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September 28th, 2008
07:03 PM ET
Debate Time
One of the things I enjoyed about Friday night's debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama was the balance of it in terms of time. Jim Lehrer, the moderator, mentioned once or twice that the two candidates were even on time, meaning that they'd had about the same chances to make their points. If any of you have studied the media, you might've heard the phrase "equal time," which applies to giving each major candidate an even chance to state his case. I thought Friday's debate was a good example of that policy in action.
Carl Azuz, Anchor
Debates might not be as awesoe as Fridays, but I still love them!
Well Carl I agree that Fridays debate was a good choice to listen in to however with something like a Presidential Election I think every night would be good to tune into. While the "equal time" gives them the same time to state their points I believe Obama used it to his advantage, not because I support him but because the way he address the issues of the Nation. While many teenagers are going to be able to vote this year let's just hope they aren't voting for someone because they think there "cool". Let's hope that 18 year old is choosing that person because they think the person they are voting for can help solve the nation issues.
Congress is saying that as part of the bail out that the tax payer may make a profit on the money that was used to bail out the banks. If one thinks that congress will give back to the tax payer any of this money I have a bridge to sell you. Why does congess just be honest with us we the tax payer will never see any of this money.
Wes
I think that senator Obama made some good points on how to save our economy. Fridays debate was very good both candidates came stronge. After whatching the debate I registered and i am now going to VOTE FOR OBAMA
well, i watched the debate and it kind of made me mad.I felt like Sen. McCain was beating around the bush instead of telling his point like it was.I also felt like the tension was high.But overall they both made their point.
I Watched the debate on Friday and I was really impressed with Obama.
i think that it is rediculouse how so many gas stations are out of gas. Many people are having to drive out of their way to fill up with gas. some people cant even drive to work because they don't have the gas. I think there is somthing that needs to be done to solve this problem.
The debate wasn't that interesting but my mom made me watch it because we were suppose to watch it for my Government class. The debate also lasted a long time and it was hard for someone in the ninth grade to sit down and watch it.
i did not watch it but they said that obama did a good job so i am looking forward to the next debate ,go barrack obama.
The best thing in the campaign is the debates. They give them a chance to state there claim.
I believe that brock obamma should win because he knows what he wants to do and it would be better to have a young prez than a older one.
One the debate Friday, watching it gave me good view of each candidate. The only thing that bugged me was that Carl you said that each candidate got a equal chance to talk. This is true but as i was watching i noticed that they had to stop talking for a second so that they can be told to let one person talk at a time. To me this is rude, if you really have something to say you can wait another 2 minutes to say it.
Even if each candidate is allotted "equal time", Sen. Obama is still going to speak a thousand words a second like he's going for the gold. It's almost like he sits his mouth down, goes to lunch and comes back with his mouth still moving, but the first five minutes was the entire Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speech. Sen. McCain might squeeze in three words if he's lucky within a mintues time. I guarantee he is an advocate of the saying "Think before you speak!" It seems he spends a lot of time doing the thinking part, but the problem is your suppose to do it BEFORE the debate starts, not in the MIDDLE of it!
yeah mccain really won the debate he was like all military and taking control and stuff and obama was all weak you know
I agree with you Carl, but Obama is still a marxist.
i think thta the debates were stupid. Obama doesn't know what he is talking about and mccain doesn't either
I think it was funny how McCain wouldnt look much at Obama when he was talking. SORRY... to say but McCain owned the debate.
I think that at debates it should be about what the cadidates will do for the us. Not what one does or did. Because we are voting on them not on what bad the other did. Cadidates are really big tatle tales and BABIES
WE NEED MORE CHANGE QUARTER, NICKLES, DIMES, and PENNIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The debates are fun to watch.
Its kind of a coincident that they were done at about the same amount of time. I think that if I was debating, i would want my time to be a little bit longer, maybe to change peoples mind.
The fact that they discuss the economy means that the public can see who has a better plan and who can accomplish it in what way. My social studies teacher says he doesn’t know who won the argument but said that the economy experts were saying Obama won it.
I think both candidates should did well. I think that they both got most of their points accros and equal time.
