How will John Mccain respond at the RNC?

Because Barack Obama went first he doesn't have to make a mass rebuttal to the statements uttered by the other party at the DNC. That was smart of him to have the DNC before the RNC. I think everything is in favor of Barack Obama right now-- the mass of people who haven't decided who to vote for have probably decided that Obama is the candidate they want in power-- after they saw Bill Clinton decided that he's ready to lead. I agree that Obama is ready to lead. Surely-- John Mccain will try to do something to win over the Republicans that have had their hopes and dreams dashed by the Bush administration. What can he possibly do to win them over to him? It looks like Barack stole the spotlight to me. What are your thoughts on this?

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
Because Barack Obama went first he doesn't have to make a mass rebuttal to the statements uttered by the other party at the DNC. That was smart of him to have the DNC before the RNC.

For those that may be unaware of this, the DNC's convention has been before the RNC's convention for as long as I have been voting...which goes back a ways.

I think everything is in favor of Barack Obama right now-- the mass of people who haven't decided who to vote for have probably decided that Obama is the candidate they want in power-- after they saw Bill Clinton decided that he's ready to lead.

Ah, it is very early yet in this political campaign. Masses of people that are liberally minded have indeed decided to vote for Obama. However, it is neither the liberals, nor the conservatives, that will decide this election.

As usual, it is the independantly minded, of which I am one, that decide.

And though Bill Clinton is a great politician, and a smooth speaker, it will take more than an endorsement from him, or from Hillary, to assuage the resentment a whole lot of women above 40 years of age feel for the massive media bias against anyone but Obama in the Democratic race for the nomination.

I agree that Obama is ready to lead.

Giving a well written speech is one of Obama's strengths, but being a great public speaker has very little to do with leadership. Decision making is more a hallmark of a leader, since that is what a leader does the most of.

Obama is smooth and smart, but we know next to nothing about how he decides anything, much less what he believes. Being the most liberal senator in the nation is great for the idealistic, but it's not always practical, and is often very misleading about how someone thinks and reacts.

This is one of the reasons I prefer Governors to Senators for President, or if a senator, then one that has a long track record.

To me, one of the most startling differences between McCain and Obama is how clearly they know their positions, and how that position translates to reality. When Russia invaded Georgia, McCain knew where he stood...Obama had three meetings, and spoke three different positions before he reached the same conclusion that McCain did. That's a scary indicator.

Surely-- John Mccain will try to do something to win over the Republicans that have had their hopes and dreams dashed by the Bush administration. What can he possibly do to win them over to him?

Again, McCain already has the Republicans, and Obama has the Democrats...those that are undecided will be undecided all the way into the voting booth, and among them are going to be a whole lot of ticked off Hillary voters, who are saying they will make a statement with their vote.

McCain only has to be McCain...stable, dull, reliable, and a known quantity that is very middle of the road in his thinking, and a proven cross-the-party-line maverick.

McCain will neither win the presidency, nor lose it, unless he says something incredibly inane, which given 30 years of campaign experience, is unlikely.

Obama could lose it...Because he is young, inexperienced, and without a solid resume. And in a president, people do care that we do not yet know who Obama is, or how he thinks, or what he will do in any given situation.

So far, Obama has proven nothing except that he holds very liberal views.

It looks like Barack stole the spotlight to me. What are your thoughts on this?

If only the spotlight was all that mattered in a presidential election!!!

It's not, and being a young, smooth talking, good looking guy is not all that there is to winning an election.

Somewhere along the line, Obama is going to have to convince a lot of people that he is not just that young, smooth talking, goodlooking guy.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


This is the first time the conventions have been back to back in a long time. The conventions usually are the candidates time to shine, and then the campaign officially begins after the last convention, which dreamtrekker has pointed out has been the Republicans.
This can be bad news for the Republicans since it doesn't give them too much time to respond. Add to that Barack Obama's acceptance speech. This may be why Sen. John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, to create some excitement. He will now have the conservatives firmly behind him, which was a problem for him. My thinking was the conservatives would back him eventually, and he should of gone for a more moderate choice. There are many moderate women candidates out there.
But I give Sen. McCain a lot of points for surprising us on the news. Everyone knew Sen. Biden was the pick over a week before he was chosen. But McCain did keep this one a surprise.

So far, McCains campaign has been mostly AGAINST Obama and not FOR himself.

He seems bent on pointing out everything that is wrong with Obama (most of it extreme accusations) than pointing out why people should vote for himself.

I really, really liked how Obama took a sort of higher ground, and was the tone for many speakers a the convention. He basically called McCain out on his smear tactics. I especially like how he said that questioning someone's patriotism is a low blow. He set a very high bar for the republicans to rise up to.

A lot of the democrats never once smeared John McCain and in fact made a point to recognize the service he provided to this country by risking his life. The brought up the issues, not his character.

He basically left McCain with nothing, IMO. He didn't make a "mass of rebuttal statements", as you said, but he basically anticipated very well what the republicans will say about him at the RNC. So now, whatever the republicans throw at him will be very predictable.

I'm really hesitant to go here, but I have to say that I NOW understand why people have said Obama has a message of hope and change. I will admit it may all be empty promises, but I can't see McCain getting up to the podium and inspiring millions with a message of how he is going to turn this country around and fix Bush's failed policies.

We all know that if Bush was allowed to run a third term and did, there is no way he would win. Absolutley no way. And the fact remains that McCains stance on many many issues mirror Bush's. He's just the same politician as Bush in a different body.

McCain has no new ideas. And until last night (though still not fully 100%) I was very reluctant to support Obama because I wasn't sure his change was a change we needed. But at least SOME change is better than NO change at all.

I'm eager to see if the republican speakers will spend some of there time tearing down Obama, not on the issues but by making personal character attacks on him.

reply to post by nunya13


You hit the nail on the head with this statement. That is Sen. McCain's biggest problem is who he is and what does he stand for. I supported Sen. McCain in 2000 because he was a maverick who did not just tow the party line. He put up with the most vicious smear tactics I had ever seen. Then after 2004, he wanted to run in 2008 and started doing the standard "tow the line" type speeches and activities. He lost the maverick part of him so many independents liked about him. His embrace of Pres. Bush on all the issues seemed especially disturbing, considering what happened in 2000. When he started the same smear tactics against Sen. Obama, I just saw Sen. McBush.
He has to show he still is the old maverick. How he does it, and when he does it will be up to him. I think it will be too little, too late.