Comments on: Pre-Game Analysis: Rick Warren’s Forum on Faith

By: Oneiroi

Oneiroi — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:51:16 +0000

As I said before, I think of McCain as brash and reactionary, which I think leads him to wrong decisions, but I did temper that with saying that Obama is sometimes too meanderingly thoughtful on subjects. This has been evidence since his first book. And from what I’ve read of his professorial work there too (but that’s kinda normal in academics).

I believe that the campaign is forcing him to lessen that a bit though.

I just don’t think because he’s thoughtful or however you want to put it, that means he’s lying/acting or whatever.

By: Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:55:42 +0000

I will agree that Obama is very good at sounding like he’s giving an opinion, but then you realize he nuanced his opinion in a way that almost no one can disagree with. It’s like his Berlin speech. He framed everything in that speech in a way that almost no one could disagree with.

Sometimes you have to actually take a position others can dispute.

By: Oneiroi

Oneiroi — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:10:08 +0000

PC
I would say that’s how he approaches every question and issue, there’s no hidden negative. It is what it is. I mean he was the same way on his race speech, but I wouldn’t say that meant he just thought about it.

By: Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:17:11 +0000

I liked McCain’s answers better because he sounds like he has conviction. You probably noticed lots of stories behind all his answers which demonstrated to me that most of his positions have been formed from personal experience.

Obama seems to feel the need to nuance his positions as much as possible and I get the impression his slow, measured answers either come from someone just now forming his opinons or from really good acting.

By: Gotchaye

Gotchaye — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:40:49 +0000

I don’t know, PC – I’ll admit that McCain’s answers made for better sound bites, but I don’t feel like this really told me anything about McCain that I didn’t know already. McCain’s answers were -too- quick; he sounded like I sound in job interviews. He was clearly pandering on a lot of the questions (“at conception”) and he was trying very hard to bring everything back to campaign talking points (“drill here drill now”). It’s strategically sound, I suppose, but it’s not what I would have liked to see and I don’t think it tells us much about McCain as a man or as a potential leader.

Obama seemed to actually be giving some thought to many of his answers (granted, a lot of it was likely just better acting or a professorial style that he’s gotten used to). It seems like you’re criticizing him for this though, now that I reread your comment, you might just be commenting solely on the strategic implications.

Basically, Obama just came across as much more sincere to me. Even his awful fumble of the abortion question seemed to stem from a desire to explain his actual views. McCain’s answers generally sounded more sure and straightforward, but I just never felt like he was doing more than reading off of a script.

By: Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:48:36 +0000

As I have said before, there have been plenty of smart Presidents who were lousy leaders (Carter). On a separate note, having watched both men answer their questions, I am even more ticked than before that Obama punked out on the debates. McCain's answers came out rapid fire and they demonstrated EXPERIENCE. Obama spent most of his time acting like it was a therapy session and inner reflection was the order of the day.

By: Gotchaye

Gotchaye — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:48:32 +0000

That’s not entirely accurate. Long-term, sure, an intelligent candidate will eventually be better than an experienced candidate, but there’s an initial period in which a sufficiently more experienced candidate will make better decisions. What’s important here is that the type of experience that McCain has doesn’t really apply to the presidency (there’s very little reason to think that being a US Senator is good ‘practice’ for being president, and of course fighting in a war has almost nothing to do with leading one).

Also, concerning the particular case of Obama answering a question on the Constitution, it’s worth noting that his answer would almost certainly be mostly determined by his experience in the field of constitutional law. There’s of course a lot of interplay between experience and intelligence, but I would hope that even the least intelligent law student could say something reasonable about the Constitution as an instrument for social change (especially given the prep-time and motivation that Obama has), seeing as how he’s undoubtedly read quite a bit on just that issue.

By: Ames

Ames — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:21:23 +0000

No, it should always come first. Just, people don’t argue it that way. I wish they would.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:15:33 +0000

Ames… are there any cases where intelligence shouldn’t come before experience?

For that matter, is there anything that intelligence shouldn’t always come before?

By: A salient point about tonight’s Rick Warren Faith Forum thingamabob « break the terror

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:21:45 +0000

[...] salient point about tonight’s Rick Warren Faith Forum thingamabob Submitted to a Candid World: Confronted with tough questions, it’ll be interesting to see which candidate turns to the [...]