McCain’s campaign is pushing the Obama-as-celebrity angle pretty hard. Check out this gushing run-on from Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager:
We can all agree that Senator Barack Obama is one of the world’s biggest celebrities and every celebrity needs a fan club filled with adoring fans and Senator Obama certainly has his fair share.
This quote is part of an email just sent out to unveil McCain’s newest campaign ad, which you can see here.
The Obama-as-celebrity and Obama-as-the-one strategies are annoying to me as an Obama supporter, but I admit that they could be effective. It would be easy to cast the effect Obama has on people in a fanatical light.
The problem for McCain is that his people aren’t doing it right. His commercials lack organization, visual interest, and the one-two punch needed to drive the point home. He’s not coming across as the serious, intelligent choice.
He’s coming across as jealous.
Celebrity and criticism of country … vs … Experience and LOVE for country. Let me see
Yeah, vote for McCain in 2008…he’ll get those kids off your lawn!
Mom: I believe you can love something and still see ways in which it can be improved. Our country is great. It’s one of the best, possibly the best. But it’s hardly perfect. We can always do better. And right now, it’s imperative that we do better.
I think that if we continue to ignore social issues, hoping that they'll go away on their own, we're only going to anger people–our own, and abroad. I don't want our next president to maintain the status quo. I want him to look to the future.
That said, I actually don't see a huge difference between Obama and McCain. I favor Obama because he's more charismatic, and despite his lack of experience I feel he would be better at negotiation. He's also a little closer to the common man than a career politician–that's actually why he chose to run now, and not after he logged more time in office.
McCain's a little rough around the edges, and that might get in the way of dealing with people who have different opinions. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should negotiate with terrorists or give in to their demands, but I do think we need to change our strategy. We don't have a clear-cut enemy. We can't just point at a country and say "They're the bad guys." I don't think a hard-nosed president is going to be able to keep the peace in this complex world.
But as far as being willing to stand up for what they believe in and fight for this country, I see McCain and Obama as being pretty equal. I don't think McCain thinks the US is perfect, either. And to be honest, I won't be really upset if he's elected. I've watched him run year after year and pretty much learned what kind of man he is, and he seems like a good one.
I will be a little disappointed if he wins, though, because while McCain feels like a decent candidate for president, Obama not only is committed to making a difference, but has the speaking skills, intelligence, and unique perspective that makes me feel like he can actually do it. I'm excited to see how our country will grow and prosper and come together and work with other countries while Obama's in office.
Chuck: LOL! Isn't that a little ageist? ;>
Personally, I don't care for rhetoric on either side. If you repeat something enough, even if it's a falsehood, people will start believing that it's true, and that's what they'll focus on–not the actual issues. That's what happened with the "Obama is a Muslim" thing. Bottom line, I don't think either of the candidates can be summed up with a catchy tagline, and I don't like it when people try to reduce them like that.
I actually really liked McCain in 2000, but I *do* feel that his age is an issue this time around. McCain does have some health issues, and while he may be healthy now, the odds of him getting ill to the point where it affects his job ability are much higher than with a younger candidate. I remember Reagan’s second term…he was much less effective than in his first term, probably due to the early stages of Alzheimer’s starting.
Also, the more I find out about McCain (cheated on his first wife, hair-trigger temper, vindictive) the less I like him, regardless of how old he is.
Fair enough.