Live Blogging the Presidential Forum by Kristie Holmes
Note: I’m a political novice, a social worker, a mom and a new professor. What I pick up from this forum will be filtered by these roles. Please don’t look here for deep political understanding. However, feel free to take what you will from a woman who lives outside of news reporting and politics.
I was born and raised in California, and I’m married to a Southerner who can recite all of the past presidents of our country and discuss the civil war with his family at dinner. I might have been one of the Jay Leno people on the street when talking about the subject of politics. As a social worker, I am concerned about democratic issues and ideas, and as a homeowner, some Republican ones. And, I freely admit to at times registering for whatever party was on campus so I could vote.
4:59 pm
We had no sound in the media room while the star spangled banner was sung. So a tent full of media folks sang a (not bad) version. It felt very patriotic.
5:00pm
Nice start by Rick Warren. He says that he believes in separation of church and state, but not of faith and politics. We all have a faith perspective. These two guys are his friends, both patriots and he doesn’t agree wholly with either of them.
5:14pm
BARACK OBAMA
Who are the three people he will rely on?
Will rely on his wife Michelle- she can tell him when he screws up. Second, his grandmother- worked her way up to run a bank. In terms of the administration, he’s not going to restrict himself to three people.
Greatest failures: drinking, drugs, loving himself, being dissatisfied- couldn’t focus on others.
America’s greatest failure. We still don’t abide by taking care of “the least of these”- those that are less fortunate than themselves (book of Matthew, the Bible).
Flip Flopping- Rick Warren states that this, he can sometimes support. What has Barack changed his mind about? 10 years ago, welfare reform: things must be changed. Now he says that work must be a center piece of any social policy (dignity of work, being made for work, making a contribution). Not really sure what the big flop was was about though…
War in Iraq was a decision he struggled with. Saddam was a very bad guy. But he was opposed to it.
BREAK- so, my impressions so far? Probably a pretty nice guy…did his homework on the bible verses. Perhaps overly aware of how people perceive him (cameras) as I am sure all politicians are.
STILL BARACK: WORLDVIEW (5:19pm). 200,000 plus questions came in….
Christianity? What does it look like and feel like to Barack? Jesus Christ died for his sins and he is redeemed by Him, knows he does not walk alone. If he can get himself out of the way, his sins will be washed away. More seriously, it gives him a sense of obligation of not just words, but deeds- working for the least of these. Acting justly, walking humbly, mercy. Gives him confidence to run for President.
Humor- said that was an easy question. next up: Abortion.
Ouch, I heard about this on the news the other night- late term abortion (nurse with dying baby for 45 minutes because of a failed abortion) etc. He seems to have no idea how to answer this question directly. He is pro- choice. Looking down while talking about it. Limits to late term abortions. Stumbling through this a bit. He respects the view that what he believes in this area is inadequate. But, to be honest this seems to be a faith conflict to me.
Marriage defined to him: Man and Woman. He believes in civil unions. I agree with him here. Affording civil rights to others, even if he disagrees.
Stem Cells: discarded embryos. Not sure what I think, but his simplistic answer seems a slippery slope. How do you prove that they were discards?
Evil: evil has to be confronted. We can’t erase evil, but we can be soldier’s in God’s task. Have humility in how we approach evil (by not being evil?…I think he is saying that…).
Which Supreme court justice would he have NOT nominated? Clarence Thomas. Doesn’t agree with his interpretation of the constitution. I can’t really chime in here. I would be making stuff up.
I love that Rick Warren said to not give him “his stumped speech”.
Faith Based Agencies/ Organizations: Should they forfeit the right to hire who they want to in order to get government funding? He is talking but I don’t know what he is saying. Sounds like he is making an excuse about something. But he wants to avoid discrimination. A lot of media people have started stretching and getting fidgety.
Merit raises for teachers? Yes. Create higher baseline and reward excellence.
Define the “Rich”- “give me a number” said Rick Warren. Obama takes a humorous shot and says something like, “guys who sell 25 million books…you are rich (with a smile).”
$150,000 Middle class. Rick Warren interjects that in this region of this country this can be considered poor- lots of noise from the audience and media room. I agree! Just try to buy a house in Southern California. This range will see a tax cut.
$250,000 and above are rich. These families will see a raise in taxes.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES:
What is worth dying for? American freedom, interests. When asked about Darfur-wouldn’t commit, “no hard and fast line…If we have it within our power to prevent genocide in concert with the International community…” (there’s the loophole). A bit of cotton candy.
Orphans: good ideas…goes back to public health which he has done a few times, especially during the abortion topic.
Religious Persecution- moved quickly to China. Looks like he feels solid in what he is saying. WE must bear witness and speaking out about human rights abuses, which includes religious freedom. Faith and beliefs must be protected. Then moved to us walking the walk (i.e. no torture).
Human Traffic- we need better tools for prosecution.
