Pressure on Obama to hit hardest in first face-to-face showdown.

Times Online (London) ^ | 21 September 2008 | Sarah Baxter

[antioscar]

ha! you got it...;)

[6SJ7]

I’d keep a close eye on his ears ( not that anyone could miss those things !!! ) to see if he is wearing an earpiece. McCains people should have a scanner with them - hooked up to a recorder -just in case he is getting any “suggestions” .

McCain's people could then swamp the transmission to The One with their own feed. Next thing you know, they have Obama singing show tunes...

"I feel pretty, Oh so pretty , I feel pretty and witty and bright"

[igoramus08]

McCain needs to bring up Rezko, Ayers and Black Liberation Theology because MSM will cover it all up otherwise. It is not questioning Obama’s patriotism, it is questioning his consistently bad judgement.

[TheCipher]

Or have him refer to himself as Barack Osama

[Cementjungle]

Obama’s every response will be “4 more years of Bush’s failed policies” and “those lying, dividing, corrupt Republicans must go”. He’s a broken record.

[101voodoo]

"See, the problem is with us dummies out here who just aren’t smart enough to understand the “professorial” lectures of Professor Obama."

The left has always played the "the people cannot understand the nuances of our candidate" card. If they can't get enough votes it's always because they couldn't get their message out.

[generalhammond]

I’d keep a close eye on his ears ( not that anyone could miss those things !!! ) to see if he is wearing an earpiece...

Hell yes, but I think a scanner would be useless. They should insist that a doctor has a good look with an auroscope just before they go in. I’d be surprised if they haven’t come up with undetectable minaturised ear pieces that sit deep inside the ear canal. After all, he is the Manchurian Candidate, isn’t he?

[xrmusn]

...has given him full coaching ahead of time,...etc...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
We know the guy is lost without his teleprompter.
His ‘ahs’ and ‘ums’ are just a replacement for the ‘ya knows’ that modern(er) people use when being asked tough questions like “What is your name”.
Just listen (as hard as it may be) to some of these Pro Athlete, College Grads (supposedly) when giving interviews.... so many ya knows it is tantamount to fingernails on the blackboard.
McCain just has to keep his cool and let BO self destruct..
When McCain looks at OB he has to visualize “THE CAT” to get himself into the right frame of mind....
Then again WHEN MCCAIN WHOOPS HIM, the media will slant it to blaming it on McCains many years as a pol taking advantage of BO without actually saying BO has NO EXPERIENCE.
Interesting times, these.

[doosee]

McCain should ask Obama to explain his writings about “white folks greed” so the great uniter can enlighten us about his true thoughts.

[Yankee]

“professorial” and “analytical”

Translation: indecisive and lacking core beliefs.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is not a place for personal discovery.

[pawdoggie]

I have a feeling (and I hope I'm right) that Obama will come across a bit like Ronald Reagan during his first debate with Walter Mon-dull, over-briefed and over-prepared. He'll spend so much time going through his memory banks to try to retrieve the correct prescripted talking point or gag line that he'll be the stumbling, stammering fool we've seen on so many occasions. McCain's challenge will be to avoid that same pitfall (over-preparation) while also avoiding "stream of consciousness" remarks like "the fundamentals of our economy remain strong", or "comprehensive immigration reform will be my first priority".

[gakrak]

I would like to believe that McCain will destroy “Insane” in the debates, however, I that that when Big Al the inventor of the Internet and the “Ross man” debated. Ross was supposed to mop the floor with big Al and of course that did not happen.
I am always fearful of debates where one little screw up can cost you a lot of votes. I do pray that McCain cleans B.O.’s clock. Amen.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I have been praying that Obama totally loses it on stage, that he goes insane, berserk and the security guards would have to come on stage and restrain him and take him off stage.

[joydocsusie]

Funny but true. Also a FRIEND of terrorists and communists.

[bert]

.........Let’s see if McCain can keep his cool ....

That is the key. Obama’s task is to piss him off to the point where he become irrational

[nymomx2]

i have this fear that the debates will not help, as they will be rigged. Remember who is running them and what a stake they have in this game. By the time of the first debate, the newsies will have already fed Obama the questions—but not McCain—so that Obama can rehearse away those dreaded “uh’s” and come up with the best, most presidential and simultaneously best “zinger” of an answer—. And if they cannot pull that off, perhaps they will wire Obama with a teeny almost invisible ear-piece—so tiny that the cameras (remember the news-media owns the cameras) somehow cannot manage not to pick it up??? I have doubts about the integrity of this debate—the Dems and their willing newsman accomplices simply must do their utmost to avoid another Saddleback. Point is, how can we trust a news media so in the tank?

[steveyp]

I hearken back to the primary debate where Charlie Gibson took his hand did his best to lead him to an understanding that lower the capital gains tax increased revenues to the federal government and that by increasing the taxes the revenues to the government might fall.

Obama couldn’t get it after three attempts by ole Charlie.

I’m not overconfident about debates but there is reason to be confident.

[srmorton]

I honestly do not think it will help him as much as you would assume that it would. Obama has no core values, except for liberalism (which he has to try to hide). He will have to think about what he has said on the subject in the past in order not to contradict himself too much. He does not have the depth and breadth of knowledge that McCain has and will be unable to deviate from whatever answers he has prepared ahead of time. I would expect quite a few uhs and ahs.

McCain, on the other hand, will keep his cool and answer the questions from his heart and from his lifetime of service to this country. The media will spin it as an Obama victory if he merely gets through it without a major gaffe, but those who watch the debate will be able to determine the actual winner and who is better prepared to be POTUS.

[Victor]

"...McCain knows how to knife fight and he can handle the unexpected......"

Or as I heard one commentary put it, " McCain is a nasty old sailor who knows when to come about for a broadside...."

I love that description.

[engrpat]

The article notes that Obama is not a good speaker without a teleprompter which is the understatement of the year.