Amy J's Take on the First Presidential Debate

Newsmax.com – Why McCain Won the Debate: "There is little question that John McCain “won” the first debate last night. Perhaps he lost on points (arguments) and style (how could he beat Mr. Smooth?), but McCain “won” over the audience, the only victory that counts."

How any of those so called "pundits" could possibly think that Obama had the edge in last night's debate escapes any form of common sense. Yeah, Obama had the edge over McCain in being a smooth talker (and probably could have been voted "Mr. Congeniality") but as noted in the commentary by Christopher Ruddy, Obama sounded like your standard university professor. What is beside the point is that the vast majority of your standard university professors range from being a left-wing liberal on the moderate end to an outright Marxist/Communist on the other end of the spectrum. I agree that when you listen to Obama speak, it is difficult to decipher how he is different in both tone and philosophy from your standard university professor. But, the real issue is that I don't want to depend on a "professor" to run our country and keep us safe from those that want to kill us.

During the debate, Senator McCain successfully demonstrated his depth of experience and know-how to run this country both in the area of economics and military defense. For example, he reminded us how he attempted to share his understanding of military strategy with then President Ronald Reagan, as he voted against sending the U.S. Marines into Lebanon back in 1983 and tragically, McCain was right. About 300 Marines lost their lives in the bombing of their barracks. McCain also gave specific examples of how he has taken action to cut wasteful government spending as a U.S. Senator.

What McCain didn't have the time to mention is all that he's managed to learn from the successes and mistakes of former presidents and cabinet members and how he's managed to implement/support policies based on these lessons learned. Such as how Ronald Reagan fixed and boomed the economy after the catastrophic failure of President Carter's economic policies, the mistake of George H. W. Bush when he raised taxes after promising not to do so, the mistakes of Bill Clinton as he demoralized the United States Military by reducing the military budget and forcing them to fight in combat and military missions with inadequate resources and personnel, and finally, the further damage to the military caused by the policies and the incompetence of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, as he mismanaged the military and the war in Iraq, while he tried to run the military like a corporation:

McCain blames Rumsfeld for missteps - John McCain News- msnbc.com: "Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday the war in Iraq has been mismanaged for years and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be remembered as one of the worst in history."

Finally, what could Obama say after McCain candidly mocked the idea of sitting at the same table and having "talks" with the likes of Ahmadinejad with absolutely no preconditions?

"MCCAIN: So let me get this right. We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, 'We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,' and we say, 'No, you're not'? Oh, please."
Transcript of presidential debate - CNN.com

Amy J.