If Obama can't debate Hillary how can he beat McCain?

[jackson_dem]

The talking point over the past day has been Hillary is broke and Obama should not bail her out with free publicity. Bull. Hillary is not broke. Ask John McCain. Better yet ask Mitt Romney how "broke" Hillary and McCain are. :rofl: Once again we see Obamites act as if St. Obama has no record. St. Obama, after a lousy debate performance in the middle of last year, decided to limit his debate and forum appearances. They naturally had an excuse for it but it was obvious they realize Barack is a mediocre debater. He can run from Hillary and instead of speaking to 9 million people across the country talk to 10,000 college kids using the same stump speech he's been giving for months. He won't be able to run from McCain, a fierce debater, in the general election (ask Bush 43, Bush 41, and Reagan how running away from the debates doesn't work. Notice all of these are rethugs? Gore and Clinton weren't afraid of debates.). My biggest concern about Obama is whether he can win and once again he is showing he may not be ready for the big leagues.

[DJ13]

1. You ever SEE McCain debate?

You wouldnt ask such a question if you had.

[jackson_dem]

7. I've seen him consistently kick Romney's tail

McCain would have to be the favorite in a debate with Obama. Hillary can duel with anyone in a debate. The only one who has ever given her any trouble in debates is Edwards. Obama was shockingly ineffective in attacking Hillary in the 16 debates so far. It was Edwards knocked Hillary off her pedestal, not Obama.

[Thrill]

18. No he doesn't Romney wins a lot of those exchanges

People just can't stand Romney. And he says stupid stuff.

[jackson_dem]

31. Romney wins on policy but he always gets owned when they attack each other

[mrreowwr_kittty]

46. Are you kidding me? Mittens kicks his ass in the debates.

No small feat considering what a flipflopper he is.

John McCain is an unstable individual with a very short fuse. All one needs to do is make him angry and he will pop off and say something stupid and scary.

[katty]

2. more debates bet Hill and Obama...then we'll see

[Tellurian]

3. Exactly..Obama is a Liar and is afraid he'll be exposed!

on National TV..

:rofl:

[tyne]

8. I don't know

I borrow money all the time especially if I've got a wad in my purse. It's fun to pay interest.

[Tellurian]

48. I do know... Obama will run away as far as he can from a debate with Hillary..

and the reason for the sh*tstorm all over the news today..

nice diversionary tactic by the Obama camp..too bad it won't work!

[newmajority]

4. Why should Obama have to go on FAUX Noize to debate ANYBODY??

That debate wouldn't have one question about REAL issues. What would be the point?

[jackson_dem]

11. Simple solution: propose a debate on CNN or MSNBC

But we all know Barack isn't going to do that. Why?

[earthside]

20. Yes, Why Fixed Noise?

Hill isn't broke, but personally loaned her campaign $5,000,000 ... hmm.

And, she isn't getting desperate, but agrees to a Fixed Noise debate ... hmmm.

[AlinPA]

22. Debating on Fox"News" would be the same as debating on Savage, or Limbaugh or O'Reilly radio

programs. No difference. How objective would that be? I don't think Wolf Blitzer and Russert and Brian Williams are much better, but they are a cut above the Fox slobs.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

47. "Which one of you is MORE of a gay loving, babykilling commie?"

:rofl:

[polpilot]

5. Obama will frame the campaign. Not Hillary. She'll debate when

he tells her to. Yes we can.

[jackson_dem]

16. "Yes we can" (ignore the issues and continue sloganeering)

That won't work in the general.

[polpilot]

28. The issue: Pro-war Hillary delivered a war, not healthcare...

There's an issue for you. Yes it is!

[abburdlen]

6. I'd love to have more debates

but not on Fox.

[Window]

9. Shit. I could beat John McCain in a debate.

LOL!




Peace:thumbsup:

[katty]

41. ha! me too, just mention "hundred more yrs of war"-game over

[rinsd]

McCain is not a particulary strong debater.

