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Come Togetherrrrr right now….over me (& Obama) [by Jackie]

I am going to give a little overview of the last presidential debate from my perspective. At 8:53 PM I knew I only had a couple of minutes to make my getaway.

I showed up at the Ely Lounge to meet up with my Political Communication class. The debate started at 9:00, but the gym was only opened until 10! What to do, what to do?! So I decided it was in everyone’s best interest for me to sneak down to the gym right before the debate started and then come back up about 45 minutes in. So after my 2 mile run I headed back up. I had to be kinda secretive so my professor didn’t notice. Oh wait..I hope he isn’t reading this…

I sat down just in time. McCain was all, ” Well I didn’t like some of the things that were yelled at your rallies Senator Obama. In fact some t-shirts were made that just aren’t acceptable!” Woah what did I walk in on? This was intense! I was all hot and sweaty, or maybe that was from the run? I did feel bad for both of them. I mean whatever I know they are running for president and they have all this money and who cares about their feelings, but you could really tell that they were both hurt about things that had been said.

Obama wants everyone, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Aliens and whomever else to come together! He believes that in order to solve two wars, get out of this horrible financial crisis, and get more jobs and other good stuff we need to all work together or else we won’t be any better off. Obama is trying to get down to business and then McCain comes out with this Acorn issue. So annoying. Acorn is a community organization that apparently diddled around with some votes, paid people to go register false votes they made up names and what not.. I don’t know the exact details but I do know that Obama didn’t have anything to do with it!

I won’t go over the whole debate, Angela and Alicia have really covered it. I just wrote down some random notes while watching it which I will now go over:

McCain: Blinks a lot. — likes the word “cockamamie”
Obama: Nice smile.— Wants more fuel-efficient cars. $4,000 tuition credit to college students in exchange for community service/peace core/ other stuff. I LIKE IT!

Let’s try this one last time [by Angela]

For the last debate of the election, filmed at Hofstra University (what up Long Islanddd!), me and my fellow Political Comm. students hung out in the Ely Lounge at Westfield State College to watch. It’s important that I mention snacks were provided and that this kid was eating nachos chock full of salsa, fake yellow cheese and sour cream. Ew. Anybody who knows me knows that sour cream is the bane of my existence. *Shudders*

I sat next to my lovely roommate Katie and my fellow blogger Alex Ross of Box-o-Thoughts fame.

Bob Schieffer was the moderator for the evening. I liked the setup of the debate – for those who didn’t watch, the candidates and the moderator shared a small round table. It added an element of intensity and the candidates were forced to interact. And because of the sweet split screen, I was forced to watch McCain blink and grimace endlessly.

The first question asked dealt with Wall Street and the economic crisis.
McCain answers first, and apparently I’m fucking pissed.
“Americans are hurting right now, and they’re angry. They’re hurting, and they’re angry. They’re innocent victims of greed and excess on Wall Street and as well as Washington, D.C. And they’re angry, and they have every reason to be angry.”

“Now, we have allocated $750 billion. Let’s take 300 of that billion and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes, 11 million homes or more, so that they can afford to pay the mortgage, stay in their home.”

Obama answers by reminding us for the 100th time that we are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
“Number one, let’s focus on jobs. I want to end the tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for every company that’s creating a job right here in America. Number two, let’s help families right away by providing them a tax cut — a middle-class tax cut for people making less than $200,000, and let’s allow them to access their IRA accounts without penalty if they’re experiencing a crisis.”

They start talking about taxes…
Who’s Joe? McCain is stuttering about small business taxes and Joe the Plumber’s American dream. Did I miss something?
Obama – Tax cut for 95% of Americans
McCain – Wants Joe the Plumber to act as a type of Robin Hood? I’m confused…

*McCain is lookin’ smug, the crowd at Ely Lounge is feelin’ the vibe and getting into it. Some clapping, laughter, and hoots. YEA BOI!*

What’s with the phrase, “…countries that don’t like us very much.” I’ve heard it said by McCain at least three times over the course of the debates. Is that a technical term or just a nice way of saying “… countries that want to bomb our asses”?

