Ciao, Tutti!
I write just before the debates begin. I figure you all deserve a happier me for the beginning of the blog at least. Needless to say, I am not anticipating a very... civil debate, and I expect to be doing more of my recently patented cursing out windows afterward.
But there is no need to be depressed, because there have been major releases in my life lately! Yipee! Here are some of them:
I am literally less than a chapter away from finishing book one in my trilogy of novels that I have been working on since January. I have written about 470 pages, so this is pretty exciting. Only two more books to go! Ah, well, now it's time to start editing, which usually takes me about an hour per page per draft, which there will probably be about five... sigh!
Crap, the dabate's starting.
The Debate
Wow. I mean, wow.
"Joe the plumber, Sen. Obama want to spread the wealth! He want to redistribute the wealth! He wants socialism! Oh, crap, did I really just say that out loud? Mrs. Palin told me to say that, I swear!"
So the gloves came off, just like I thought they finally would (even though George Stephanopolis says this was a civil debate, which it was). There is so much to talk about in this debate, namely the fact that I was actually laughing during it rather than scared out of my mind (let's see what happens when the analysts come on). Looking at McCain's expressions throughout, I could not help but think that Jon Stewart is going to have some fun with video editing tonight.
First, and unimportantly, I have never seen John McCain so flustered. He ended up settling down as the debate goes on, but in the beginning he almost seemed like Sarah Palin in his random regurgitation of key words and phrases. His face was rigid and unrelaxed. It was actually sort of funny to watch him, sort of like watching a basketball team fight to win the sixth game to send it to a do or die. However, as I watch the analysts right now, the popular view seems to be that McCain had his best performance yet. I would disagree.
The part of the debate that made the biggest impression on me was for the question about the ugliness of the campaigns, and this was why I felt Obama won, though I suppose some people I know could view it the other way. Obama wanted to talk about the issues, McCain wanted to go on the attack. Obama was much less interested in attacking McCain as a person, at least until the mention of ACORN and Ayers. There was a long back and forth on this question, and Barack Obama spent more time insisting on a discussion about the debates. This could be viewed as a weakness, an unwillingness to fight back, or trying to downplay his scandals, but I have been hoping for a campaign on the issues for SO LONG and it was refreshing to hear it. According to the New York Times, two thirds of Americans agree with me.
It actually seems to me that Obama has stuck to the issues more, though this is of course debatable. Let me explain. First of all, it is seriously easy to make fun of Sarah Palin, which I have talked about in previous blogs. The question was asked about the Vice Presidential candidates gave Obama a softball possibility to crush a Palin homerun, but Obama did the right thing and refused to question her qualifications. He doesn't need to, and his campaign has by and large laid off since the Couric interviews, though he has picked up criticism again since the terrifying comments made at some of Palin's rallies. The point is that Obama did not attack on personal issues, save for the siting of the NY Times fact I quoted earlier and the accusation that Ayers has become McCain's main campaign issue. Obama was trying to bring the debate back to the questions and the issues, as one analyst said, "rope a doping," taking the attacks and returning to the main subject of debate. So. Obama did a very good job of defending himself in the face of John McCain's consistent regurgitation of already disproved facts.
In an assessment of how amazing it was that Obama refrained from attacking McCain's misleading statements or contradictory policies, I was yelling at the television the most since the Pistons lost to the Celtics. Here's an example. McCain was talking about choosing a judge who was qualified. That was the most important characteristic of a judge, he repeated. I shouted out, "Yeah, picking qualified people is something you're really good at, John." My roommate knew I was talking about Sarah Palin. But Obama knew he had no need to bring the debate to such a low. I hope he has that attitude throughout the rest of the campaign.
I was also impressed with Obama when McCain had his apparently shining moment (according to the analysts), when he said, "I am not George Bush. If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run four years ago." Taken out of context, this seems like a strong statement, something McCain should have been saying all along from the beginning (yeah, he probably should). Then he proceeded not to explain how his economic policy differed from Bush's in the slightest, emphasizing difference in energy policy, education, health care, and other things. Obama had just compared McCain to Bush, but was clear to say so only in the context of economics, first taking the time to commend McCain for his odd-ball positions of the past. Obama then reasserted that McCain's economic policy was a continuation of the past four years. Obama did a very good job here. Too bad we're going to keep hearing that quote out of context for a few days, because otherwise I don't think there was anything in that debate for McCain to be proud of.
I take that back. I did like how McCain hammered Obama on the subject of public finance, something I'm pretty upset at Obama for. Obama didn't really have a response for that, dodging it like the other attacks, and I could see at that moment why Obama's defensive stance might not work so well on other voters, especially the undecideds. However, despite John McCain's assertiveness (I saw it more as nervous energy), I thought Obama simply answered the questions better. He stuck to the questions more than I've ever seen from him, in comparison to the last debate (people said afterward that he won, for some reason) where he was muddled, confusing, and uncoordinated. Here he was focused, clear, and succinct, and he answered the questions with facts (not all correct, like the 100% negative TV ads comment) and refuted McCain's strong statements with compelling facts. One example: McCain challenged Obama, asking him to name a time when he had stood up to party leadership. Obama retorted that the first bill he ever voted on the Senate floor was against the party leadership, and he named a few more after that. McCain came back at him, saying his argument was unconvincing, though not really saying why. Obama knew he didn't have to say anything else about it.
