do something about autism. However, he opposes stem cell research. So how is he going to do anything about birth defects without at least broaching the subject of stem cell research?
McCain is losing it to be sure...and he's so done now. He looked like an angry, bitter, small man in the debate last night and finally many Americans are seeing him for who he is. Anyone who votes for this man now with Moosejaw Barbie is doing so only along racial lines...be
Totally fallacious statement. There are other issues to onsider. For some, arbortion is an important issue.
Thank you! Now I know I wasn't crazy. I thought he said that Palin's son had autism and I thought, wow, you don't even know your running mate at all do you!
McCain said to Obama, essentially: "I'm better than you are. I can't get along with anyone, and I'm proud of it. When the people at our rallies scream out about Obama 'kill him,' I'm proud of them, because they're veterans just like me, and they are mothers with babies, so how dare you attack them, you terrorist. I'm going to cut taxes even further for the wealthy and for the rich corporations, and will do my best to continue sending American jobs to third world countries. Particularly the ones that have well-developed cocaine routes and death squads. Snort snort, sigh, eye-roll eye-roll."
And Obama replied: "I think we need all Americans, Democrats, Independents, Republicans to work together to solve these serious problems that our country faces."
That's what happened in the debate.
I think it's previous obvious by now: the Republicans hate us for our intelligence.
The treaties that started sending U.S. jobs abroad were started under Clinton. And if we tax the hell out of corporations, they'll just move someplace else. So, stop complaining about jobs going overseas while you whine about taxing the wealthy more. It doesn't make sense.
Like where we have the lowest taxes in the western world.
Let the giant corps leave America! Let us subsidize small local businesses with our tax dollars, that are connected to the local community. We don't need the greedy giant corporations, who have proved that they don't care about our communities. Let them all go to Dubai and count their dollars.
I would rather see 2 billion dollars in tax cuts go to very small family businesses around the nation. This would encourage entrepreneurship and revitalize towns.
Any corporation that threatens to leave the U.S. if they are required to pay taxes should be shown the door. Shut them down and throw them out. Make it illegal for them to do any business inside the U.S.
It does me no good to have some corporation with its headquarters in New York employing a few upper-class white men to run things, but having all their other jobs overseas. There is no benefit to me or to any other citizen. Throw them out. They like China so much: move there. I only benefit if a corporation provides jobs to Americans. If they don't do that, what good does it do us to have them here?
They need us more than we need them. They benefit by having the entire U.S. government act as their muscle throughout the world. Our government has created an international trade and patent system by which the U.S. dictates what goes on in much of the world, and does so for the benefit of the corporate insiders. But if they want to leave, that simply means new businesses will step up to take their place.
As far as Clinton's role in this, I agree: he started it as a trickle, Bush took it and turned it into a world-wide disaster.
How many jobs were created under the current administration despite giving tax breaks to the corporations and wealthy?
And while you're thinking about it, try answering this question too: how many jobs were created under the Clin ton administration?
You are right they did start under the Clinton Administration, but the first negotiations for NAFTA were started by George H. W. Bush, and were completed and ratified by the Republican Congress after Clinton was elected. He happened to agree with them, and advocated strongly for them, but these free trade agreements are an invention of the Republican Party and Corporate America.
How weird was that when JMC said he was proud of the people at his rallies!
The majority of people are decent americans, there are just as many crazy obamabots as there are mccainiacs
I don't feel sorry for McCain. It is sad, but how can you feel sorry for him. You think he would have learned from Hillary's campaign. She kept changing strategy and morphing into a new Hillary, and Barack stayed on message. Worked well for Hillary didn't it?
Now when the country is in the worst shape it's been in in 50 years, we have a candidate for President who looks constipated, angry, surprised, spiteful, angrier, condescending, insert-mor
My thoughts exactly.
http://www
Right Tom! I am sure people around the world (and perhaps some of thier leaders) were watching this debate. I'll bet they shuddered with horror watching the small, bitter, angry, huffing and puffing old man McCain, who could hardly contain his contempt and anger towards our Barack. There are people all over the world praying for Obama and for a new America to rise from the ashes. Let's not disappoint them.
Let's face it, McCain would totally alienate the entire world, just like Bush.
Despite the Republicans and Bush seeming to think we can go it alone, we can't. We are going to need the Europeans and other allies to work together in the coming years to save the world's economy, and ours, as well as in other matters.
Read the Eurpean papers and read the responses to their articles and the Europeans DETEST MCCain as much as they do Bush. McCain would continue the world disillusionment, when like it or not, we are going to need the world.
It's absolutely clear which one is the poker player and which one just rolls the dice.
McCain has always been "rude, crude, and socially unacceptab
What a loser.
Right, and he and Cindy had the opportunity based on family connections and wealth, while the Obamas went to the most prestigious schools in the country on merit--and thrived there.
"...a completely different person showed up."" I knew a sociopath like that once. He had a multiple personality disorder, too. I think McCain shows signs of having anger management issues, but of course, that is old news.
My boss is very much like that!
Why does everyone think this was McCain's best performance? He was erratic, less articulate, more bellicose and sarcastic. I think everyone has set the bar so low for him it all looks better than they expect.
I agree. He may have been more forceful and more on the attack but he did not give any better explanations of his policies and he kept repeating the same lies that have been debunked from the last 2 debates. I don't think that being more energetic means he did a better job.
You forgot....
It's all relative. Kind of like how being kicked in the gut is better than being kicked in the nuts. Both of them suck, but one is "better".
I would not trust this man to drive my car to the local store let alone drive this economy, voting for McCain is wrong
http://www
John has run the McCain legacy onto a reef and is sinking fast. His antic bailing is only the stuff of comedy.
Hope enough voters feel the way you do Nora. I just checked my AOL account page and their poll showed more AOL users thought McCain had won the debate. I was agog. I'm outa' there. That did it. Plus they have lousy service and strange creepy stories on their main page.
But it ain't over 'til it's over.
AOL is the only online major access point that skewed that way. Are they owned by Murdoch too?
More like AOL is the preferred ISP for stupid people. Not that everyone who uses it is stupid- just that stupid people are highly likely to have AOL rather than any other ISP. And AOL keeps the less savvy users AWAY-FROM-
For reasons unclear to me, AOL posters tend to be Bush fans. Still. AOL is like the Faux News.
If you know a bit of AOL history then you can appreciate that they have made their market niche by catering to those not so technically inclined. Such as most Republicans, for example.
Why were McCain's eyes so watery? He looked like he had been up all night cramming for the "exam"
Best guess, the drugs he takes for various medical issues coupled with the bright lights overhead. My husband noticed that he seemed to be wired when the debate started, but faded about 3/4 of the way through. He also seem to be extremely agitated while seated and was almost forcing himself to remain still and in his seat. This could be a side effect of several drugs taken for such issues as anger control, AADD (adult attention deficit disorder), exhaustion, or just to keep him revved up so he would appear more energetic and youthful. I do not know, but he seemed to be sitting in an unnatural position, too rigid, and he seemed to be focused on trying to remember things at the beginning and then as his anger started to show he appeared almost ready to become physically violent. Maybe that is why he thinks what happens at rallies is acceptable - because in his delusions he wants to kill Obama as well and to be so close and unable to do so is frustrating. I do not know! All I do know is that this man is dangerous and unfit to lead this nation!
You're right, Nora. We aren't angry. What we are is pissed to the point of wanting to look around for someone to throttle.
Good thing you aren't angry.
He's on something you can see it in his eyes and that constant smile, wonder what it is?
Those who are on the right side of history often have that look. Those who aren't, play it cool.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