I agree with you Carl, but one thing that’s not equal is that Barack Hussein Obama is being worshiped by millions of Americans and people that aren’t even American! What does McCain get? Somehow Obama gets this “superstar” status, practically because of his race, and that his policies are different from Bush’s. The only reason I think he is popular is because he is not George Bush. I do not think that the popularity between candidates is fair, because of this. Just because of Barack’s color, he is getting more votes than McCain. This is not equal!
Debates are a good way for people to see the candidate’s opinions on certain subjects. But that just the thing the candidates only talk about the subjects that are forefront at the time. The others just get ignored until someone takes office and then nobody has an answer.
Ok,debates.Personally i want mccain to win,hes more dependable than Obama.And Obamas VP pick Joe beidin is not to brilliant. During the debate obama said anything he could to get negative things thrown at mccain what does that say about obama now if thats not deceitful i dont know what is. Also wanted to add about the questions like, the first question obama just went around the topic completely not actually answering the question,Believe it or not i dont think obama is meant to be president.So what if Obama is younger and McCain is older doesnt that give John more of an advantage because of Obamas inexperience.Besides the fact that many people are just choosing obama because hes younger.On that count wrong. Because of his race.Wrong on that too.Also because he seems honest.Way off on that sorry people.Obamas not that honest like the abortion topic.But i deffinately can see mccain posters everywhere when he gets nominated and imagine him not obama. So theres my opinion and its pretty peachy =D
I like them they are so hillariously
i don't really like watching the debates but i hope sent. McCain wins cause he has experience in war before!
I agree but as I've seen candidates take swipes at eachothers weak points in their speeches. It isn't respectful and they show their true side. Of course many people in the past have done this forever. Its a common trait in every human being when it comes to any form of competition. Sometimes its very good to point out the flaws about what the candidates would do once they are appointed president such as taxes and the war in Iraq. In other cases the candidates come up with stuff from the past of others just to look like the better presidential nominee. Sometimes the running for presidency can be sickening...
I am happy the debate is happening this way we can get back on top.
yea the debates on firday be great, we get to see what's going on with next learder of u.s. And put in on our comments about what we saw and thought that day. and its really insertesing and it catches us as students, it also lets us know that cnn do care about us that are willing to give us somthing important to look forward to
yea the debates on firday be great, we get to see what's going on with next learder of u.s. And put in on our comments about what we saw and thought that day. and its really insertesing and it catches us as students, it also lets us know that cnn do care about us that are willing to give us somthing important to look forward to and obama did a great job at doing proving to us why he sholud be the one to run the u.s.
Carl, please vote for John Mccain,Obama says he`ll "lower" taxes,but he`s going to make buisness pay more each year.For instance, let`s say Obama says,"Marsh, you have to pay $1,000,000 more this year." So,guess what`s gonna happen, food prices will go up, and gas prices will shoot to the moon!!!Another reason to vote for Mccain is that Obama wants the troops to come home.Now that might sound good,but Mccain is experienced in war.Those people hate us. They`ll come right back yo our homeland, and we`ll have a disaster worse than 9/11!!! So please, vote for Mccain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was intresting to watch the debates. To see their interaction with their opponet and how vast their knowledge was on a variety of points was very cool. Sometimes I got lost, like when they started throwing money around or about the US's relations with other countrys. But, I saw alot of good points from both sides. It will certainly be a tough decsion to make for our entire country.
i think mikane is going to have palen for vice because he wants more people to vote for him .REDICULICE
i really think this will be an intresting debate my vote is on Palin though
i didn't watch the debate but on cnn student news it looked...... weird. but some people were complaining because it was on a friday and people really don't watch tv those days. families go out to eat or something. but whatever i was doing my homework!!! =]
i think the debates are really hard to understand i dont like them at all!!!!!!!!
My name is Chris and my 8th grade class and I watch your show every day. First off I support Gov. Sara Palin and Sen. John Mccain. Also for the debate Thursday with Gov Palin and Sen. Biden I think its not far due to the host of the debate supports Sen. Obama all the way so it going to be tough but I think Gov. Plain can pull it off.
I vote Jim Lehrer for President, because he's good at balancing time. Forget those other guys.
Lehrer '08!
I THINK THAT SARA PALIN AND JOHN MCCAIN WOULD BE THE BEST CHOICE FOR THE PRESIDENT AND V.P.. YET AT THE SAME TIME OBAMA AND MCCAIN CONFUSE ME. YOU SEE MCCAIN CHOOSE A YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.WHERE AS OBAMA CHOOSE AN OLD GUY. NOW IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT THEY both CHOOSE THE OPISITES OF WHO THEY ARE.
