Debating

Years ago, when Iran had taken U.S. hostages, then President, Jimmy Carter, refused to campaign. He said that all his time needed to be put into the negotiations. Of course Carter had an obligation to do what he could to help the hostages. Carter, however, also had an obligation to tell the American Public what a second Carter terms would look like and to explain how he would handle some of the situations that had occurred (some his own doing).

Now, almost 28 years later, John McCain seems to want to hide as well. The economy, right now, is THE ISSUE, it is what is on everyone’s mind. Claiming that he wants to help find a solution, that talking about this could have negative affects and that now is not the time for campaigning, McCain appears trying to duck the public, much like Carter did.

Right now, this is the issue on everyone’s mind. Hearing the candidates debate, especially about how they would handle this situation (I realize this debate is supposed to be about foreign policy but clearly if it happens it would need to be, and should be, about the economy), is not only fair game it is the way things should be handle. Hearing how the two candidates would deal with this situation could sway my vote. I want to hear the plans.

Teaching Public Speaking, I tell my students it is good to talk about timely topics, topics in which they are interested, topics which they believe would interest the audience and would be important to the audience; Senator McCain, this discussion meets all of my criteria. Stop hiding and start debating!