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Barack Obama was evidently nonplussed by the Clinton/right wing offensive directed at him during most of Wednesday evening’s debate. He was repeatedly badgered about non-issues that had previously been given thorough airings. In this, the propagandistic agenda of ABC and its lead shills, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, was impossible to disguise.
Obama’s reaction to it all showed a great well of reserve and betrayed a self-discipline that kept him maintaining an even, if obviously irked, temperament in conditions that would have had many others, Hillary Clinton springs to mind, lashing out vindictively.
It is my sense, however, that he should relax still more and enjoy the proceedings. He could, at the same time, dignify the event by steering the discussion to more germane topics.
What I am suggesting to the candidate is for him to ignore the irrelevant, the salacious, the digging for a sound bite questions, and simply use his response time to hold forth on matters that affect the voters. For instance, George asks, “Senator, does Reverend Wright love America as much as you do?” A proper response would be, “Clearly, George, he loves America a great deal more than you do,” but that would likely be interpreted as a testy response. A better choice would be, “George, I’m glad you asked that. I can only say that I intend to get all of the combat troops out of Iraq within my first sixteen months as President.”
To the question, “Senator, why won’t you wear an American flag lapel pin?” The proper response would be, “Charlie, I don’t wear my patriotism on my lapel any more than I wear my religion on my sleeve.” This, once again, would be seen as Obama sparring with his tormentors. A better response would be, “As president, it will be necessary for me to provide a sensible, balanced and disciplined approach to solving the housing crisis,” elaborating on the proposal from there. If his would-be detractors remind him that the question was different from the answer he is giving, the Senator could reply that he thought someone should be conducting a debate for the benefit of the voters.
By this means, Senator Obama could provide the voting public with information it sorely needs, generate a more relaxed atmosphere for himself and provide the definition of a political debate to the imbeciles assigned to moderate it.