This made me think about the debate. I liked that you brought up the debate because I think it's important., nice job
This makes me think of class elections because kids in the USA have a hard time trying to get votes just like Obama and Mcain are, and even though people don't get the candidate they want , than oh well. This was a very interesting artical.
I thought both canidates where very interesting to watch. My favorite part was when Obama kept on calling John different names. That was the funniest part in my opinion. I wonder if he was doing that on purpose or not?
i think that if they really want to run the country the need not to keep putting "band aids" on the wound(economy) and band aids can help a little but over time its pretty much going to stay the same and which in a state this is going to create a black hole of bills and money spending. Obama has a great view on that the economy is falling like crazy. john seemed like he is mad which is going to seriously drop his voters and. most people don't want another man like Busch not realizing that are economy is junk and then we go through the same process again an again which creates collateral tension between Europe and Asia create the crash of our country. keep updating us on the economy
Jake
Your tatally right Carl. But I think they should stay on their time limit of one minute so they can get all of the questions in.
well i love Barrak Obama if thats how you spell it hopfully he wins no affence mccain
I think that they should allow both candidates to have equal time. Considering that if one candidate has more time then the other no one can really decide who to vote for or the votes would be more centered to the person you had the longest time. Barack is my favorite candidate for this point but doesnt mean he has to have longer time then John.
Mondays off would be great! It would give me more of a break from my busy schedual to rest and get caught up. Personally, it would not bother me to get up earlier or get home later. It's a good idea, but it would take a while to get used to.
I think they should both get equal time. That way each of them can say what they need to but not carry on to much. I also though that the debate was a good thing to watch. They made some very interesting points and explained themselves well so that everyone could understand what they were talking about.
Well, I do think that equal time is an important thing to have in a political debate. It gives each side a chance to explain themselves without the advantage of more time. Think about it, if one presidential nominee had twice the amount of time as the other, he has more time to explain in detail, and in turn maybe even sway more voters to his point of view. That wouldn't be fair. It is only right that both candidates get the same amount of time all of the time.
I really think that both of the candidates are doing a really nice job of keeping up with one another. They both say equally smart and not-so-smart things. I think that they are both amazing speakers. The debate was very interesting. I like arguements so debate is kind of fun to watch for me. This is kinda off topic, but I wish that Obama and Palin were on the same ticket because then that is who I would vote for. There are good and bad things about both candidates, and I think that they should focus more on the good things about themselves instead of the bad things about eachother. It gets kind of annoying when all you hear is, "Obama did this..." or "McCain did this..." I just wish that they would be quiet sometimes. I guess that is just wishful thinking though, it will probably never stop- even when one of them wins, the loser will stil keep going with it.
I think that it is only fair at the debates that the candidates have an equal amount of time to answer the question. Because it wouldnt be fair if one candidate was favored or got more time to answer the question asked.
I agree that it was good that the candidates, McCain and Obama were equal on the time they got to speak and prove their points. If one candidate got more time then the other he would've gotten much more time to state his opinion and more people might listen to him. My opinion is that Obama won the debate on Friday. He talked about school issues more then McCain and i liked how he talked about lowering taxes for the middle-class.
I think that they should allow both candidates equal time. I think that Obama and McCain did very well in informing the people what they are planning to do about things including the economy. If they did not give the candidates equal time, then one candidate would get more on-screen time than the other. People would remember what the candidate with the longest time said rather than both sides. The debate was very interesting to watch though.
I was impressed with John McCain because he would make a good president. GO JOHN MCCAIN
:):):)
I watched some of the debates, Some times I wish I could vote but Barack O' Bama and John Mccain are hard to choose. (If i could vote)
well... the main thing i think what the canadates should be worried about is global warming. there are so many things and people we will lose. because half of NYC and florida will be underwater.
🙂 🙂 🙂 Mcain 🙁 doesn't know how to run the office. Obama would be better in the White House. Go Obama!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I think that this years debates are very funny because McCain, Obama, Palin, and Biden have all made funny mistakes in the debates, for example Biden said jobs is a 3 letter word, and McCain is now being known as the wanderer, because he walked infront of the camera during a debate.