Quote about hatchet & scalpel

McCain is verbally flopping around in Obama’s old metaphors.

Q. Balance budget in four years?
McCain insists that he is NOT George Bush*. Well, everyone knows that the best way to get people to not think you’re a certain way is to vehemently deny it. Like when you’re at a party and the slutty girl keeps drunkenly saying “Look, I’m not a slut. I’m really not. But I just gave dome to like, three guys…”

*Who’s George Bush?

McCain still insisting Americans are angry. DON’T TELL ME HOW I FEEL! GOD JOHN YOU’RE ALWAYS TRYING TO CONTROL ME!!!
Obama flashing pearly whites whilst defending himself as a person with a history of “reaching across the aisle.”

Obama: “Now, you’ve shown independence — commendable independence, on some key issues like torture, for example, and I give you enormous credit for that. But when it comes to economic policies, essentially what you’re proposing is eight more years of the same thing. And it hasn’t worked. And I think the American people understand it hasn’t worked. We need to move in a new direction.”

McCain: “But it’s very clear that I have disagreed with the Bush administration. I have disagreed with leaders of my own party. I’ve got the scars to prove it.” (Take my scars…take my scars…)*
“Whether it be bringing climate change to the floor of the Senate for the first time. Whether it be opposition to spending and earmarks, whether it be the issue of torture, whether it be the conduct of the war in Iraq, which I vigorously opposed. Whether it be on fighting the pharmaceutical companies on Medicare prescription drugs, importation. Whether it be fighting for an HMO patient’s bill of rights. Whether it be the establishment of the 9/11 Commission.”

*It’s a reference to “The Craft,” people.

The debate starts to get feisty when Schieffer brings up the parties’ campaign tactics. Obama and McCain start writing furiously and it’s at this point that I notice Obama is left-handed! (Like me!) McCain brings up some dude named John Lewis. Apparently he was talking shit about McCain and Palin, and Obama never “repudiated” his comments.

I have two questions. McCain – if you’re pissed that Obama didn’t “repudiate” Lewis’s comments, why didn’t you “repudiate” the comments made by that racist dude at Palin’s rally?

Also, what does repudiate mean?

Obama said that 2/3rds of voters feel McCain is running a negative campaign. He also said that 100% of McCain’s ads are negative. What struck me as funny is that McCain thinks the commercial dissing his economic plan is a “negative” ad, or, personally insulting. How in the hell is providing a different idea or perspective insulting? It’s called informing the public, bitch-ass.

Why is everyone using the word vigorous now? Vigorous this vigorous that. I vigorously reputiated Joe the Plumber’s pork-barrel spending.

The biggest laugh of the evening came after the two candidates began talking about their VP choices.

McCain, “Americans have gotten to know Sarah Palin.” DONE.
(At this point my teacher pointed out that the reaction line of undecided Ohio male voters rose while women remained neutral. Sarah Palin is hott!)

OK, so McCain is left-handed too. Boo.

The two candidates are going back and forth rehashing their policies, their arguments against the other person’s policies, and repeating the same metaphors and one-liners. The only thing making this interesting is the potential anger-induced stroke I’m waiting for McCain to have.

I’m not sure what question was asked or anything, but Obama says “we can’t drill ourselves out of the problem.” He starts talking about his energy plan…

McCain tweaks and freaks out saying we must drill now! What a dumbass. HOW LONG CAN WE DRILL FOR UNTIL WE HAVE NO OIL LEFT? THAT ISN’T GOING TO HELP ANYTHING IN THE LONG-TERM!

McCain- crazily angrily grinning
Obama- post-BJ calmness. Michelle are you hiding under that table?

