McCain has a substantial advantage in the coming debate- and

a handicap. The advantage is that the majority of people, even those voting for Obama, consider him be CiC material than Obama. They see him as the guy with experience. The handicap is that he's the one who carries higher expectations.

What does Obama have to do in this debate? He needs to come across as someone who is ready to be Commander in Chief.

Because he already is...

The MSM conventional wisdom is that he's the favorite.

The MSM keeps showing poll after poll listing McCain as being viewed as being more knowledgeable on foreign affairs. The way I see it, McCain needs to validate this view, or he is toast. If he simply fights to a draw, then McCain loses.

If most people go into Friday's debates saying Obama has all of the advantages and strengths then he's set up to disappoint.

I personally think Obama and McCain are evenly matched for Friday. Foreign policy is supposed to be McCain's home turf.

I do not think it's bullshit to suggest that McCain has some advantage going in to Friday.

I suspect some people are only reading the title of posts before reacting.

his memory is fading fast....he doesn't even know which hemisphere Spain is in....can you explain his advantage there? The guy is having trouble keeping his story straight on any topic of late, so Bullshit sounds likely to me.

McCain talks in sharp punchy soundbites. He cracks jokes at his opponent's expense. And because of his age, people defer to him.

I hope McCain gaffes his way out of this race on Friday. But I also acknowledge he does have his strengths.

McSames Lies and flip flops, it should be an easy nite.

www.wearableartnow.com

And Obama, if he brings them up, had better have IRON-CLAD examples, understanded by even the simplest moron, to support his claims. If he win his point, McCain is toast. But, if he brings up the topic and fails to connect, Obama is toast. It is that simple.

Obama should concentrate on presenting himself as competent on foreign policy. He doesn't have to win the debate. He just has to comfort people to show he is trustworthy as CIC. That's all he has to do.

..maybe some repubs still do, but I'd love proof that Obama supporters think McCain is CiC material. You're just guessing here, and really your post is not helpful in the least.

I'm always curious about posts purported to help Obama that have a forumula consisting of 2 parts dissing Obama, 1 part trying to help him.

polls demonstrate that a far greater number of voters see McCain as meeting the "Commander in Chief threshold" than Obama.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/Story?id=5370538&page=1
http://www.gallup.com/poll/109891/Obama-Still-Lags-McCain-Leader-
Commander-Chief.aspx



http://www.gallup.com/poll/109891/Obama-Still-Lags-McCain-Leader-Commander-Chief.aspx

McCain, summarized:

Foreign Policy: "THE SURGE" and "NEVAR SURRENDER" and "OBAMA IS WEAK"

Economic Policy: "OBAMA DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE ECONOMY EITHER"

As you have mentioned, McCain's advantage is a double edged sword. I think Obama needs the upcoming week to go maybe not as well as last week, but at least to continue that same theme. If he can gain a few more points in the polls and McCain/Palin can stick their feet in their mouths a few more times, McCain will come into the debate on the defensive. As far as I can tell, when McCain gets defensive, he can't speak in coherent sentences.

I do agree that Obama needs to come across with a solid, calm, Presidential air for this debate. He needs to FEEL like somebody the country can trust to repair our global image and deal with terrorists. I think Obama needs to be careful about trying to out 'tough' McCain and I also think he needs to relay his thoughts in concise, clear terms. And sit back and let McCain fuck himself up.

McCain will not do anything remarkable in the debates. He will try to make a few small jokes at Obama'a expense, use a few put-downs, and they will fail miserably.

Obama will just stare at McCain calmly whilst he makes an old fool of himself, and redirect the debate back to the facts, and reality.

McCain is NOT a smart man.
He is an opportunist of the highest order.
His wife's money will not be able to debate for him.
His Admiral father will not make the hard questions go away.
His poor decision-making ability will be on display for all the world to see.

He will show impatience.
He will get confused.
He will lose.

He'll have on great makeup, the lump will be minimized, and . . . I think he's had his teeth whitened.

They look a lot better than they did before.

He's very likely to look tanned, relaxed, healthy and wise.

Oh, and he'll be wearing lifts in his shoes.

Just don't be surprised.

Obama's challenge is to make McSame like a mean, corrupt drooling old fool

He doesn't even know where Pakistan is and thinks that Franco is still President of Spain.

Monday morning we're in good financial shape, Monday afternoon not so much fire the SEC guy, Tuesday we can't afford a bail out, Wednesday the bail out makes sense. We love Spain, we hate Spain, we want to privatize Social Security, no we don't, health insurance needs to be treated like the financial markets and my VP pick can see Russia which makes her a foreign policy phenom. McCain will be lucky if he can remember where he is.

that goes straight to Rove or some other handler, just like * had.

what the person has made of the experiences he/she has had, what they have learned from them.

I'm sure everyone is familar with what happens when you make a decision strictly on longevity of person in business as a sign of success. Like going with a bid from the guy with "the most experience", only to find out that his 30 years in the business consisted of staying one step ahead of his creditors and two steps behind all of his more competent and able competition. I know tons of doofus business people who have those "years of experience" but you couldn't pay me to hire them. Not all experience is created equally.

John McCain is a living example of this. I wouldn't hire John McCain to walk my dog, more less realistically expect that he could run my country, given how little he has made of the time he spent in the Senate, and how much damage he did while he was there - think Keating 5 banking scandal, for one, and you realize he is not competent nor ethical enough to be put in charge of the nation's finances, esp. during the financial scandal that is unfolding today. Hell, he is a big part of how we got here, old Mr.Deregulation himself.

Number of years of "experience" without any background facts or checks, just isn't relevant to anything, well, except to a person who can't think clearly.

Check your biases at the door. McCain has been playing in politics for nearly as many years as Obama has been alive. Obama is a great natural speaker, perhaps one of the best of his generation, but as a debater he can come off as a young professor - engaging to listen to, but more inclined to use complex speech patterns and thought processes than not, which can turn off people who don't see themselves as well-educated. McCain is probably not as sharp as he once was, but to think that he will come off as a senile doddering old man is unrealistic (even though many here, myself included) are inclined to believe that of him.

On the other hand, I think that one of the keys for Obama in the debate is that he needs to make McCain look OLD - not "experienced" old or "dignified" old, but "not too long before he gets carted off to the nursing home" old. Debates are as much about style as they are about substance - Nixon's five o'clock shadow in the debates, for instance, may have contributed to his defeat to Kennedy in 1960, and I honestly believe that Kerry's Wealthy Brahman accent may have contributed significantly to people not connecting with him 2004 (that his message was somewhat muddled and his decision not to strike back at Bush's dirty tricks didn't help either, but his voice was a factor). McCain's achilles heel is that he is old, he has had cancer twice, and he may very well be beginning to decline physically and mentally.

I write this knowing that there are older people online at DU, and I hate bringing up age as a factor (as someone whose beard has gone gray myself) but his advanced age will be a big factor, especially coupled with the knowledge that Palin is just waiting in the wings. In many respects I think it will be a bigger factor than McCain's skin color.

There's a lot riding on this.

for McCain that the media will be giddy about. You know like "There you go again" ala Reagan.

is that he is willing to say ANYTHING. Lie, etc. Even worse repukelicans love to mix lies with the truth and cast doubt with rhetorical questions like "Are humans REALLY responsible for global warming???" Remember in The Exorcist when the old priest warns Damien that the demon will fuck with him and lie and even worse "mix lies with the truth"? Expect some green vomit if Obama makes McCain mad enough during the debates.

I think it would be cool if Obama worked with a psychologist so as to try and push McCain into a fury at the debates and make his head explode. ;)

I don't think many people even know about his trip!!!

But the GOP and their corporate "liberal media" are so close to achieving their dream of destroying the federal government and unleashing pure, naked fascism on the American people. Look for a spectacular display of pro-McCain bullshit following the debates. They're so close they can taste it.