[jackson_dem]

23. He's killed Romney and is better than Obama

He doesn't have aesthetics going for him nor does he have an especially great delivery but he is effective in delivering necessary jabs and at getting his message out.

[rinsd]

29. Romney is a telepromter candidate.

Obama has had his problems but he has improved his debate performance.

Is he Clinton or Edwards in that regard? No.

McCain does get in his jabs but he tends to be clumsy about them and a skilled debater can exploit that.

I have reservations that Obama is at that level but his debate performance improvement is at least encouraging.

[jackson_dem]

34. If Romney is then what is Obama?

"Encouraging" equals "hope." We need Obama to get in the ring with Hillary and learn how it's done. You may be encouraged by his campaign and Barack himself recognize he is still not a good debater.

[IsItJustMe]

51. Sad to say, but appearences do matter. Just looking at BO standing next to McCain, any you would

want to vote for BO. It's the age of the camera. It is a factor.

[NJSecularist]

10. Obama has absolutely no advantage with agreeing to more debates

He has an advantage, though, if he limits the amount of debates and gives Hillary less free air-time.

[polpilot]

33. Obama's saving his debate for his next opponent...

McCan't!

[Tarheel_Dem]

50. this is an outright desparate tactic on the part of the HRC campaign...

and they were boasting before ST that her campaign coffers overfloweth. If O agrees to debates, they should be on his terms only. Why give her free TV time? Let her pay for it.

[Thrill]

12. LMAO. McCain is a terrible debater.

[rucky]

13. do you buy your own bullshit?

or do you just think we're stupid?

[debatepro]

14. Apples and Oranges

1. 18 debates so far only 10 last time...
2. In 2k4 there were only 3 presidental debates...
3. Obama has had to pull punches because he has to worry about angering democrats... against McCain ... it will be a knock out...
4. Look at McCains facial ticks in the debate... he will be crushed!!!!
5. If I was losing and out of money I would ask for more debates also.

[loveangelc]

15. Obama vs. McCain = Obama wins just by looking at them

lets be honest, visuals matter.

[jackson_dem]

19. That is probably what Romney thought before he stepped into the debate ring with McCain!

[loveangelc]

25. I think the storyline will be Old vs. New if it's a McCain vs. Obama debate.

if you've watched the Republican debates you can see McCain isnt exactly the best debater and comes off as very obnoxious.

[jackson_dem]

30. Maybe. Or it might be "experience" vs. "inexperience"

And McCain wins that. McCain is effective at jabbing his opponents. This is where Obama is the weakest.

[Thrill]

39. Oh please. You can do that against Romney

because he sets himself up with the stupid stuff he says. But Its hard for him to take jabs at Obama on Iraq, the economy, or healthcare.

I've heard that experience argument before with a young and old candidate. Ask JFK how that worked out.

I would be scared of a McCain v Hillary debate. He is completely behind his vote in Iraq. And she has trouble defending hers

[jackson_dem]

52. JFK won by 0.2% and had the same experience Nixon had and Nixon was Obama's age

McCain has a ton of experience, Obama has almost none. He won't be able to point to his record like JFK did. There is a lot of mythology revolving around 1960 used to try to sweep Obama's weakness under the rug. Nixon wasn't old. He was 47, exactly Obama's age tday. He was only a couple years older than JFK and they were equal in experience. The "inspiring" and "charismatic" JFK won 49.7 to 49.5%.

[IndieLeft]

17. Wow... I heard this argument months ago... From Fox Noise!

And if she isn't strapped for cash, then she wouldn't need to self finance, now would she.

[cali]

21. you must have missed his doing just fine against her

last week. And she's a good debater. McCain sucks. He'll do splendidly against JMac if he's the nom.

And sorry, but you don't loan your campaign $5 million if you haven't run into fundraising difficulties.

She needs the exposure more than he does at this point. He should debate her but he should call the shots as to when and where.

You sound so desperate now that you're a Hilly fan. Just the way you did when you were an EdWARdian.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[jackson_dem]

27. He didn't make a mistake. That isn't "doing fine"

Obama is good at reading from the script but he has not shown he can win a boxing match in a debate.