“Would you favor controlling health care costs over expanding coverage?”
Obama discusses his health care plan and the uncommitted Ohio voters like it!
Both candidates talk about obesity in young children. Alex leans over to me and says, “I had a fitness program. It was called P.O.W. camp!” Hehehe.

The overturning of Roe V. Wade-
Q. “Could either of you ever nominate someone to the Supreme Court who disagrees with you on this issue?”
OH SHITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

McCain: “I will find the best people in the world — in the United States of America who have a history of strict adherence to the Constitution. And not legislating from the bench.” “I would consider anyone in their qualifications. I do not believe that someone who has supported Roe v. Wade that would be part of those qualifications. But I certainly would not impose any litmus test.”

Obama: ” I think it’s true that we shouldn’t apply a strict litmus test and the most important thing in any judge is their capacity to provide fairness and justice to the American people.” “Now I would not provide a litmus test. But I am somebody who believes that Roe versus Wade was rightly decided. I think that abortion is a very difficult issue and it is a moral issue and one that I think good people on both sides can disagree on.”

McCain is flustered by even the mention of late-term abortions. OK gramma!
I think Obama handled the topic of abortion well. He kept trying to keep shit neutral by saying it’s a tough decision on both sides and that the most important thing is working together to prevent unintended pregnancies. Well played.

OH and did anybody hear McCain say, “Let me talk to you about an important aspect of this issue. We have to change the culture of America. Those of us who are proudly pro-life understand that.” UHHHHH, what kind of bullshit is that?!

Education
Obama wants to hire an “army of new teachers.” Soo, not jaded ones? He does make a good point when saying that in order to improve a child’s education it needs to come from the PARENTS! I bet Mama Rochelle, an ex-middle school teacher, said hallelujah to that. Even the audience in Ely clapped.

McCain is all about the charter schools, something Obama also supports. But aren’t charter schools expensive? What if some families can’t afford to send their kids there?
“And we have to be able to give parents the same choice, frankly, that Sen. Obama and Mrs. Obama had and Cindy and I had to send our kids to the school — their kids to the school of their choice.”

So ridic! First of all, “school choice” only works if you live in an area where there IS a choice.

Final Statements
The two candidates make their final statements, which are basically one-liners and recycled cliches strung together to form a paragraph of lies. Wow, I’m jaded.

McCain: “I have a record!”
Obama: “Fundamental change!”
Me: “*Snores*”

The real winner [by Alicia]

OK, let me tell you who the real winner of Wednesday night’s presidential debate at Hofstra University was. Yes, yes, clearly Sen. Barack Obama trounced the lagging Sen. John McCain more thouroughly and cooly than he did in the first two debates. And McCain sputtered and stumbled, repeating the same catchphrases over and over. And if we go by the polling numbers released immediately following the face-off, yes, it looks like the public agrees McCain was left babbling in Obama’s wake.

But did B come out on top? I don’t think so, my friends.

Joe the Plumber won that battle.
Did you guys WATCH that debate? Joe the Plumber’s name got tossed around more than the nerdy kid’s lunchbox.

If you didn’t watch, and rely solely on buntology for your campaign trail news, here’s the recap. And B) Good work, buntology is all the news you need.

At the beginning of the debate, while discussing economic policy, Sen. John McCain made reference to a Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber in Toledo, Ohio, who attended an Obama event. Joe the Plumber told Obama, “Your new [econmic] plan is gonna tax me more” or something like that. Obama, caught on camera, explained something something “I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success, too. And I think that when we spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

McCain called out B for that, critiquing the “spread the wealth” idea. And then brought up Joe the Plumber 32 more times throughout the evening.

“Joe should be able to buy his own business!”
“So people like Joe the Plumber can own his own … business!”
“My plan HELPS people. People like Joe, Joe the Plumber.”

And so on. You get the idea.

