I have not come to a conclusion about what I think yet, so I can be swayed, but these are things that I am thinking about... feel free to try to persuade me otherwise
1) My communication hat: I have the benefit of having studied rhetorical theory for several years, this makes me analyze things in different ways... I was drawn in by McCain's stories. I think that a lot of people were, he has a ton of life experiences that help to back up the beliefs that he presents. However, I couldn't help but think to myself... sharing stories like this is a political tactic... I think he is trying to be like Ronald Regan... is this a good thing or a bad thing? not sure, could be good, a lot of people think Regan was a good president, could be bad, some scholars assess that he got away with a lot because he skirted around the truth by using fancy stories.
I actually heard a commentator this morning say that Obama sounded like a sophomore in college answering these questions... to me it sounded like he was considering multiple points of view where McCain was just stating his perspective.
2) Experience: McCain has way more experience than Obama. This showed in the ways that he answered questions so decisively. He has taken a life time to form these opinions and also has a record to back up most of what he says. Obama is new to this... he is more idealistic (much like myself)...
3) Abortion: I would consider myself to be pro-life, however, I am more liberal in my politics on this one because I think that in order to support a pro-life stance we need to be prepared to support women through their pregnancies. Obama nailed this one for me... he said that although the current president is pro-life the number of abortions during his presidency have not decreased... this is something that he would work for, to increase the possible choices for women to sustain life.
4) Evil: This again is where I am skeptical about McCain. I am much more comfortable with Obama's answer... something like, "people have often participated in evil themselves when trying to defeat it." Its not something to take lightly. McCain... defeat it...
I think, seek to understand it, you will be able to overcome it better (war, other things as well)
5) Audience Responses: Just watch for yourself, there are several times when the audience cheered... i thought it was funny, may not be where I would have cheered.
6) Adoption: I like that McCain has an adopted child. At some point we may consider adoption and I want a president that understands it and works towards making it a greater possibility. Although, someone I was with the weekend said they think his adopting a child could have been a political move...
Why are we so cynical?
Okay, so there are a lot of other topics in this video, but you should watch it for yourself.
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3 comments:
I blame Jeff for our cynicism.
I personally still love the Gipper, even if many of his policies were and are controversial or even bad. We needed him at that time. I was there in 1979.... I remember what it was like. BUT... you are correct, McCain is using his stories... and why not? The real litmus test of communication is if someone is telling the truth or not. And if you've been paying attention to the McCain transformation that has happened in the last few year, you'd be hard pressed to say that McCain is the honest communicator.
#2...
Experience cuts both ways, and unfortunately, McCain has chosen to use his experience to transform himself completely in the last 2 years from the straight-talk statesman to the business-as-usual conservative. The trick is that he has managed to keep that "mavrick" label from his past. Which McCain will actually show up in office? I'd rather not take the chance, but my bet is that it will be the latter.
BTW, Traci, you don't need cable to keep up on the election:
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/default.aspx
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