Did you watch the "debate" earlier this evening (Monday) organized by Jim Wallis and Sojourners and hosted by CNN?
As I asked in my post early this morning, if you watched, what did you think? I'd like your impressions of the first hour and then, for those who continued to watch, the next hour of interviews with the other major Democratic candidates.
The subject was politics, faith and poverty.
Let us hear what you thought!
9 comments:
I think they all mean to redistribute income. Hillary's last comment said something like. "I will take something away from some of you." Hold on to your wallet.
Obama wants childhood education to start even earlier than Hillary has suggested. Wonder if parents will eventually become obsolete?
I am a creationist so I didn't agree with Edwards on evolution. I didn't watch the second hour--had to watch Bill O'Reilly.
As far as faith is concerned, what were they expected to say? Surely not that they didn't pray.
Edwards hasn't scored many points from his neighbors, I believe some live in trailers.
Chris, in fairness to Senator Clinton, she was not talking about money in her last comment. She had been asked a question about several complex and controversial issues. She was simply saying that everyone would need to come to the table prepared to compromise and "give up" something. She did talk about the notion of sacrifice to address some of our national challenges. Novel idea, don't you think?
I didn't come away with much from any candidate. Clinton and Edwards are better interviewees than Obama, but the policy questions were all their usual anwers, and their faith answers were fairly well prepped no matter how sincere. I give them the benefit of the doubt as to their religious sincerity, and I'm glad some of these issues were brought up (can't wait to see Republican responses on Katrina and poverty), but I didn't feel this added much to our understanding or expectations of these candidates.
Overall I might just be jaded by the 2-year election process and all the trappings that are coming with it.
Overall, I thought they all did a good job. Of course, considering the format, they probably wouldn't say they DIDN'T have faith, but.... (I actually wondered what would happen if one of them HAD said they didn't really pray....)
Edwards seemed the most comfortable speaking about his faith and Jesus, specifically.
I am such a "middle of the road" person when it comes to politics, that I am generally very turned off by political speeches and debates. Neither "side" is appealing to me. I ended the program without even a hint of nausea, which is a pretty big deal for me. The typical turnoffs were present, though-- calculated gestures, way too slick for reality, being wordy and vague rather than daring to actually answer a question, etc. All three didn't seem like any real people I know. Oh, well... such is politics.
I enjoyed the format, though. It was refreshing to hear candidates talk about a few things that matter a lot.
I will be very intersted to hear the other side of the aisle in September. I am certainly hoping it will be done in a comparable format to be fair.
Grant and I had recorded it, so we didn't watch any of the parts afterwards since we hadn't recorded those.
I thought they all did fairly well, but I thought Obama and Edwards had the edge on Clinton for ideas. Edwards had the edge on the other two for consistency. He really does talk about these issues the most. They came as close to actually addressing the questions at hand as you can ever hope for politicians to do. I agree completely with Amy's comment that "I ended the program without even a hint of nausea," and that's unusual for me as well.
Chris: I think "hold onto your wallet" pretty well sums up your entire political/ethical/moral philosophy, doesn't it? Don't worry. I've been there, too. Growth is possible.
Amy,
Since you recorded it would you mind checking the very last sentence of Hillary? I might have gotten it wrong but I would like to know for sure.
The important thing to keep in mind is that they are all courting us in matters regarding faith. There is a political aspect to it.
Never mind, Amy. I just now got the quote and it is this.
"Something has to be taken away from some people."
The liberal crowd applauded loudly.
I was lucky enough to be in the hall with my 18 year old son. It was a great night. I came away pleased that the three leading candidates in the Democratic Party all affirmed their faith in God and their passion for putting the fight against poverty back on the national agenda. The old saw that Democrats are all seculars and all they know is to throw money at problems is dead.
Each of these three candidates is a serious Christian and they deserve a fair hearing from Christians as they campaign progresses.
I bumped into Jim Wallis after and needless to say he was pleased with how the evening went.
Shaun Casey
I really liked that all three candidates talked about an ethic of community responsibility. I know some will hear that and immediately think socailist, but I hear that and think biblical and smart/practical.
I was dissapointed that Clinton was not asked directly about poverty as Obama and Edwards were, and that Edwards and Obama were not asked directly about abortion as Clinton was.
Overall I thought it was well done and I look forward to the republican version later.
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