# My experience at a McCain rally **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704 "2008-11-02T09:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![incidental](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/22d042/32.png) [@incidental](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/incidental)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/21 "2008-11-02T15:32:42Z")
Okay, so you’re saying McCain can deliver a good, inspiring, scripted speech. Wow, it’s as if he’s been a politician for a really, really long time. I have been more alarmed by McCain’s unscripted moves. Selecting Palin without much of a vetting process, suspending his campaign to deal with an economic crisis _when his own party_ didn’t want him there, the problems with his campaign, etc. I’m not convinced he’s an effective leader with good judgment under pressure. Even the debates, which are presumably less scripted than his stump speech, he performed poorly. With 20 years of political experience! Obama '08 baby. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/22 "2008-11-02T15:39:08Z")
Meh, \*\*Weirddave’s \*\*post is more about how scary Obama is than how great McCain is, so I’d say it captures the McCain rally “experience” pretty accurately. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/23 "2008-11-02T15:45:36Z")
I’m an Obama supporter, but I’m glad you gave your children a great memory and I’m glad you felt inspired. I feel moved to tears listening to Obama speak, so I understand your feelings and your need to share them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/24 "2008-11-02T15:45:54Z")
\*\*Weirddave \*\*take this from someone that respects John McCain very much, that knows he is a good speaker and even voted for him in the primary as by far the best candidate in the Republican field (Rudy having shown he was in no way, shape or form ready for the office by his truly terrible campaigning.) Somehow, someway you have missed Obama’s message. You have missed the details and how he is a really excellent speaker. After Bush, Gore and Kerry we have two men running that are both much better speakers than those last three candidates. Hell if you had watch Obama’s 7 channel infomercial the other night I think you would be willing to admit that he is a very good speaker indeed. BTW: How do you feel about Palin? I don’t remember if that came up when we were talking at Gettysburg. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/25 "2008-11-02T15:47:37Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I haven’t been to a McCain rally, but I can explain why I felt inspired at the OBama rally. > > It had little to do with Obama. Yes, we were assembled together to see him and it would have sucked if he hadn’t shown up, but simply being in that arena with all those different types of people was inspiring enough to make the experience worthwhile. > > It wasn’t just race. It was age and class as well. Suburbanites standing next to urban dwellers. College professors next to housewives next to bus drivers…and everyone feeling just as American as the other. While waiting for Obama to show up, we danced and sang along with the country, disco, and hip hop being piped in over the loud speakers. We playfully fought over the Obama/Biden signs and American flags that were distributed by the campaign. We groaned together good-naturedly when Obama was an hour late. At least where I stood, no one talked about McCain or the Republicans. It was all about us. At the Obama rally I attended in Kansas City, one of the folks I was standing next to was a retired newspaper reporter. He was a registered Independent, and had voted for both Republicans and Democrats. But the most interesting bit was that he knew John McCain because they both stationed on the [Forrestal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Forrestal) during the Vietnam War, and are members of the Forrestal Association. He says McCain is a great guy, and considers him a friend - but he thinks he’s the wrong choice for President at this time. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/26 "2008-11-02T15:50:22Z")
Doesn’t witnessing belong in GD? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/27 "2008-11-02T15:51:39Z")
Just out of curiosity, what does “leaving Iraq victorious” mean? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/28 "2008-11-02T15:52:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I haven’t been to a McCain rally, but I can explain why I felt inspired at the OBama rally. > > It had little to do with Obama. Yes, we were assembled together to see him and it would have sucked if he hadn’t shown up, but simply being in that arena with all those different types of people was inspiring enough to make the experience worthwhile. > > It wasn’t just race. It was age and class as well. Suburbanites standing next to urban dwellers. College professors next to housewives next to bus drivers…and everyone feeling just as American as the other. While waiting for Obama to show up, we danced and sang along with the country, disco, and hip hop being piped in over the loud speakers. We playfully fought over the Obama/Biden signs and American flags that were distributed by the campaign. We groaned together good-naturedly when Obama was an hour late. At least where I stood, no one talked about McCain or the Republicans. It was all about us. > > Watching the CSPAN coverage of the rally that night, I found my face in the crowd behind Obama. I used to think that campaign teams took great pains to assemble the “behind the podium” crowd you always see on the news. I figured they balanced the diversity to be _just right_ so as to be as politically correct as possible. But there was no such manipulation at the rally I attended. They simply opened the gate and we all poured in. Black and white. Young and old. Professional and blue-collar. Rich and poor. Religious and atheist (as represented in my group). **Monstro** , you should be a baseball fan and sit in the cheap seats. You get almost exactly the same vibe. In fact that is why a few years ago my ticket plan was for the Right Field Bleachers at Yankee Stadium. There is a great vibe in people of all ages, from all walks of life gathered together and rooting for the same thing. I never thought about it from the political side before, but then few politicians have ever inspired me. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/29 "2008-11-02T15:54:26Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Matthew also enjoyed himself…I rag on him all the time because he’s…well, he’s an idiot. By the way, does **Ginger** know what you’re saying about her kid here? Because if I said stuff like that about my stepkids on a message board–well, I wouldn’t, because I’m not you–my wife would be rightly pissed. What a massive, unfatherlike cheap shot. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/30 "2008-11-02T16:54:05Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > What a massive, unfatherlike cheap shot. I’m thinking **Dave** doesn’t mean that like it sounds - it’s hyperbole. I know that if my husband were to “rag on” my kids all the time he would soon find himself wifeless. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/31 "2008-11-02T18:02:46Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > By the way, does **Ginger** know what you’re saying about her kid here? Because if I said stuff like that about my stepkids on a message board–well, I wouldn’t, because I’m not you–my wife would be rightly pissed. > > What a massive, unfatherlike cheap shot. Hey Duke, he’s not my stepkid, he’s my kid. And he’s an idiot. He’s 14, it’s endemic. But thanks for your concern, really, I appreciate it. I’ll be sure to tell my wife to read this thread, so she can see what a shit I am, as defined by Duke. As for the rest of you…it looks like you’re going to get your way. And that’s fine, that’s what a democratic republic is all about. But despite my post, my fears about Obama aren’t really about him, the speaker, the man, they are about what he says he wants to do, and what he will be able to do with a supermajority in congress. Y’all can laugh, mock, spit, tease, whatever at me. I don’t mind, knock yourselves out. Mark my words, however. Assuming Obama wins, 4 years down the road when we as a country wise up and finally throw him out on his socialist ass, we’ll be in much worse shape than we are now. Double digit inflation and unemployment. Stagnant economy. Diminished influence in the world, more at the mercy of China who is salivating at the chance to finance Obama’s insane desire to accelerate Bush’s attempt to spend us into bankruptcy. By any measure I think Obama is going to hurt the USA, and hurt us badly. And if I’m wrong? GREAT! I’ve never so wanted to be wrong about anything in my life. Mock me, ridicule me, make small children tease me on the streets. It will be a relief. Start threads about my foolish pessimism, call me a partisan wanker, throw eggs at my house. Knock yourself out. Bookmark this thread so you can rub my nose in it it. I will be happy to be wrong. But I really don’t think I am. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/32 "2008-11-02T18:05:23Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > By the way, does **Ginger** know what you’re saying about her kid here? Because if I said stuff like that about my stepkids on a message board–well, I wouldn’t, because I’m not you–my wife would be rightly pissed. > > What a massive, unfatherlike cheap shot. What matters is how he actually treats the boy, not how you think he treats him. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/33 "2008-11-02T18:06:33Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Start threads about my foolish pessimism, call me a partisan wanker, throw eggs at my house. Note: Do not throw eggs at our house. They’re a bitch to clean after they’ve frozen. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/34 "2008-11-02T18:41:42Z")
i’m glad y’all had a good time at the rally. it’s great that your sons saw the campaign up close and personal. i do have to agree with ginger of the north. it would be a lot better if there was a time limit and money limit for election running. take the little guy voting with you. i loved going to the polls with my parents as a wee kid. they had a nifty little mini poll thing for us to vote on while our parents voted on the big machines. i don’t know if they have that where you are. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/35 "2008-11-02T19:15:06Z")
> [@Carson\_O\_Genic](#): > > ``` > But when my cancer cure comes out, I'm not donating it to the masses. No socialist here. > > ``` I can’t tell if this is a poor attempt at humor, or the worst thing I have ever read on this board. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/36 "2008-11-02T19:22:26Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > And if I’m wrong? GREAT! I’ve never so wanted to be wrong about anything in my life. Mock me, ridicule me, make small children tease me on the streets. It will be a relief. Start threads about my foolish pessimism, call me a partisan wanker, throw eggs at my house. Knock yourself out. Bookmark this thread so you can rub my nose in it it. I will be happy to be wrong. Mocking is no fun. Cash, however, is a lot of fun. I’ll bet you $100 US that the following conditions, which I have extracted from your post, will be the case on January 20, 2013: That assuming Barack Obama has served a full term as President of the United States commencing with his inauguration on January 20, 2009, - the unemployment rate as officially reported will be less than 10 percent, and - the officially reported inflation rate (we will use the Dept. of the Treasury as our authority) will be less than ten percent. Is it a bet? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/37 "2008-11-02T20:23:21Z")
Interestingly, there’s a piece posted today on [Salon.com](http://Salon.com) about the rally featured in the OP, titled [McCain Gets Mean](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/02/mccain/) (watch an ad for a free sitepass). Not _too_ dissimilar, but with a decidedly different slant. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/38 "2008-11-02T20:26:44Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Mark my words, however. Assuming Obama wins, 4 years down the road when we as a country wise up and finally throw him out on his socialist ass, we’ll be in much worse shape than we are now. Double digit inflation and unemployment. Stagnant economy. Diminished influence in the world, more at the mercy of China who is salivating at the chance to finance Obama’s insane desire to accelerate Bush’s attempt to spend us into bankruptcy. By any measure I think Obama is going to hurt the USA, and hurt us badly. This reminds me of the lady who told me at work the other day, “Mark my words: if Obama wins on Tuesday, the blacks will riot in the streets and take over everything. He will sell our country to the terrorists and force everybody to read the Koran every day. Mark my words!” I just wonder if you people can take yourselves seriously when you spout such ridiculous bullshit. No matter what your personal political ideology. Mark my words? Shouldn’t you be selling your services to Miss Cleo or something? And you expect people to take you seriously after shit like “Obama’s insane desire to accelerate Bush’s attempt to spend us into bankruptcy” and then “oh, but I hope I’m wrong!”. Mark my words!!! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/39 "2008-11-02T22:39:51Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > What does that say about how he would perform as president? Nothing good. I was trying to point out that the man is not the campaign, though. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704/40 "2008-11-02T22:59:39Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Nothing good. I was trying to point out that the man is not the campaign, though. Isn’t he though? I mean it is his campaign, he is the nominee, he can fire anyone who does something he does not approve of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-experience-at-a-mccain-rally/470704.md?page=3)