John McCain just said that our troops have been sent to "all four corners of the earth." But that's really just a symbol of his performance tonight. Every answer out of his mouth so far is a sound bite, a catch phrase. There has been absolutely no nuance whatsoever in his remarks. For what purposes should we send troops overseas? "Freedom." What position have you changed? "DRILL, DRILL, DRILL! DRILL NOW....DRILL EVERYWHERE!" When does life begin? "Conception." (Oh...so you are a doctor?) Marriage? "One man, one woman." What will he do about evil in the world? "Chase bin Laden to the gates of hell" because he "knows how." Even Rick Warren pointed out every one of his answers has been remarkably short. And that's just the beginning...
John McCain's campaign has been a very sad story of a man in desperation. A man obviously willing to accept the talking points of any right-winger who might turn out a few votes. A maverick? Not so much. McCain is smarter than this, or at least he led us all to believe that for so many years.
Senator Obama's performance tonight wasn't a crowd-pleaser, it was honest. It was thoughtful. Obama gave us a window into his thinking on the tough issues, the tough moral judgments that he has made and would have to make as President.
As the media narrative after this evening's performance may be about McCain's raucous applause and perfect sound bites, winning over the base... Maybe we should think about making this debate about, as West Wing made famous "a 22 caliber mind in a 357 magnum world." Is McCain dumb? No. But is he dumbing himself down? Absolutely. And that isn't the kind of President we want, someone who thinks Americans are so stupid all we can handle is "freedom. life. liberty. America...fuck yeah!" We can do better...