McCain-Obama townhall debates

VeeP

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I think it's a rather shrewd maneuver on McCain's part. Anyone who thinks a series of cross-country town halls would be a cakewalk for Obama is forgetting some of his poor debate performances (there haven't been any of those for some time, lest we forget).

As I've noted many times, although he is a phenomenal orator, whenever put on-the-spot Obama begins to stammer and very blatantly picks and chooses his way through an unscripted situation. IMO, his inexperience really starts to show when the heat is on. A perfect example was last Saturday night's press conference in which he announced that he was leaving his church. They hit him pretty hard and he was quite obviously unnerved by that setting. There hasn't been much opportunity to observe him in typical presidential-like environs yet. The man is flappable.
 

transformer_99

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Frankly I doubt Skippy will take him up on the offer.

I agree, town halls aren't anything like a Trinity Church revival. I think you put Obama in a more sedate setting, he either gets toned down and looks real like McCain, instead of Tony Robbins dynamic. I don't think Obama was comfortable with his church resignation, but then again that's not a town hall debate either, so to me the comparison is invalid there. It would be interesting to see Obama in that setting. From appearances, I think Obama becomes very conservative and cautious when he's not in victory rally mode. The debates he had earlier with HRC and Edwards, he was confident, and not nearly as dynamic as he is in a victory speech setting, that's a venue that's somewhere between the spectrum of town hall and victory rally. It's speculation on any one's guess, but I would like to see a few varied debate settings myself.
 
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D_Thoraxis_Biggulp

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If being President were all about making snap reactions on the spot, sure Obama wouldn't be ready for the job. But then again, Bush tried to make it all about that and failed overall, so I don't think that's a matter of inexperience. Fortunately for Obama though, a good leader is one that plans before taking action, and the nature of his scripted speeches (both in the writing and the delivery) have shown a strong attention to detail.
The bulk of the necessity for good snap reactions comes from the press throwing out curveball questions. And let's face it, no matter how much people bitch about it, he's not going to get impeached for answering them with "Ah, well, um... I uh, have no comment at this time. But, um... we'll get back to you when we, ah.. have a decision." People started bitching about Bush representing us from the first time he stuttered behind a podium, and he's been up there for eight years. And Obama would far exceed GWB's performance record in nearly every other aspect, making it all the easier to forgive a stutter when speaking with the press.
 

D_Thoraxis_Biggulp

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Oh, and Obama countered with cutting the 10 to 5 debates (1 in a town hall, 3 standard presidential debates, and 1 focusing on foreign policy) because it's all he has time for with the campaigning he's planning (probably to secure the 17 mil that voted for Hillary). McCain's been sitting on his hands and waiting for the Dems to make their pick so that he could blind side them with this challenge. It's just a tactic to downplay his opponent as cowardly and unprepared.
 

B_VinylBoy

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7online.com: Obama rejects McCain's town hall proposal 6/13/08

So what's he afraid of, exactly? The Dem's rockstar orator will agree to only one joint town hall... on July 4th?

More evidence that he's all sizzle and no steak. :rolleyes:

We honestly don't want to see the Presidential Election go through as many debates as the Democratic Primary. After a while, it got to the point where the amount of debates was ridiculous and the questioning was just as poor. If we keep the debates and town hall metings to the real issues, it shouldn't take anymore than 3-5 stages to express this.

Obama should consider doing more than one, however, not much more than that.
 

jason_els

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I argue that snap reactions are most important during private meetings with foreign leaders. A good leader will look probe, look for weaknesses, try to assess the other person's dynamics and hidden agendas. Part of that is being able to adroitly field left-field questions and statements, many of which are designed precisely to throw the other person off balance. Other leaders of the world play hardball, the president needs to be able to be able to do the same.
 

D_Thoraxis_Biggulp

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I argue that snap reactions are most important during private meetings with foreign leaders. A good leader will look probe, look for weaknesses, try to assess the other person's dynamics and hidden agendas. Part of that is being able to adroitly field left-field questions and statements, many of which are designed precisely to throw the other person off balance. Other leaders of the world play hardball, the president needs to be able to be able to do the same.

This is true. But I maintain that he would put a higher priority on preparing for foreign leader curveball questions than those from the press. (I have no proof or disproof of this mind you. But given that his foreign policy is all about diplomacy, I trust that he would prepare in fine detail before setting foot on the plane.) Granted, he can't be prepared for everything... nobody can... but no answer at the moment is better than a knee-jerk answer. It's better to leave the minefield untouched than to sprint across it in steel toe boots and hope the mines don't notice you.
 

jason_els

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This is true. But I maintain that he would put a higher priority on preparing for foreign leader curveball questions than those from the press. (I have no proof or disproof of this mind you. But given that his foreign policy is all about diplomacy, I trust that he would prepare in fine detail before setting foot on the plane.) Granted, he can't be prepared for everything... nobody can... but no answer at the moment is better than a knee-jerk answer. It's better to leave the minefield untouched than to sprint across it in steel toe boots and hope the mines don't notice you.

Ah but you never know!

Brezhnev greeted Nixon with a bear hug and then admired his car. Nixon sent him a Cadillac.

Harry Truman had a tie tack with a secret camera in it that he used to photograph the inner sanctums (and documents) of various world leaders.

While I think meeting foreign leaders is the most important situation, there is also the matter of meeting congressional leaders as well. Your side might let you slip without mentioning it, but the other won't.

Various British PMs have delighted in the fact that many world leaders are very cautious around the PM and his or her staff but let their hair down with the very engaging and personable queen who then goes on to give the PM her assessment of whomever it was she just met.

There's a bit of gamesmanship in all of this and being able to read people, respond, and get what you want is all part of it.
 

D_Thoraxis_Biggulp

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True, there's no way to know how it will happen. I'm just basing it off what I've observed so far. Who knows, I could be dead wrong. I just hope I'm not... and not just because I enjoy being right. Obama's foreign policy has great potential, but like any other it also has the potential to backfire horribly.
 

Domisoldo

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Of course he won't (didn't as it happens).

Why would he agree to be taken away from his crowds and adoring liberal media and risk stumbling in an unpredictable environment with no teleprompter and no drooling media figures to cast him in his best light?

BHO's campaign's marketing savvy cannot be underestimated.

If I were Obama I would indeed agree to 1 such forum on a day where noone watches TV...

Wouldn't you?