ONE MINUTE: WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?
Empathy, the basic idea. America reflects this. The American Dream is slipping away economically, politically and other ways that need bridge building.
Barack closes by saying that he wants people to know him well, through forums like these and has faith this country will get the president that they need. He was then asked a question about something more difficult but launched into energy conservation- a great topic, but it did feel like he just used that last moment to get his last plug in.
JOHN MCCAIN
His three people he would go to:
A general- David Petraeus, John Lewis and Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)
Greatest moral failure: his divorce.
America- he matches Barack. He was more practical about serving a cause greater than your self interest. After 9/11 we should have told people to join Americorps or Peace Corps rather than go shopping or take a trip.
Makes it apparent that he will go against party lines and gives examples of why he would to stay true to what he believes in.
He did not hesitate on the flip flop question. Has flip flopped about offshore drilling. Says we have to do it NOW. Lots of applause.
Obama and McCain share views on torture and our need to conserve energy.
This guy is more humorous than I ever thought he was.
Even I know about the prison camp…the military definitely shapes this man. He comes back to security related to the military often. His experience does command respect.
I am not writing as much as I was with Obama, but that is because I am trying to listen a bit more, and type a bit less. It is hard to do both!
6:14pm
Christiantity in his life: he is saved and forgiven. Torture story (personal). He is good at answering questions with an experience story.
When does life begin? At the moment of conception. He is very sure of this. He has never changed his mind, he will not change. Regardless if anyone believes what he believes, at least everyone is clear about what he does believe.
Marriage defined to him: Man and Woman (another agreement). Sounds like he is okay with civil unions. Believes that the states should make their own decisions.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: short and not completely clear. Moral struggle, happy about alternatives on the horizon.
Defeat Evil: ” Will follow Osama to to gates of hell.” Followed with an appropriate story. He doesn’t sound at all canned.
He had a list of supreme court justices that he would not have had. Proven records of strictly adhering to the constitution is what should be done, and has not. Much damage has been done by the list.
Faith Based Agencies/ Organizations: Should they forfeit the right to hire who they want to in order to get government funding? NO (firm, like he is with most topics). Then he stated, “Life is full of anecdotes and I am sorry to tell you another but… (Katrina story)”. Good story.
Teachers: “Find bad teachers another line of work” : choice and competition. Charter schools, home schooling, voucher system. It is a civil rights issue, sending them to a failing school.
When are you rich? Every family needs a home, job, insurance etc…not the best answer here and he stated that he doesn’t want to take money from the rich… but is loose on how to address some of the other issues. We don’t need to raise taxes, we need to not spend 3 million dollars on Bear DNA (this is a great point).
“I can inspire, I can lead, and our best days are ahead of us”.
Privacy and National Security: these ideals compete. Not sure what he is saying but that everyone on both sides needs to work together to avoid attack and staying on top of the latest technology. I get the idea that this is something that he would get a report on rather than be actively involved in. But who knows, perhaps he was texting secretly below the table on his iPhone or Blackberry during the forum.
INTERNATIONAL:
What is worth dying for? Freedom, national security. Similar answer to Obama. Temper this with ability to to know that we can’t right every wrong- be a beacon of hope - a shining city on the hill (Reagan).
Our obligation is to stop genocide whenever we can. (Also in agreement with Obama). McCain stated that he was very sad about the suffering of the Georgians by the centuries old ambition of Russia. This behavior is not acceptable in the 21st century.
We need to make adoption easier in this country so they don’t have to leave the country to adopt. He then promises his last story. His wife brought him a weeks old baby from Mother Theresa’s orphanage and said “meet your new daughter”.
He wants to reach across the aisle to get things done. America wants hope and he wants to give it to them. He still tells people that won’t vote for him anyway that he will be their president and will put this country first.
Both gave nice answers about how they felt to be answering questions in this church.
6:54pm
So, it is a couple of hours later and I can say that I would not be devastated at this point if either man was our next President. It was a great, well done forum where both candidates showed sides to their personality that I hadn’t seen before (not that I have watched all that much). I have more concerns about some of the things Obama has said (or what he was unable to say/ clarify) as well as associations he has had in his past. Honestly, the late term abortion thing did effect my view (in a negative way) of him. Especially since he was reverting back to when life starts (which I can see how people may differ/ argue this). But the uglier issue discussed recently was about late term abortion where the baby could actually live if they were given aid after the failed abortion. I wasn’t happy with his answer in this regard and wish he would have given another answer. Otherwise, I found him genuine in that he wants to be a genuine leader and is willing to take other’s views into consideration- even his wife’s. He looked up to his grandmother and her business sense…so the fact that the first two people mentioned that he would go to for advice were women, may reflect a difference in the times. Women, in Obama’s time play more prominent roles than perhaps those in McCain’s time. There was a definite generation gap between the two, which has its pros and cons.
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