Obama / Keyes "Debate"
Rules are that there are no time limits! And the first question went to Keyes! He may never stop! I have no idea what he's saying!

Obama is answering now, briefly and to the point, all about the Iraq war.

O. Afghanistan now. Elections, Bush thinks this is wonderful. Hopeful sign for Iraq, Mr. Obama? I think it's a good sign for Afghanistan. With respect to Iraq, I think it'll be tougher. This is no longer George Bush's war, it's all our war. Analogy of Bush driving car into the ditch.

K. Isn't there a distinction between Afghanistan and Iraq, Mr. Keyes? He's trying to answer this question, trying to blend the two, and now he's going on and on again, sucking up to the Bush admin. Still going on and on again. "We've created for ourselves a clear base in the middle east." Including Iran??

O. Mr. Keyes may have better intelligence than I do -- true we have a network of terrorists, but do we mount full scale operations? Saudi Arabia? Syria? We have to do it wisely.

K. One of the brilliant things about the Iraq decision? [Oh come on...] Now he's going again. Talking about N. Korea I think now. Maybe Iran. Kinda hard to figure out.

O. How handle potential threat from N. Korea and Iran. Iranians at this stage are confident that we are limited in mounting in any potential threat because of our handling of Iraq.

K. You can't negotiate facts out of existence. Bomb nuclear reactors? Work with indigenous elements in Iran?

O. Terrorists, not a soverign nation, hunt down and kill. Nations use diplomacy. I'm hawkish on terrorism. This admin. as not been good with "the exercise of soft power". A lot of our power comes from our ideals. I think that unfortunately this administration has tended to be dismissive... a disdain for globalism.

K. You can't give a soft response to a hard threat. [and now he's going on and on]... Iraqi... terror... act...

[lets move on]

Infrastructure problems in Illinois.

K. [ed. now he's getting nuts again] Excuse me.... excuse me... let me finish... locks and dams first priority... O'hare... stand back in fear... control... break the political logjam... Rockford airport?? We need to stop talking... south suburban airport... comprehensive, modular plan... [ed. does he know where Rockford is?]... problem of freight... way we connect the airports... furthermore... Amtrak.... knits together... [q. so you disagree with the president?] (garbled response)

O. Freight rail is important. Already a program in place. South suburban airport is important. Should get moving on it.... Downstate Future Gen progect... revitalize the coal industry. Clean burning coal. Energy independence.

Health care

O. Central premise of prescription drug plan that we couldn't negotiate with the drug companies. Bill bad for seniors.

K. [ed.Huh?] You need to shop around for generic drugs? You can get 90 percent off if you shop around [ed. where, where?]. [now he's going on and on]... medical savings account... encourage people to take better care of themselves...

O. Talks about renewing patents by changing shape of pill, so as to block generics. Talks about someone in Galesburg. Crises happen. Not everything is solved just by taking better care of themselves.

K. Badly negotiated trade agreements are the cause of this.
[O has little difference of opinion here]

Tariffs?

[Keyes is making no sense again... just thowing rhetoric around]

Talking about tax breaks.

Future of farming.

K. [he's pandering right now and blathering] CULTURAL HERITAGE!... [Blagojovich can't find his way to Springfield??]

O. Farm economy vital... I've consistently supported programs. Ethanol, for example. Biodiesel. Investing more in research labs would make a difference. Difference between family farms and large agribusiness. Agribusiness recipient of most federal programs. Need to change.

Deficit

O. Senate passed yesterday what McCain called a Corporate Christmas Tree. Return to pay as you go. Constrains spending programs but also constrains tax cuts.

K. Real source of the problem is morally irresponsible government. Blames liberals [huh??? wasn't it the republican majority that passed it] Repeal income taxes. [?] [Going on and on now]

Infanticide

K. [ed. I'm sorry, I can't even listen to the garbage coming from this man's mouth. he's incredibly ignorant about this]

O. This is apparently the entire basis of the reason you are carpetbagging here. If he had called me up he could have saved himself the trip. Talks about specific Illinois law that contradicts what Keyes spews on and on about.

Closing statements.

Why they should vote for you?

Supposedly have a minute each... Keyes is going first, so we know that Obama isn't going to have time to say anything.

The man is looney. He's going on and on as usual.

Obama is merely sane.

Mentions track record. Mentions actual concerns he hears about. I can point to specific accomplishments.

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IT'S OVER! Keyes is insane!

- posted by Cynthia @ 7:08 PM | | | Link |