There is a fine line between elitist and superior. Some would say that neither are good traits, especially shown off during a town hall debate, but I would say that only the latter is truly fatal. John McCain has shown a remarkably smug superiority throughout this debate which I find utterly unappealing and even off-putting. From the very second question (when he rather patronizingly commented to a young black man that "I betcha never even heard of Freddie and Fannie before"), I have never felt more spoken down to. Yes I want an intelligent leader, but I don't want one who thinks he is so godlike that he assumes all us commoners can't possibly know everything that he does.
McCain had a number of unbelievably patronizing moments in this debate, but I think it is really his policy and issue broad strokes and attempts at a folksy Sarah Palin rhetoric that will really do him in. He over-generalized complex issues to the point that he did not seem to have a firm grasp of them. It just ended up making him seem like some potty old man who can't understand complex issues let alone explain them in answer to a question. Obviously, I'm no expert, but I do have half a brain (which allows me to have heard of Frannie and Freddie and, yes, even the internet itself which Mr. McCain openly disavows) and I think this debate did John McCain absolutely no good. Once again, the republican didn't implode, but he (in this case) certainly didn't gain any ground either.
Meanwhile, I think Obama successfully sounded calm and informed rather than superior. He may have laid McCain's faults on a little bit thick and played a little fast and loose with his condemnations of his opponent's record, especially towards the end of the debate, but on the whole he was persuasive and intelligent.
6 years ago
3 comments:
I could also swear I heard McCain call it "Freddie Mae" at some point. I wanted to be like, uh, I've heard of it, and it's actually Freddie MAC. And also, no, you DON'T reprimand any Republican who puts down Obama, as your own running mate is calling him a terrorist.
On the other hand, I was way impressed with the way Obama handled that same question -- he explained the situation clearly but not in a patronizing way. Good for him :)
My current theory is that McCain has just gone completely mad. He used to be so likable and, well, just plain old sane! Now he just seems, as my mom puts it, like a crazy old coot. (Got to love my mom, though.)
Oh, he's lost it all right. I used to kind of like him, really -- now he's not a maverick, he's a freaking nut job. A conservative nut job.
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