# September 26 - The First Obama-McCain Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357 "2008-09-26T16:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/481 "2008-09-27T06:13:14Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > What do the height of North Koreans have to do with…??? Nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/482 "2008-09-27T06:14:45Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > “I know Henry Kissinger. I’ve worked with Henry Kissinger. You, senator, are NO Henry Kissinger!” Not until he commits war crimes worthy of hanging, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/483 "2008-09-27T06:14:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Nutrition. Health care, as well? I thought he was making a general point that N. Korea didn’t take care of their citizens. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/484 "2008-09-27T06:19:17Z")
[This](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/annewaldron/Picture13.png) image is priceless (CNN). I mean, yeah, it looks like Obama’s making a concerted, if difficult, effort to greet him; McCain looks like he needs to go wash his hands. And he’s not looking at him here, either (granted this is just a still shot, but c’mon- you could cut the bitterness with a knife). I thought that was a HUGE fail for McCain, to not ever look at him once. To me, that body language says “I’m pretending you’re not even here”. A trait of a leader? No. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/485 "2008-09-27T06:29:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think the difference in demeanors might actually redound to Obama’s favor with seniors. On Fox, Frank Luntz had a panel of undecided voters who he was gauging for their responses (the majority of whom were saying better things about Obama than McCain), and one of the things a couple of the older people mentioned was that Obama had called McCain “John,” throughout, while McCain never called Obama “Barack” or really even acknowledged him with eye contact. A small thing, maybe, but something that apparently bothered them, and something I do think that people of a certain generation will notice. Basic courtesy means something to them, and they saw Obama being a nice, polite young man and McCain being surly in return. Yep. And candidates ignore us Old Farts at their peril. We are the people for whom “nice young man” is a freakin’ COMPLIMENT. As much as we WANT to like McCain, a fellow Boomer whose war record we can respect, we repeatedly see him as a Running Dog Lackey of the Establishment we swore, forty years ago, NEVER to become. As much as his minions may rail against Bill Ayers, there is a pile of us who agreed with Ayers way-back-then and find no fault in Obama being slightly associated with him. For the record, for our youngin’s, there are MANY of us Vietnam war protesters who can both respect McCain the POW and dismiss McCain the Politician as a MORON. The protests were NOT to hand Vietnam to the Commies but to pull Our Boys (and Our Brothers) out of an unwinnable war. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/486 "2008-09-27T06:30:22Z")
Just to add to the ten pages of miniscule observations: as I predicted (and somebody above pointed out), at the conclusion Obama did stride purposefully across the stage to shake McCain’s hand: a contrasting image of energy and initiative. And as they were walking away from the podiums, Obama sort of patted him on the back and said “Good job, John” or something similar. Maybe a little consoling? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/487 "2008-09-27T06:32:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > wow; i must have been watching some other debate… 'cause i didn’t see this part of it at all (bolding mine) Did they cut out all the uh uh uhs in the broadcast you saw? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/488 "2008-09-27T06:35:10Z")
> [@](#): > > …To me, that body language says “I’m pretending you’re not even here”. A trait of a leader? No… But television angles hide that, I didn’t know he wasn’t directly engaging Barrack. I didn’t realize it had happened till I saw the third or fourth pundit mention it (Tweety Bird seemed in rather a lather…) But monkey to monkey subtext-signal wise, that’s pretty rude shit. But what do you say about it? “Hey, you! Yeah, _you!_ What do you think you’re not looking at? You not looking at me? I don’t see anybody else around for you to be not looking at…” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/489 "2008-09-27T06:35:16Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Yes, at one point I thought I saw him getting red. He looked away at that point, found someone in the crowd and smiled and nodded. He did control his temper better than I had thought he would, considering some of the things I read leading up to the debate. I think that might have been in response Obama’s zinger: “You’re absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. But, you know, coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don’t know, you know, how credible that is.” You know? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/490 "2008-09-27T06:43:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > As much as we WANT to like McCain, a fellow Boomer whose war record we can respect… “Fellow Boomer?” McCain was born in '36. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/491 "2008-09-27T06:45:35Z")
