The Official Debate Thread (Round 1)

[mheisig]

Originally Posted by hooskins

I guess I rushed to conclusion. My apologies. I also don't consider myself a Democrat, but would not consider myself a Republican at all. I have voted for both parties in the past. For the record, I consider myself a conservative in many aspects(small government, states rights, fiscally, etc), but socially I am liberal(pro-choice, selective social programs,environment, foreign policy, etc). I really seem my ideals in line with Jefferson and the original "Democrat-Republicans".

Also I do not particularly put much weigh into these videos. I dont think its a big deal he said shit, but if that Obama video is being debated we should talk about this.

Finally I dont think anything is wrong with the amount of Palin videos, because people need to know she is an idiot and a terrible candidate. I dont get a cheap laugh off those videos, they terrify me.

We're in agreement on quite a bit: small government is my biggest passion, along with state's rights and fiscal policy. I am however staunchly pro-life, but I lean to the "left" when it comes to a lot of social programs (though I wish they were managed better), the environment (as long as it's keeping in line with small government) and my views on foreign policy are forever changing. At this point I almost take foreign policy on a case-by-case basis rather than make broad sweeping statements. I see many situations where I wish we had just not stuck our nose in other people's business, and I also see many situations around the world with cases of rampant genocide and injustice where we sit back and do nothing and it seems like a real crime.

I would submit that there is probably a slight difference with McCain muttering "shit" and the flap over Obama not putting his hand on his heart. The Obama issue a lot of people (particularly those in the military) view as unpatriotic and a slight to a long standing U.S. tradition. McCain's situation here is one of debate etiquette or just being uncouth. Frankly I don't see either one of them as a huge deal, but I wouldn't necessarily equate them. I would be curious to know why Obama didn't put his hand on his heart in that particular instance. Maybe it slipped his mind, maybe he was distracted, maybe he had a torn rotator cuff, who knows.