Saturday, September 27, 2008

Obama & McCain Debate


Yesterday we saw the televised debate of these two US Senators. One of them, in a few months would inherit the most powerful office in the world . This man would be expected to lead with a vision that would successfully confront many of the current challenges that the US faces. Watching the two of them go back and forth on the many leading questions fielded by the moderator I felt amazed at the presence of mind and the mental dexterity that both of them displayed. Their depth of knowledge and oratory skills made me think of our Indian Politicians.. .well lets leave that for now.

What struck me while i listened to the debate was a continuous refrain from McCain saying " Senator Obama does not understand .... Senator Obama does not realize....." While as what is that we heard from Obama-- " John is right... I agree with John...." Who do you think is the better statesman?

On the question of policy , Obama had it all lined up. He went 1, 2, 3, 4 right through to what he wanted to do while as McCain kept harping on his strong point of national Security/ the war in Iraq/ Afghanistan and the veterans ( where did they come in to the discussion) . McCain did not even want to talk to any leader without a pre condition where as Obama exuded an openness and willingness to meet any one if it meant a way forward. The most difficult McCain policy I found to accept was his complete lack of vision on going after alternate fuel. After 9/11 if there was one area that George Bush has failed in , it is the vision of energy self reliant. If the US had gone after energy self reliance and not gone out to the middle east to buy oil, all these petro dollars could have been saved. These same dollars were used by some countries to fund terrorist organizations who then used it to attack the west ( UK too after what we saw this year)

Anyway back to the Obama/ McCain debate. I find Obama has this strong vitality in his voice. His words come out crisp with a sense of authoritativeness and preciseness. McCain speaks well too but he lacks the conviction that comes from Obama. Given the state that the George Bush government will leave the nation in, I would feel Obama would be a better bet than McCain to lead the country out of this morass.

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