Did Obama initiate that “bring the wives together”? Maybe getting in a “Look what I got, look what you got. Eat your heart out.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/492 "2008-09-27T06:46:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Did they cut out all the uh uh uhs in the broadcast you saw? I don’t recall hearing Sen. Obama say “uh uh uh” repeatedly. I heard him say “uh” several times during the course of the 90 minute debate, yes. I would disagree strongly that this could be characterized as “sounding like a kid stammering his way through his first debate club meet”; it sounds to me more like an unconscious thing he does sometimes when he pauses while speaking. Since this is GD, why don’t you post a link to some video of him saying, as you claim, “uh uh uh” repeatedly during this debate? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/493 "2008-09-27T06:48:17Z")
One more thought before I turn in: McCain was talking about the economic problems - after Obama had first brought up the “don’t help Wall Street at the expense of Main Street” (which to me is an annoying sound bite anyway). McCain mentioned the American worker. Here it is, from the CNN transcript: > [@](#): > > But I have a fundamental belief in the goodness and strength of the American worker. And the American worker is the most productive, the most innovative. America is still the greatest producer, exporter and importer. And immediately the thought sprung up in my head that the “goodness and strength” he meant was the way that, in the past, folks rolled up their sleeves and did the hard work of getting the country back on track. It seemed as though he meant that, in this crisis, the taxpayers would work hard to pay more taxes to bail out Wall Street. That he just assumed that we’d do it. That didn’t sit well with me - I don’t think that’s what he wanted to evoke with his statements. I wonder if it struck anyone else that way? Perhaps I’m more biased than I thought. **Koxinga** : Yes, and I had the same reaction Obama did. I, too, thought he was stretching credibility. I mean, if you _know_ you can get called out on something, why bring it up? I tell ya, our oldest son is a McCain supporter, but has issues with the ‘old school’ Republican party. I think a lot of these young Republicans don’t buy into the old schtick that McCain operates on. Very similar to the way my oldest daughter felt about Hillary. Many of the old guard of each party clings on to the old paradigms at their own risk, in today’s political climate. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/494 "2008-09-27T06:51:51Z")
I fail to see how anyone could not notice how much McCain was dismissive in words and in actions of Obama. The old saying, actions speak louder than words comes to mind. As much as McCain said he would “cross the aisle” it seems rather far fetched when he couldn’t even turn his gaze, nor take one step towards his opposition. Is this how we can see McCain the President dealing with less-than-ideal national leaders? Barely contained contempt? Smug, smirking, condescending and dismissive? I am sorry, I think McCain looked exactly like the kind of President we do not need. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/495 "2008-09-27T06:56:25Z")
Just occurred to me. Homer’s age is hinted at being somewhere around 35-38. Given a rough standard of 20 to 25 years being a “generation”, there is a pretty good chance that Granpa Simpson is younger than John McCain. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/496 "2008-09-27T06:56:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “Fellow Boomer?” McCain was born in '36. Maybe “Boomer” was the wrong word and “fellow guy who was of the Vietnam generation” was better, if longer. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/497 "2008-09-27T07:10:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just occurred to me. Homer’s age is hinted at being somewhere around 35-38. Given a rough standard of 20 to 25 years being a “generation”, there is a pretty good chance that Granpa Simpson is younger than John McCain. Nah, Grandpa’s supposed to be in his early eighties, and a WWII veteran. Of course, like all the Simpsons, he’ll always be in his early eighties, so eventually, he will be younger than John McCain. But he’s not yet. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/498 "2008-09-27T07:30:57Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > [Kissinger: Open direct Iran talks - UPI.com](http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/16/Kissinger_Open_direct_Iran_talks/UPI-46971221579660/) > > Guess John doesn’t know him that well after all. You’re wrong. And Shat=yna was wrong on this subject earlier, as well. During the primaries Obama stated that, as president, he would meet with Achma278342yr98y, Chavez and Castro without preconditions. Hillary beat him about the ears with that. McCain is right, that’s what he said. As far as Kissinger, McCain is right. Kissinger never said that the President should meet with those leaders without pre-condidtions. If you think I’m wrong about this it might interest you to know that Kissinger has already weighed in on this, stating that Obama mischaracterized his position. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/499 "2008-09-27T07:36:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Maybe “Boomer” was the wrong word and “fellow guy who was of the Vietnam generation” was better, if longer. McCain is part of the Silent Generation. If he doesn’t get elected, I belive that particular generation will go down in history as never having had a president emerge from their ranks. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/500 "2008-09-27T08:08:31Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > McCain is part of the Silent Generation. If he doesn’t get elected, I belive that particular generation will go down in history as never having had a president emerge from their ranks. Bill Clinton and John McCain are 10 years apart agewise. They are of the same generation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357.md?page=26)