McCain Throws Sink, and Plumber, But Obama Isn't Rattled (Time Compares Obama to Cary Grant!)

Time ^ | 10-16-08 | David Von Drehle

[wac3rd]

Only a cynic would dismiss a presidential debate as a mere television show. You would have to be naive, though, to ignore the drama of these events: Two people enter an arena. Only one will emerge as the protagonist of our national life — also known as the President.

In Final Debate, Can McCain Rattle an Imperturbable Foe? For the first 30 minutes of last night's final debate, a sharper, more spirited John McCain took on Barack Obama. He had a clear message of low taxes and smaller government. He targeted an equally clear-cut audience: Joe the Plumber. (A real guy, who must be dodging every local news crew within 100 miles today.) McCain — henpecked by an incumbent he never liked, a dire economy he can't control and a newcomer with less baggage than the Tooth Fairy — suddenly seemed free from worry. He remembered his years as a leading man in those dramatic episodes of yesteryear — campaign-finance reform, the Gang of 14 — and he was glad to reprise his role as The Fighter. For the first time since the Republican convention (just six weeks ago, though to him it must feel like years), John McCain was in control of the narrative.

The problem for McCain was that no matter how hard or how crisply he punched, it would not last. In the end, the gravity of the debate returned to Obama. The turning point was when McCain finally brought up the issue of Obama's ties to former anti–Vietnam War terrorist William Ayers. All McCain accomplished was to swing the spotlight away from himself back to the engaging newcomer. Predictably, Obama had a mild answer ready — as straightforward and uncontroversial as it was soothing. Was it entirely candid? Who asks that of Cary Grant?

[concerned about politics]

I thought 0bama looked scared, not cool. He did not look confident at all.
His answers were robotic and just a jumble of meandering talking points.

EXACTLY what I saw. (You expressed it better.)

The question is.....why so down, Barry? What is it the MSM is not telling us, hmmmm?

[concerned about politics]

So far, there's 3 birth certificates for Oboma from Kenya, and only one adoptive certificate from the U.S. when he was two years old.

He still hasn't offered proof he's a naturalized citizen. From what I read (?), there's 4 law suits against the DNC to at least verify his nationalized citizenship.

Imagine if he were not a nationalized citizen. His entire candidacy would go up in smoke. Poof!

[concerned about politics]

So far, there's 3 birth certificates for Oboma from Kenya, and only one adoptive certificate from the U.S. when he was two years old.

He still hasn't offered proof he's a naturalized citizen. From what I read (?), there's 4 law suits against the DNC to at least verify his nationalized citizenship.

Imagine if he were not a nationalized citizen. His entire candidacy would go up in smoke. Poof!

[princeofdarkness]

I’m guessing Van Druhle didn’t go over his notes with his colleague Mark Halperin. He gave McCain an A- on the debate.

[Verginius Rufus]

If he was a naturalized citizen, he'd be ineligible, like Arnold. I don't think this is going anywhere--if someone came up with proof that he was born in Kenya, Congress would suddenly pass a law that anyone who had one parent born in America was a "natural born citizen."

The only basis for doubt is the fact that his mother was so young that she hadn't lived in the US for five years after her 16th birthday. Anyway, a newspaper in Hawaii listed his birth--isn't that proof enough that he was born in Hawaii?

I still hope he loses, but if the American people decides to jump off a cliff like a bunch of lemmings this year, quibbles about his citizenship status are not going to stop them.