Beyond Their Self Interest
By NancyA on August 18, 2008 at 2:30 PM in Barack Obama, Christianity, John McCain, New York Times
Anglachel in her piece titled “Greater Than Their Self Interest”, actually gives some kudos to Taylor Marsh, who has lost most of her readership, while quickly becoming an Obamarite (post-Hillary campaign suspension). Taylor actually did not give Obama much wiggle room. She actually had a good take on the “interviews” that Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, did with McCain and Obama. Marsh’s comments were honest for a change, not showing her usual pro-Obama/anti-McCain message found in her blogs lately. She had this to say:
…about faith. McCain goes to the Vietnamese torture. A guy came in at one point, a guard came in, then motioned him to stay quiet, then loosened the ropes tying him. He came back later to tighten them. One day outside that same guard came next to McCain and drew a cross in the ground, then quickly rubbed it out. At that one moment, there were just two Christians. This is exactly what I thought McCain would do on faith. He did not talk about Jesus. He went to an anecdote, which talked about faith and torture, what Christians do in deeds.
Anglachel had this to say about Marsh’s seemingly unbiased work.
This observation actually holds true for the contrast McCain is going to draw through the entire campaign, a message he has been honing since at least May. It is of a piece with the article today in the New York Times about Democratic leaders wanting The Precious to put some real substance behind the hopey-changey message. It resonates perfectly with the Republican assault on affirmative action.
I honestly don’t think that I can sum up a comparison between McCain and Obama any better than Anglachel. So I am sharing her very concise and to the point contrast between the two candidates.
Experience vs. narcissism. Doing the right thing vs. indulging your self. Hard knocks vs. celebrity. Living by the rules vs. preferential treatment. Embodied faith vs. religion as a convenient tool.
Anglachel notes in her piece that “I don’t think McCain actually lives up to any of the claims he makes for himself, but that is not the political point”. I have to disagree with her on this point as I believe McCain does live up to many of his “claims”, the biggest one being he is a “maverick”, often coloring out of the lines, particularly when he takes positions that are clearly anti-Republican. A case in point is the McCain-Feingold Act passed into law in 2002.
Taylor was quite critical of Obama, reminding us of his disastrous performance in the ABC sponsored debate. (Anglachel calls it grousing.) Watch Obama’s disastrous performance for yourself!
Marsh said this:
Obama could have had policy answers ready to help push forward why Democratic policies are grounded in humanity and morality, which proves why he’d be a much better president. Instead he offered his standard word fogs without any goal whatsoever, much like he did in the primaries where Clinton regularly cleaned his clock.
Obama has never had answers. He can’t discuss one single policy issue without a prepared speech by (someone else) and his “sidekicks”, The Trusty Teleprompters. It is much too late to ask Obama why he can’t give us good introspective issue-based answers. Obama isn’t ready to answer that 3 am call.
He simply lacks the wisdom and experience to run a “corner newspaper stand”, let alone our country. He truly puts his self-interests before others, if he didn’t he wouldn’t be running for president with just three years completed in the U.S. Senate.
McCain’s answers were interspersed with “his” policy points, clear and precise, from the gut. McCain comforts me because he does know his policy issues and can speak on them with confidence. While I disagree with McCain on some issues, I know he will put our “country first”.
We don’t need a president who requires constant adulation and tutelage……..
We need some one who can keep our country in my mind first, someone who will put our national security first….not his own interests!
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