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September 27, 2008
Debating Our Future
I'm not very fond of political debates. The major part of my discontent is due to the nature of politics itself: The people involved have made a life habit of mincing their words to suite a wide audience. Hence, it's hard to believe any of them.
Last night's debate was a little better than normal, since there's some real, significant challenges before our country today. The men themselves are very different and bring both style and substance from unique perspectives. But I would echo my first point - It's hard to believe what either of them are saying.
I don't think anyone "wins" these kinds of debates because the accounting of importance occurs in the minds and hearts of the undecided people watching. (Those of us who are "decided" rarely are swayed by the debates). So to be completely honest, I really believe my opinion isn't all that important because my mind was made up quite a while ago, partly due to ideological reasons.
So, having impuned my opinion, let me offer my gut feel: For me the debate came down to the moment after the debate when Obama strode over to MaCain, reached out to shake his hand and spoke with him. What I saw in that moment was Obama seeing beyond the ideological and background differences between himself and McCain and reaching for the man McCain. Perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part, perhaps projection. But that's my gut feel. My other gut feel was that McCain couldn't participate in that moment. The picture says it all - Obama looking directly at McCain, McCain looking away.
Why is that moment so important? Assuming for the moment that Obama's actions are genuine (and I'll stipulate again my first point that you can't trust these guys), it would mean that he's able to give space to the differences he and McCain see in the world, and is able to see McCain as a person. This is a vital skill in being able to listen to people who disagree with you, and to my mind, a pivotal skill for a leader. Ideologist make bad presidents.
Posted by pgutwin at September 27, 2008 9:13 AM