Political Punch

I don't know what is worse:

A) Obama's contingent of sore loser supporters

or

B) Obama's contingent of sore loser reporters

LOL! McCain answered all his questions like a right-wing robot (think 'dittohead') and people here are upset that he might have cheated. Of course, he cheated! No-one is denying that he had the OPPORTUNITY to cheat. That was the whole point of the 'cone of silence' - to deny the OPPORTUNITY to cheat bc. everyone knows that all's fair in love and war and politics.
What really gets me though is the attempt to portray McCain as the 'winner' for his parroted born-again talking points. He did not give a single thoughtful answer but answered as though he had been studying for a multiple choice test. If the criterion is 'who gave the answers closest to what the right-wing nut jobs wanted to hear, then McCain won hands down. If the criterion is 'WHo answered the questions thoguhtfully and sincerely, then Obama wins by a knockout. Sure, McCain may have gained a few more evangelical single-issue voters, but as far as Independents go, I think he lost mmore than he gained!

Of course, it helps as we've now learned that John was not in the "Cone of Silence", but riding in a motorcade to the building where the "Forum" was being held, while Sen. Barack Obama was being questioned. And, during that period of time, there was nothing that prevented John McCain from hearing the questions being asked of Sen. Obama and Sen. Obama's answers thereto. Do I think John McCain "cheated", you bet I do.

Specifically, we learn from the NYT: Before an audience of more than 2,000 people at the church, the candidates answered questions about policy and social issues.

Mr. Warren, the pastor of Saddleback, had assured the audience while he was interviewing Mr. Obama that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence” and that he could not hear the questions.

After Mr. Obama’s interview, he was joined briefly by Mr. McCain, and the candidates shook hands and embraced.

Mr. Warren started by asking Mr. McCain, “Now, my first question: Was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?”

Mr. McCain deadpanned, “I was trying to hear through the wall.”

This last statement by McCain seen on national television leads me to believe McCain cheated. If he had not cheated, why didn't he come clean with the Rev. Warren, when he was asked: "Was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?” To me, if McCain wanted to tell the truth, he would have told Rev. Warren that he was not in the "cone of silence", but "in motorcade" (as Rick Davis put it) on his way to the building. By answering "I was trying to hear through the wall”, McCain led everyone to believe he was in the "cone of silence", which we all know is false.

Obama is acting like a kid that lost the ball on a playground.

The simple fact is that all McCain needed was an aide in the audience sending a text message of the questions to his motorcade as they were asked: 'I did not HEAR the questions ...' is a quibble.

Watching you Obama supporters frantically trying to explain away why your candidate underperformed is like watching a bunch of eight year olds crying about losing a softball game, breathlessly accusing their opponent of cheating

McCain is using Swindle to verify the 'cross in the dirt' story. In other words, he's using another Jack Abramoff connected lobbyist on his campaign. After disinviting Ralph Reed, yet another Jack Abramoff connected lobbyist from his fundraiser tonight.

More lobbyists in the White House!

McCain doesn't need to be baptised into his religion...he's got Jack Abramoff as his god almighty already.

"Do you have any idea how few christian viet cong there were in Vietnam in the early '70s? The chances of that story actually happening to Mccain are almost nonexistent."

No, sorry, North Vietnam was (is) primarily Catholic, from the heavy French influence. Much more than the South.

What's more interesting is the evolution of the story. Obviously bogus.

Why do people say that Obama didn't do well? He was thoughtful and articulate in an arena that wasn't receptive to Democrats in general. McCain gave his usual formulaic patter. It doesn't matter if he heard in advance or not, he would still spew the robotic patter. Quit acting as if he did so well that he must have heard stuff in advance. He's good at memorizing - not critical thinking!

I believe that most are missing the point. McCain led everyone to believe that he was in the cone of silence when he was not. His spokesperson incredulously asked if Obama was questioning a former prisoner of war. Excuse me, but aren't military personnel trained to lie in such a circumstance? However, that's beside the point. The point is McCain was not in the cone of silence and therefore had an opportunity to hear Obama's responses. As a result that advantage may have allowed him to play to the crowd. That is dishonest and is the unadulterated definition of disingenuous.