In the real world both Hillary and McCain have enough money to get their messages out. Obamites must be drinking the same "money buys everything" kool-aid that Romney's supporters used to drink.

You again dodge the fact that Barack started avoiding debates and forums going all the way back to the middle of last year when he needed the exposure and Hillary was the front runner. It isn't about money. It's about Barack not being a good debater.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

24. Seems To Be The Case.

[Benhurst]

26. Easy.

Obama will smother the old boy under a fog of Hope, Change and cotton-candy rhetoric.

[Recursion]

32. He won't come across as phony debating McCain. She will.

Probably even to me, even though I agree more with her policies.

[jackson_dem]

38. She also won't come across as inexperienced. He will

You could argue the inherent advantages either way. What is clear is if Obama thinks he can't debate Hillary how can we expect him to debate McCain or Romney?

[Recursion]

45. I still don't get where your premise is coming from?

He's done great in his debates against her.

[jackson_dem]

53. He has been ineffective in going after her

Remember the two debates that hurt Hillary? It wasn't Obama who took the fight to her in those two debates. Usually he was afraid to do so and the few times he did he clumsily attacked her, often indirectly in the hope the media would tell folks the desired inferences.

[Recursion]

55. In fairness I have an antiquarian's hatred for modern debates

I tend to like the candidate who crams the fewest canned "Miss America" responses (note: nothing gender-related there; I'm just talking about the sound-byte quality of modern debates).

I would love to see a classical debate between Obama and Hillary: 30 minutes pro, 20 minute rebuttal, 10 minute recapitulation, for each side. I'd watch that in a second. Within the idiotic limits of how modern debates go (which is to say, stupidly and assuming people have 10-second attention spans), I've been much more impressed with Obama than with Clinton or Edwards.

[angie_love]

35. Oh whatever, have you seen Mccain debate?

I fell asleep after 2 sentences. zzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz. Obama will have NO problem debating that one.

[Vinca]

36. What is the purpose of more debates?

For starters, they aren't really debates, just polite and semi-polite chitchats. Boring. Hillary wants debates so she can get her mug on television without paying for it.

[cd3dem]

37. this is a big concern! why are all the Obama people limited to the line "yes we can"

they have no other words in their vocab other that "change"

I was happy Giuliani dropped after his limited speech pattern of "9/11'

[nonconformist]

44. At least they'll bring a fresh charisma to doomsday, I suppose. nt

[cd3dem]

49. in 2004 it was "do you want to fight the terrorists here or there?" can we just discuss the issues?

this country is going to hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nothing but a bunch of brain dead zombies....

[julialnyc]

40. The next states coming up are good ones for Obama

Why would he say yes to the debates? He should hit the ground running and campaigning and do what he's best at.

[retread]

42. If winning debate = winning election, President Gore would be barnstorming

the country with the new Democratic nominee John Edwards.

[billyskank]

43. The debates don't matter.

Kerry creamed Bush in the debates last time and he lost. I expect most people don't pay attention to the debates.

[jackson_dem]

54. Kerry got back in the game because of the debates

He was getting killed before he beat Bush badly in the first debate. Debates matter and that is why Obama and his campaign have a policy of avoiding them.

[Recursion]

56. Modern debates are worse than useless

Go back to the Lincoln-Douglas format: 30 minutes pro, 20 minutes con, 10 minute resummary, for each candidate.

Everything else is sound byte competition. (Ironic that people who say Obama is all style want him to stop giving long-form speeches with a continued, persuasive argument and go back into a forum that encourages only the snappiest and most shallow of answers...)

[in_cog_ni_to]

57. His excuse is he needs to be out among his followers, so they can learn to worship him.

He might have time for 1 debate. Chickenshit.

[Tarheel_Dem]

58. wwwwwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.....

Obama won't debate me, and I'm broke so I can't get my smug mug on the teevee. wwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. She'll probably fly into an all out crying jag, that should be worth a couple million. :cry: