USA Presidential Election 2008: Barack Obama (D) vs. John McCain (R)

[solidius23]

after the debates i conclude they both are retards. they kept repeating the same crap for each answer.

[Gryph]

I only watched part of the debate before I headed out for the night but Obama seemed more jittery but McCain had that stupid flocking smirk on his face the whole time.

[Hera]

In the beginning I was pretty convinced I would vote for Obama and totally against McCain and ESPECIALLY Hillary. But the more research I did (not just propaganda), I came to realize that Obama is doing just what Kerry did. Flip-Flop. I am still convinced that McCain wouldn't be getting my vote considering the man is only using his past imprisonment in war as an excuse as to why he should be president. Not to mention that he's promising a 100 yr war. I believe a woman would be a great president but totally not one like Hillary so I'm pretty glad she's out. I was proven in the election between Bush and Gore that our vote technically doesn't matter. If they're a loophole and you have money or a daddy that will get you where you want, the country and the foundation of that country is moot. It's sad how this country has become but it's shown me that I technically don't have the rights "they" claim we do. So...I'm not voting this time not just because of that but because I find them both full of it.

 

 

[Gryph]

McCain has flip-flopped quite a bit too.

[Hera]

McCain has flip-flopped quite a bit too.

 

 

Yep..that's why I said he's full of it too.

[Alpha]

Who saw the debate with Palin and Biden? It was probably the most entertaining debate I've seen in forever.

 

 

Biden, Palin clash on economy, Iraq in debate

 

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

 

Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden clashed on the economy and Iraq during a lively but polite debate on Thursday, but aimed the most criticism at their rivals at the top of the ticket.

 

In the only vice presidential debate ahead of the November 4 U.S. election, Biden accused Republican presidential contender John McCain of being "out of touch" on the economic crisis and said he was "no maverick" on crucial issues facing Americans.

 

Palin said Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama was too partisan to work across party lines to accomplish change and was waving a "white flag of surrender" in Iraq.

 

Both camps claimed victory in a debate unlikely to dramatically change a White House race that Obama leads. Two polls taken after the debate, by CNN and CBS News, judged Biden the winner, but the CNN poll found a big majority thought Palin did better than expected.

 

With all eyes on Palin in her national debut in an unscripted format, the 44-year-old Alaska governor turned in a steady and aggressive performance in which she repeatedly attacked Obama and pledged she and McCain would work for the middle-class.

 

She frequently displayed the folksy style that has become a favorite target of late-night comics. "Aw, say it ain't so, Joe," she told Biden at one point, adding a "doggone it" for good measure.

 

Biden, 65, also had an emotional moment, choking up when recalling having to raise his two young sons alone after their mother died in a car crash.

 

As the two strode on the stage, Palin greeted Biden, saying: "Nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?"

 

The debate came as Obama solidified his lead in national polls and gained an edge in crucial battleground states as the Wall Street crisis spread.

 

Biden and Palin said they would work to change current U.S. economic policy to make it more friendly to middle-class workers, but Biden noted McCain had called the fundamentals of the economy strong as the Wall Street crisis broke out.

 

"That doesn't make John McCain a bad guy, but it does point out he's out of touch," Biden, a Delaware senator, said in the debate on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Palin said McCain had been talking about the American workforce and said Obama would raise taxes on American workers and small business owners. Obama in fact has called for a middle-class tax cut and would raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000.

 

'SOMETHING NEW'

 

"I do respect your years in the U.S. Senate, but I think Americans are craving something new and different," Palin told Biden.

 

Biden pledged he and Obama would end the war. Obama is an early critic of the Iraq war who has called for a 16-month timeline to withdraw U.S. troops. "Your plan is a white flag of surrender," Palin told Biden.

 

The highly anticipated match-up promised more than the usual drama because of curiosity about Palin, a relative unknown who was thrust into instant celebrity when she was selected as McCain's No. 2 in August.

 

The encounter may have drawn a larger television audience than the 52 million who watched last week's first debate between the presidential candidates.

 

Biden said the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street he voted for, along with Obama and McCain, might force the Democrats to reconsider their promise to double foreign aid.

 

"The one thing we might have to slow down is a commitment we made to double foreign assistance," he said when asked what programs might have to be jettisoned because of the financial crisis.

 

Palin said there was nothing she and McCain would have to forego. "There hasn't been a whole lot that I've promised, except to do what is right for the American people," she said. "I don't believe that John McCain has made any promise that he would not be able to keep, either."

