Just finished watching the stream of Obama's New Mexico women's meeting on CNN. Kinda hard to tell how many were in attendance but it couldnt have been more than 30 people, all female. We all know about the ridiculous stories in the MSM of women unsure, put-off, or just down right angry at Obama. None of this came through in the town hall.
Obama seemed to have all the right moves in this event. He fielded questions ranging from healthcare for undocumented Americans, training students to be able to take the jobs of tommorow we here about (working in solar, wind, etc.), rising healthcare premiums, taxes, and troop withdrawal. A couple things I took away from this are:
- He spoke of his mother who died of ovarian cancer at 53 in response to a question about Pre-existing conditions and obtaining healthcare. The story spoke to the heart of who he is, at least to me it did. A man who is thoroughly devoted to extreme changes in US healthcare. He cleverly drew a parallel with the questioner, who as a family history of cancer and couldnt get a specific test because its 500 bucks out of pocket. The story seemed to get right to heart of the man. He cannot nor will not allow this to happen to any one, if he should be elected
- The man has personal experiences galore. One thing I noticed, every answer he gave drew a comparison to something that has happened in his own life. Some, in the wake of the Rick Warren love-fest, have said Obama didnt perform well because, unlike McCain, Obama has no personal stories. Simply not true. He has them. He's just not willing to mention them every 5 seconds (POW, POW, POW) like McCain, who swears the topic is off-limits but every chance he gets he mentions it. Obama doesnt feel the need to pimp these stories out on a daily basis, so when he does use these examples, they hold way more weight and resonate louder with voters in this setting.
Thats all. The man seemed very confident during this town hall and willing to offer hard solutions to hard questions. All in all a good informative session for those live in attendance and those watching at home. For all those who still cling to the misconception that Obama will not pick up "the women's vote" in November, after watching this great town hall, one wonders will ANY women vote for McCain? My guess, only 2. Cindy McCain and Carly Fiorina