I watched the debate at – surprise! – my day job. I watched with rest of The Eagle copy desk and my .. I don’t want to say my favorite reporter, because I like all of my reporters a lot .. but on both a professional and human level, he’s my secret fave. Uh, so anyway, we watched the debate, and reporter Jack and I noticed McCain’s repeated economic metaphors about hatchets and scalpels. Yes, I know B also used the reference. But McCain mentioned it multiple times, and it kind of freaked us out. Jack was like, “It’s like Saw 5. First, I’ll use my hatchet .. then my scalpel ..” HA! I chimed in, “Then, my chainsaw .. !” HA!

But Joe the Plumber and Jigsaw weren’t the only recurring slogans in McCain’s sorry snubs.

We heard about how we shouldn’t be sending $700 billion a year for oil “to countries who don’t like us very much.” Guess which country we get most of our oil from? Canada. Those fuckers!!

And did you know? McCain’s willing to fight his own party. And he’s got the scars to prove it.
Yawn.

The most exciting thing McCain did was get nervous and stammer. Oh, did I say exciting? I meant predictable.

B, on the other hand, remained cool and collected. And when moderater BIll Schieffer brought up the attack ads the rivals have been lobbing at one another, Obama addressed the issue with a calm directness. He told McCain that he was 8 years old, and Bill Ayers was 40, when Ayers was with the radical political group Weather Underground.

McCain and Palin have recently been calling attention to the fact that Obama was on a committee a few years ago in Chicago with Ayers, who is now a professor. This is the guy Palin’s talking about when she says B “pals around with terrorists. McCain also mentioned that Obama launched his campaign for the presidency from Ayers’ home. Obama calmly told McCain that wasn’t true.

“The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Sen. McCain,” B said, “says more than your campaign than it does about me.”

By the numbers
Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg worked with a focus group of undecided voters in Colorado. He crunched some favorability numbers, and here’s what he came up with.

Here were the favorability-unfavorability ratings for each candidate at the start:

McCain: 54 favorable / 34 unfavorable
Obama: 42 favorable / 42 unfavorable

And after?

McCain: 50 favorable / 48 unfavorable
Obama: 72 favorable / 22 unfavorable

And, if you really wanna get down with this, here’s the full hour and 30-minute debate.

I’m Not Your Friend, Pal

What a surprise: I had to work at the paper for Monday’s presidential debate. But this gave me the opportunity to see lots and lots of McCain / Obama photos. I’m talkin’ dozens. I was also rapidly and clumsily texting my sisters and mother all night. (I’ve got like these small, unwieldy Hobbit fingers. Not hairy or anything, though, just stumbly and uncoordinated.) 

A Newb’s Perspective on the First Presidential Debate

On Friday night Jackie and I decided to forgo getting drunk and opted to watch the Presidential Debate instead! We joined our Political Communication class in the Dever Auditorium (located on campus at Westfield State College) where the debate was being aired on a big screen. The communication course is taught by Professor Tom Gardner, a longtime activist and Bunt girl favorite. 

Coverage of the 2008 Republican National Convention

By WILL CIMINO (ft. commentary by ALICIA BUNT)     Well, a few things were determined by John McCain’s speech. The first, and arguably most important, is that watching him walk at his age is like walking an infant learning to walk around a staircase. I’m just clinching my teeth waiting for him to spill. The second is that McCain the ‘Maverick’ is really McCain the Predictable Pete. 

McCain–You Hornball, You

By WILL C.      I’m not too political, but I understand John McCain. Let’s look at the facts: He’s an old guy at 72 years today (Happy Birthday, Grandpa!), but he’s got a young trophy wife (well… 54 years old, but in the right lighting she could pass for 24) so why not grab the young trophy VP candidate as well?! 

Oratory We Can Believe In

The last night of the Democratic National Convention was tonight, and it was amazing – but if I know my readers, you guys aren’t interested in Obama’s eloquent 40-minute acceptance speech. You’re interested in my thoughts and emotions ABOUT the speech. Right? Or you wouldn’t be at Buntology.