 

Palin's lack of national experience and her hesitant performance in rare media interviews had raised doubts about her readiness and prompted criticism even from some prominent conservatives.

 

But she said her experience as a governor and as a mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, was her strength as a candidate for vice president. She frequently said she and McCain were a team of mavericks who could change Washington.

 

"John McCain has been the consummate maverick," she said. "Barack Obama, of course, he's pretty much only voted along his party lines."

 

Biden said McCain had not been a maverick on the vital issues facing the United States from health care to Iraq. "He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that people talk about around the kitchen table," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_usa_politics1

Who do you think won the debate?

[Alpha]

Wow ... so no one watched the debate?

[Weirdy]

I saw it, but I have no comments.

[Skythe]

No matter which wins, either will get shot. Except Obama will have more than one shooter. The one Hillary Clinton hires and then a bunch of people dressed like ghosts burning lowercase Ts.

[Hera]

I unfortunately cannot get any channels on my television at this present time so I was unable to watch the debate. After reading that, I still believe that Palin is very ignorant and does not make good points until it's been rehearsed many many times. I assume the ones who have watched the debate saw the interview Palin had with Couric. She was a mess and avoided every point possible. I don't trust that woman. I do have to give it to McCain that he has been a so called "Maverick" given that he is more of a third party candidate. Sure he claims himself as a republican but he's acting as though he's more for the middle men. He chose Palin because she is an EXTREME republican and that would have kept the republican party from going fully against him from his previous actions.

 

I don't know folks. This is a tight run but I'm ashamed to say that none of them are good enough for me to vote.

[Alpha]

Well, seems like people watched the debate, A LOT OF PEOPLE!

 

Palin-Biden debate sets TV ratings record

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sarah Palin's televised showdown with Joe Biden drew nearly 70 million U.S. viewers, far surpassing last week's John McCain-Barack Obama face-off and ranking as the most watched vice presidential debate ever.

 

Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Biden, the Democratic senator from Delaware, also drew the biggest audience of any nationally televised political debate in 16 years, going back to a matchup among then-President George H.W. Bush, Democrat Bill Clinton and independent Ross Perot, according to ratings issued Friday.

 

The three-way debate in October 1992, like the Palin-Biden contest Thursday, pulled in 69.9 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said.

 

Nielsen analyst Anne Elliot suggested that nearly 70 million viewers in 1992 represented a bigger achievement, given there were roughly 60 million fewer potential viewers in the United States then.

 

The tally for the Palin-Biden contest in St. Louis easily eclipsed the 52.4 million viewers who tuned in last Friday for this year's first presidential debate between McCain, an Arizona senator, and Obama, a senator from Illinois.

 

The Public Broadcasting Service, whose audience is not counted by Nielsen, estimated its network added 3.5 million viewers to the total for Palin and Biden, versus 2.6 million for McCain-Obama.

 

A larger-than-usual audience was expected for Palin and Biden going into their debate given the questions raised about the Alaska governor's readiness and the widespread lampooning of her previous appearances in the media.

 

Snap polls by CBS and CNN said most viewers thought Biden, who curbed his tendency to be verbose and maintained a respectful tone toward Palin, won the debate. But Republicans were cheered by Palin's confident performance.

 

RECORD BOOKS

 

The most watched televised presidential debate on record is the 1980 showdown between Democratic President Carter and his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, which drew 80.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

 

Before 1976, Nielsen tracked debate audiences according to household ratings -- based on the percentage of homes with TV sets that tune into a particular broadcast.

 

By that measure, the historic first three matchups in 1960 between Democrat John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon rank as the top three presidential debates, garnering household ratings ranging from 59.1 to 61.0.

 

By comparison, the Carter-Reagan debate ranks fourth, with a 58.9 rating. Palin and Biden scored a 41.7.

 

The Palin-Biden contest still earns a place in the Nielsen record books as the most viewed between vice presidential candidates, breaking the record held by the debate between Democrat Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major-party ticket, and Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush. Their showdown in 1984 averaged 56.7 million viewers.

 

The Ferraro-Bush debate still holds the vice presidential record for household ratings, with a 43.6, but that was in the days of just three major broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC.

 

The Palin-Biden debate was carried live by 11 commercial networks measured by Nielsen, not including PBS.

 

Source: http://television.aol.com/news/story/_a/pa...004040209990013

I think that beats the Superbowl, American Idol, the last two individual Democrat and Republican nomination speeches, and the first debate with McCain and Obama.