“You were wrong”

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Mash

Obama: So John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. You talk about the "surge," the war started in 2003. At the time, when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said you knew where the weapons of mass destruction were — and you were wrong. You said we were going to be greeted as liberators — you were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shi’a and Sunni, and you were wrong. …if the question is, who is best equipped as the next president to make good decisions about how we use our military, how we make sure we are prepared and ready for the next conflict, then I think we can take a look at our judgment.

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6 Responses to “You were wrong”

  1. NiRBashito says:
    September 26, 2008 at 11:44 pm

    Apparently, Obama said “John, you are right” about ten times as often as “John, you were wrong”. And that’s what the public is going to remember. I’m sorry but the “pundits” seem to be concluding that McCain won this round. This after the guy almost peed in his pants. How do you explain this?

  2. Mash says:
    September 26, 2008 at 11:52 pm

    NRB, I have been following CNN and MSNBC and they have both concluded Obama won the debate. David Gergen on CNN could not have been more emphatic about this point.

    CNN and CBS have both released polls showing the public thinks Obama won this debate.

    Only Simon and Smith at Politico seem to think McCain won this round. McCain’s demeanor is being chewed up on the TV tonight.

    I think McCain is going to look awfully silly trying to tout that Obama agreed with him on some issues. After all, this was a foreign policy debate and McCain had to set himself apart. If the best he’s got is that Obama and him are the same on some foreign policy point, he further loses his perceived edge on foreign policy.

  3. NiRBashito says:
    September 27, 2008 at 12:43 am

    I hear you, and I’m listening to the BBC as well. Maybe my disappointment is compounded by the fact that for some reason I developed the notion it’d be a slam dunk for Obama at first impression.

  4. Mash says:
    September 27, 2008 at 1:00 am

    I think Obama had one goal in this debate. That was to look credible as a commander-in-chief. He did that well. He also helped himself by agreeing with McCain on certain points. It made him look like the grownup. He did that even as McCain kept attacking him for not “understanding”. And McCain was mean and angry – Americans dont like angry in a president. They like passion, not angry at the world crazy and cranky.

    I have been reading the conservative blogs like the NRO tonight for their reactions. Their muted response – giving McCain the edge but acknowledging Obama held his own – confirms to me which way the independents will go. If the right is saying Obama stood his ground, the independents will see that as enough to get over the “risk” hurdle that they need to climb over to vote for Obama. In that sense, mission accomplished.

    Also, remember, Obama is ahead in the polls. If you are ahead, you dont savage the other guy. It hurts your poll numbers and has a lot of downside risk for you. As, I suspect, McCain will find out as the polls drift from him in the next few days.

  5. R.J. says:
    September 27, 2008 at 2:16 am

    I think Obama handled himself quite well considering foreign policy isn’t his area of expertise.

  6. Robster says:
    September 27, 2008 at 2:18 am

    John McCain thought his political stunt on Capitol Hill would work. He was wrong. 🙂

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