Small towns, Guns, and Religion: What's the problem?

What's the problem? The problem isn't that the response from both sides of the democratic campaign is patronizing and demeaning, the problem is that the issue, for the most part, is completely irrelevant. It is a distraction from the issues at hand.

We are debating not over the loss of American jobs, the flight of industry overseas and the loss of our manufacturing base, but are debating semantics. We argue over the sound bite and whether or not the remarks were 'elitist', we argue over the choice of words 'bitter' and 'cling'.

Recognize this for what is is... a distraction, the opportunistic politics of the circling shark sensing blood in the water, and we are in a frenzy.

I listened to Obama's speech, there is a longer excerpt than what I had previously seen available on Huffingtonpost

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-surprise-that-ha_b_96188.html

as well as a the full 51 minute recording, here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-exclusive-audio-on_b_96333.html

What I found most striking was that this was not the well rehearsed and eloquent speaker I had heard in the more widely televised speeches, but seemed far more off the cuff, with Obama struggling for the appropriate words or phrase to convey his thoughts.

I found other portions of the speech far more disconcerting than the "bitter and clinging" parts... specifically his comment that "foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain."

It gives me pause, and causes me to wonder if he has an accurate self-assessment of his strengths and weaknesses.

Focus on the issues, not the sound bites. The issue is not whether or not a particular candidate is elitist or demeaning, they all are, these are not the issues that will make or break America. The issues are not a stark black and white, good and evil, although many try and make them out to be so. The issue is which candidate has the best overall platform, that in its totality will be best for the country.

And that, I will leave to you to decide.

~Finntann~