Are the American people truly ready for change? This is the question that Barack Obama is trying to instill during his interview with David Letterman late Wednesday night. Senator Obama made a bold statement referring to the "Sarah Palin Phenominon" and the idea that we, as Americans, need something fundamentally new. He is confident that once Palin begins talking about issues and giving interviews she will show the American people that she shares the same views as John McCain. He believes she stands by the same policies that George W has had for the past eight years. He really drives it home by saying that if we need someone to find us new jobs, or to send our kids to college, or to find a better health care system, why would we want four more years of the same policies. Barack Obama believes that change is what this election is about and we need something fundamentally new; whoever can get this across to the American people will be the next President of the United States of America.
David Letterman-Obama-Sept 10-2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODOAMI2z6tY
Aubree Walgamuth
3 comments:
Comparing McCain to President Bush is like comparing Obama to John Kerry or another Democratic politician or candidate. In my opinion, people need to stop trying to make these comparisons. Instead they need to examine both candidates as the individuals they are and where they stand on the issues. I really do not think Obama's attempts to "scare" voters away from McCain by comparing him to President Bush are going to prove beneficial. McCain has already received much attention for straying away from his party when it comes to his beliefs and policies. I have often heard McCain being referred to as a liberal Republican, but not once have I ever heard anyone refer to Obama as a conservative Democrat. Maybe this is simply another tactic by him to sway more moderate and independent voters away from McCain as he begins to slip in the polls.
But what about the grand showcase of George W. endorsing McCain as the Republican nominee. There are still a great number of people that like George W. and see his values in McCain. The comparison will always be there, no matter what. I also think it is fair to compare candidates of the same party. It is, after all, a platform from which they stand. The specifics can be a bit flexible, sure; but the overall values of a political party must remain intact in order for them to call it a party, right? Reagan, George Sr., George Jr... there is no significant deviation in each of their administrations. The only reason there are greater differences is that the issues and the importance of each change over time. Our focus shifts. Many of the stances that Kerry and Gore made were very similar to Obama. So what's changed? Why is Obama doing better? These are the questions that can really shine some light on how we view a candidate and whether it's the issues we care about, or something else...
I think this is an interesting topic. The first comment talks about looking at the individual candidate. The second comment talks about inevitable comparisons that come with belonging to a party. I think the decline of political parties is evident, but at the same time each candidate still belongs to one of the parties, and will gain millions of votes just because of that fact alone. I think comparisons are healthy and should be done, but at the same time I think each individual deserves a chance to be seen as that, an individual.
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