Re: cross comment

Some say that we should honor what the man had to say, as well as Swindle who has deep ties within the Republican party, simply because they were POW. I am afraid to inform them, if this is
true, it should work both ways.

Older veterans remember well how John McCain and John Kerry shut down all further investigation into remaining MIA/POW in order to open up trade with Vietnam. They remember full well how these families were treated and talked to by John McCain. They also remember
how John McCain's father-in-law immediately opened up a beer industry in Vietnam.

If anyone wants to add honor as a reason to believe the cross story, I suggest they start with their research here:

aiipowmia.com/testimony

They might also remember we are talking about the man who was not above copyright infringement against two song writers and Wikipedia.

McCain’s Top Ten Excuses For Not Showing Up On Time To Saddleback Church

10. I was taking a nap. I wanted to be in top form. As you can see from my performance, it worked!

9. I was watching the Olympics. That Misha Phelps is an excellent swimmer!

8. Interrupt my suppertime? I don’t think so.

7. I was working on my weekly Presidential radio address.

6. Kept mulling over whether to use sandal or stick in my “dirt in the cross” Christmas story.

5. My motorcade was held up by the local paparazzi.

4. I don’t usually work weekends.

3. I got caught up in prayer for Georgia and Florida.

2. Me? Follow the rules? I’m a maverick!

1. My friends, I’m a P.O.W. How dare you question my integrity!

Sour grapes from the Obama fans and MSNBC! If McCain heard the questions an hour before and remembered and formulated answers to them - why, that proves that he has the brain of a 21 year old! I am so proud of that white hair dude! Nimble brain!

Hillary got maligned for saying that she always got asked the questions first! Hey, your guy is saying the same thing now! What a hypocrite! It only proves how much better McCain did than the One!

Yes, Mc Can!

hahahahah

you were all "set up" by Jake.....
enjoy the fracas..... sponsored in the name of keeping up the flow.....

But Klein did it best... and honestly, too!

I have to wonder if the people making allegations that McCain is lying about this are even Americans.

Interesting; Dems, knowing from experience that the surefire way to win close elections is to cheat (e.g. deceased voters in Chicago, bogus voter registration drives, etc.), are certain that the only way Republicans could have won the 2000 election was to do the same. Similarly, as they would have cheated to gain an advantage in Saturday's forum, it is obvious to them that the winner must have cheated in order to come out on top.

McCain has been doing town halls, taking questions from all comers for years. He is good in this format, has a lot of experience. Now it has become clear why Obama is afraid of the format.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. When I first hear Obama's voice, i thought, "this guy is good." Now I just hear an idiot whiner who is mad he got beat in a debate. Wait for the next few. Obama is an empty suit, pretty, not as pretty as Edwards, but prettier than Hillary, and still an empty suit.

a cheating, lying, pandering POW. Excellent choice for president, ehn!

"What's the latest "truth" about McCain stealing his "cross in the sand" story from that dead Russian story about the Gulag??"

It would take an idiot to think such a incident would only happen once throughout recorded human history.

Prisoners are routinely denied the ability to write...and if they did want to write, they'd wish to conceal what they wrote after the fact. THEREFORE, writing in the dirt is very, very common in prison camps.

The cross is a universal symbol of Christianity, and for some in such dire circumstances, Christianity is the last hope people look to. THEREFORE, the cross would be periodically used to try and uplift someone's spirit.

THEREFORE, it's extremely probable that the "cross in the dirt" story isn't remotely unique to the Russian.

But hey, lefties don't need proof, or even probability. Just a flimsy accusation no one can prove, and a willingness to believe.

Honestly, I think if McCain had nothing to hide his campaign would come out and directly say Senator McCain had no knowledge of the questions and no knowledge of Obama's answers.

And to those who say its whining, I do think this raises questions about the ethics and integrity of the McCain camp. Did McCain act in a not entirely honest way in connection with a forum at a christian organisation, and what does that say about his faith?