9:45-9:56pm-The debate crowd at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Debate Watching Party is on pins and needles. There are cheers, and woohoos. I’m not sure what Obama just said, (it was something about the military), but the crowd is behind him 100% of the way.
Troop funding. Okay, according to Obama they both voted against funding the troops. But Obama says it had nothing to do with him not wanting the troops to have resources, but he didn’t want to give Bush a blank check. He says McCain voted against funding the troops because he didn’t want to vote on a bill that has a timetable. So why is McCain trying to make it seem as if Obama wants to put our troops in harms way.
They’re talking over each other again.
The crowd seems to be agreeing…
Catherine Scott, a Spanish teacher in New York, says she agrees with Obama. “We shouldn’t be in Iraq in the first place. The money we’re spending in Iraq we should have here. That could solve our economic problem. Obama is on point and when McCain says something false he attacks him right away. He is not hesitating.
More roars…
McCain: You don’t say that out loud.. (His response to Obama openly revealing his plans to treat Pakistan with hostility if they harbor terrorist).
Okay, McCain, so weren’t you just saying the country needs more transparency? I guess now telling our allies and enemies the opposite of what we intend is his definition of transparent.
Obama had the crowd rolling over after McCain finished several long stories about soldiers who have died and were wounded in Iraq. He talked about trinkets he had gotten. Obama replied, “John, I’ve got a bracelet too.”
McCain: I’ll sit down with anybody but not without precondition.
McCain just tore into Obama because he said he would sit down with Iran without precondition.
Obama: Henry Kissinger, one of McCain’s advisers, says that we should sit down with Iran without precondition.
The CBCF crowd loved that so much that we couldn’t even hear what was said next.
The guy next to me just yelled, “Come on, baby!” when Obama accused McCain of not even wanting to sit down with the president of Spain.
McCain: The average South Korean is three inches taller than those in North Korea.
Huh? What does that have to do with anything? I can’t even figure out where he’s trying to go with that, because the crowd is murmuring so that I can’t hear him finish his thought. I guess they don’t get it either.
Marcia A. Wade is the interactive reporter at BlackEnterprise.com.