Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Discourse: McCain v. Obama

I'm disappointed.

Almost everyone thinks the country's headed in the wrong track (pollster talk for "we're going to hell in a hand basket") and the two presidential candidates are arguing over who is the bigger celebrity.

I'll blame McCain for taking us there with his Paris Hilton ads, but Obama went right into the gutter with him. Why couldn't he have responded with a message something like:

John McCain wants to talk about Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears. I
want to talk about how we can come together to solve the big problems facing
this country -- the problems that affect Americans in their daily lives.
We've got some work to do, from getting out of Iraq to defeating Al Queda to becoming energy independent. I have plans to address those issues. So let Sen. McCain focus on Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. I want to focus on how we can
keep America the greatest nation on Earth. I'm serious about going to work
for the American people. I'm serious about uniting this country
again. I'm serious about tackling the big issues that we can only solve
together. Because together, we can.

Maybe the Obama campaign tested that type of response and it didn't work. I don't know. But this current exchange is a school yard spat. We deserve better. And the crying shame is that Obama is capable of "better." I just don't know what happened to it.

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