Some analysts were wondering why McCain did not attack Obama on the experience factor again, something that seems to poll well for McCain. It seemed pretty obvious to me. Obama has, throughout the debates, presented himself as more than capable of becoming the next president in terms of qualifications. McCain can attack his innexperience all he wants, but we have seen a calm and composed Obama so many times now that the undecideds are getting the image of a capable leader in Obama. This is not to say they are leaning in his direction per se, but McCain's attacks on Obama's experience would only have worked if he had maintained it up until this point, which he hasn't. Now when we see Obama the inexperience is not something we think about. McCain would much rather have us think about how he's raising taxes, talking without precondition to unfriendly foreign leaders (McCain brought this up in the debate in a totally off-topic way. Wasn't this settled in the first debate when Obama explained what a precondition was?), and friends with Ayers and ACORN. This is how McCain wants to portray Obama. The image of the inexperienced young senator is no longer important in this campaign.
The last thing to talk about is Joe the plumber, our favorite American who has everyone's misconception about Obama's health and tax plans. Obama has to explain again and again that his policy won't tax people like (sigh) Joe the plumber, but poor old Joe has been misled by the McCain advertisements and thinks his health insurance costs and taxes will go up under Obama. Honestly, the two candidates were fighting for his vote like guys fighting to carry a cheerleader's books. This time McCain took a new approach to the tax policy: why would you raise taxes on anyone at all? Immediately my mind went to the second debate when the question, "What sacrifices would you ask the American people to make?" was asked. Asking wealthy companies to help share the burden (rather than dumping $700 billion and then another $250 billion and more to come in their laps) seems more than logical to me. And this is when McCain started his jargon about "sharing the wealth, you damn commie, I mean, good friend." The message was clear. McCain wanted to portray Obama as taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor.
Sounds to me like Obama needs to make a Robin Hood campaign shirt.
Obama's equivalent to McCain's shining moment was when he told (sigh) Joe that he would be fined "zero" because small businesses are exempt from those fines in Obama's plan. That actually stopped McCain from reasserting what was false, just as Obama stopped associating McCain with Bush earlier in the debate. It was a powerful moment for Obama in the debate, sort of like saying, "How many times do I have to say this? How much more clearly can I say this?"
So, yeah, I thought Obama came out on top. By quite a lot. However, this is in the campaign style I wanted to see. People who are worried about Obama's credibility and his social connections (Wright, Ayers, ACORN) might see his defensive stance as a retreat. It all depends on whether people re voting on the issues or on perception. Obama won on the issues debate, I thought. I also thought he won on the appearance side, but this is so up to interpretation that I can't begin to think of how the effects of this debate will play out over the next three weeks.
Either way, it was the debate performance I had been hoping for from Obama since he announced his candidacy.
Back to Where I Was
So, um, where was I?
Oh, yes. Releases.
Mid term season just ended. I wanted to write a blog before then, but I had papers due and tests to study for, so I just didn't. I wanted to write one for Yom Kipur, but that never happened. Anyhoo, I am just glad not to have to think about any big tests or papers coming up for a while, which is actually more like a week. It takes a load off my chest.
I hope I did well.
I am also very interested in some movie releases. This, from the guy who doesn't even like movies!
1) 11/14/2008 Quantum of Solace (007) Yeah, it was about time another one of these came out. It should be super sweet! Anyone in Michigan want to see it with me when I'm out there for Thanksgiving? There's about no way I'm seeing it here in New York. I just don't see movies in New York. I don't even know if I could find a good theater.
2) 2009 - a live action Akira will come out from Warner Brothers. This was an animated classic about 20 years ago. I didn't really like it very much, but it's nice that it's being remade into live action.
3) 2009 - Speaking of anime being turned into live action (I think maybe one - maybe - will care about this), Steven Spielberg is directing a movie adaptation of the anime series Ghost in the Shell. Someone tell Joel about this for me, though I don't know how much he'll care. This is supposedly made to compete with Akira. If I would have to guess, I don't have high hopes for either, since Akira has a lousy plot and Ghost in the Shell has a director who'll probably ruin it.
4) Sometime - Watchmen. When is this going to come out already? I've been hearing about it forever! Please! Just come out already!
5) 7/2/2010 - Are you sick of hearing about this? The Last Airbender's first movie now has a release date. Now I can count the days down... such a dork! I suppose this means it's actually going to be made, then, so that's good, I hope... Keep the spirits up! It's going to be a great movie! Please!
Another release would be that of my high school and college friend Julian Pollack's new CD with singer Grace (some last name). Their CD release party will be on October 23rd, 2008. I don't have to wait two freaking years for this.
My roommate's band is featured prominently in a romantic comedy with Katherine Zeta Jones slated to come out in March, 2009. Keep your ears out for "Love Pass It On" when you're watching. He's seen the pre-release and he says it's pretty innovative for a romantic comedy, and also quite comedic. Anyway, I might need to see that.
Also, a move I think called "Rachel's Getting Married" is featuring Tunde Adebimpe, one of the lead singers from TV on the Radio, as the male lead. I have to see it for that purpose alone, even it that takes me to my romantic comedy limit. I don't quite know when that's coming out. I could just look it up while I'm here on the computer. I could do that. Heh!
Well, I need to sleep. Nightmares of McCain's angry expressions dancing through my head. Nevermind. No sleep tonight.
Yeah, my conclusions have been different from the mainstream media's every time, so I dread to see what's in the papers tomorrow.
Now, seriously, I'm done.
-Sam goldsmith
P.S. If you're scared as well, please feel free to write. I don't bite, but sometimes I respond. You have been forewarned!
