There are a few things I want to touch on today. First, the debate. Result? As often as I like to criticize both candidates, this time I must say Obama impressed me with his eloquence, which I think was even higher than usual. McCain, one could sense, often times resorted to humor which gave an odd impression of nervousness rather than calmness. The questions were much better than in the first debate, however, again neither candidate really addressed them specifically, but rather lost the audience in a flow of rosy verbiage. Nevertheless, I must say Obama won this one (I think we’ve all grown to admit that the candidates rarely answer questions anyway, regardless of party) due not only to his oratory skills but also to his impressive self control. After McCain questioned his judgement and understanding, he simply gave one sharp response and did not pursue to embarrass or intimidate the Republican pick more, but quickly came to the other matters at hand.
Recent polls show Obama’s clear lead in the polls.
Barack Obama leads John McCain by 46 percent to 39 percent, according to a FOX News national registered voter poll released Friday. Two weeks ago Obama led by 45 percent to 39 percent (Sept. 22-23).
And that is a FOX News poll. I have been getting statements that my first real entry on this blog about the inevitable defeat of Obama now turns out to be a false projection. It is true I have (like most observers) not foreseen the economic calamity because at that moment in time it was simply recession. Undoubtedly, an opposition party gains while the party in power loses support in time of a moribund economic reality. However, there is still a lot of time to the election and anything can happen.
Anything? How about martial law introduced on election day by Bush to cancel the elections and organize a country-wide curfew? Some believe it may be so.
A lot of conspiracy theorists recently like to talk about the National Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD-51). The NSPD-51 allows the president to do pretty much anything in case of a “catastrophic emergency” in order for the “continuity of government” to happen. It is said Bush will invoke this directive to counter panic of the economic crisis before the elections or, in case Obama loses, after the elections to stop the “inevitable mass riots” all across America. Accordingly, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) already prepared plastic coffins in order to be ready for the “mass casualties”.
I am a big skeptic when it comes to conspiracy theories and there are so many things to comment on the aforementioned case that I will not even attempt to list them, but one thing is sure: this election is important and it is going to get more and more intense, with possibly “any” scenario taking place.
McCain’s fall in the polls has caused his campaign to adopt a different strategy. While Palin’s attacks become more and more “dirty”, McCain tries to distant himself from all of it even at the cost of booing from his own supporters, as you can see here.
If McCain really speaks what he thinks then he has just gained a great deal of respect in my eyes. Yet this might as well be another high-risk strategy aimed at independents and perhaps even disgruntled Democrats.
Obama attacked McCain personally publishing the Keating Economics video, which you can look up. The video explains McCain’s ties to Charles Keating, the main persona of a very convoluted 1989 Keating Five corruption scandal. Personally, I don’t think Obama campaign’s accusations are true. The people interviewed in the video already sued the Democraic campaign for “being led” to answer in specific ways. But that is not the reason why I don’t believe it. I just don’t think any sane individual would run for election of the highest office in the country having played a clandestine role in a really shocking scandal (this scandal implies parallels to the subprime mortgage crisis of today) and subsequently lying about it in Congress (McCain is directly involved in it no doubt, but it is the extent of his involvement that is the issue). It is obvious for any candidate that the media will dig up any, even the most benign, inconsistency in the candidate’s life, and John McCain understands that. So, in a way, my refusal to believe the Obama campaign comes not from the actual accusations but rather from the logic of publishing such a video just now and from the assumption McCain is not delusional. It might be my naïveté, but I am always skeptical towards any revelations dug up for the purpose of winning elections.
