East Bay Students In No Mood For McCain's Humor

VIEWERS GROAN OVER PLETHORA OF 'MY FRIENDS'

As Sen. John McCain attempted to sway undecided voters during Tuesday second presidential debate, his conservative views and attempts at humor failed to convince students watching in professor Larry Bensky's political science class.

Alternating between guffaws and mocking laughter, students seemed to be laughing at the Arizona senator, rather than laughing with him.

Admittedly, the classroom atmosphere was far different than other sessions as many students snacked on corn nuts, French fries and soft drinks. One student even walked in late with Chinese takeout.

Bensky, an adjunct professor at Cal State East Bay for the last 17 years, journalist and frequent radio host at Berkeley's KPFA, allowed students to participate on-air for post-debate analysis.

Chuck Maurer, a junior majoring in liberal studies, told KPFA:

“McCain was talking about energy independence, it think maybe it was important when gas prices were over $4 a gallon, but today the Dow just dropped about 508 points. I don't think it was really relevant to what Americans fear that they have today in terms of their 401k's or what the future may hold.”

Maurer went on to add his personal 401k account was “ about a 201k right now.”

I was laughing at him...McCain's lame attempts at humor were just that.

One contentious moment for the class came when McCain told moderator Tom Brokaw, “Social Security is that hard to fix.”

One student muttered, “Yeah, right,” while another blurted, “What is he talking about?”

Senior political science major Barbara Boje thrusted out her hands in exasperation specifically when she heard the name Ronald Reagan as part of McCain's explanation.

“Anybody that knows anything about the Reagan administration knows that was the beginning of the fall for social security,” said Boje, “My problem is that we don't need to reform social security, we need to protect social security.”

Some students found McCain's line, “We might be fighting countries that most Americans can't find on a map” to be condescending.

A woman with a “Rock the Vote” sticker affixed to her designer bag, muttered back, “maybe the ones who would vote for you.”

Boje believes the McCain camp knows it's on their last legs and looks desperate.

“I was laughing at him. For Obama, this is really the first time I saw how quick-witted he was and McCain's lame attempts at humor were just that.”

A student from San Francisco told KPFA that he found McCain's demeanor to be “socially awkward.”

Many mocked his two references to a $3 million projector that Obama supposedly brought home to Illinois as pork-barrel spending and moaned when McCain joked he might need a hair transplant in the future.

Others gasped when McCain starkly pointed towards Sen. Barack Obama and referred to him as, “That one.”

Most of Poli Sci 3310 was decidedly supporting Obama, yet the senator failed to illicit much response from the classroom other than a pointed jab at McCain.

The class specifically enjoyed Obama mocking McCain by saying “I think the Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one.”

Bensky believes that the all-important youth vote for Obama will materialize this election cycle.

“Young people are going to vote much more this time around, unlike Kerry in 2004,” said Bensky, “There's a clear generation change going on here. The Bush presidency has been so unsuccessful and for 20-22 year olds, most of their life has been with President Bush."

He predicts young voters will turnout in proportion to the population and possibly higher.

Bensky does wonder why the signs of individual involvement in the election are not more apparent on campus.

“There's a lot more enthusiasm from young people, especially for Obama, but I haven't seen it translate to any campus activity,” said Bensky, “I've seen very few signs or tables around. There's still time to go, though.”

McCain Nation Sees Debate Differently

FORGET THE ECONOMY, I WANT TO BOMB, BOMB IRAN!

You could say Nathan George's Berkeley home was like a Trojan horse.

Through Sen. John McCain's campaign website, George summoned follow conservatives to his home to watch the first presidential debate last Friday evening.

In the bastion of liberal ideology, the group of 14 was like strangers in a strange land, nestled just a block from Shattuck Avenue where students with piercings galore and the scent of incense wafted down the street.

“I thought about putting out a sign,” said George, a native of North Carolina who is working on his doctoral degree at Cal, “but I decided against it.”

A large part of this election's storyline has been a return to grassroots activism married with the ability of the internet to bring people together.

Aside from a few conservative college students, the party brought McCain supporters from well-to-do Bay Area locales such as Kensington and Montclair.

Everyone in attendance indicated this was the first time ever participating in such event and most seemed firmly in the Arizona senator's camp.

“This debate shows that McCain is up to the job. McCain was successful in putting the pressure on Obama,” said James Shinn of Kensington, “The last half of the debate Obama had to keep defending himself.”

Shinn, who is a retired foreign diplomat served in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, and various Central European nations had a keen view of the debate which primarily dealt with foreign policy issues that tend to play well to McCain's strengths.

During a contentious moment during the last half of the debate regarding Sen. Barack Obama's position of talking to the foreign leaders of countries in conflict with the U.S., Shinn was in agreement with McCain's cautious approach.

“Being a diplomat, you cannot sit across the table and allow free reign in a meeting because what happens is like what McCain said they'll say this and you'll say no you can't.”

He also disagreed with Obama's rebuttal that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is not even the country's top decision maker.

“Sure, he's not the top guy, but he's out there and he's doing what the ayatollahs want him to say,” Shinn said while also citing Ahmedinejad's inflammatory statements at the United Nations earlier in the week.

Others cited McCain's foreign policy chops as the reason why they believed their candidate was successful last Friday.

“Clearly the turning point was the way he talked about all the foreign places he had visited and his experiences there,” said George.

Leigh Dukatt, a McCain supporter from Emeryville, also thought McCain showed a mastery of foreign policy while exhibiting his tendency to buck party lines.

“He knew what he was talking about. I liked how he talked about opposing some previous conflicts like in Lebanon. McCain showed he is the right guy for the job,” Dukatt said.

If instant polling of Friday's debate is to believed, despite McCain's foreign policy advantage, Americans believed Obama won the first matchup of presidential candidates.

Whereas many political observers viewed the debate as a barometer of how well Obama could stand up to criticism that he's inexperienced, some at the debate party were interested in the opposite.

Shinn, like many other pundits finds overtones in these debates with the 1980 presidential election when Ronald Reagan's lack of executive gravitas was opposed by a president foundering in a weak economy, except he believes McCain is the candidate Americans need to decide whether they are comfortable sitting in the Oval Office and not Obama.

“The Democrats said he was cowboy and didn't know anything and wasn't up to the job. People wondered 'am I comfortable with him on the button?' That's what elections are about in America, 'how comfortable am I with this person?” said Shinn.

In fact, the Cold War-era question of “who will have their finger on the button” was curiously mentioned by the group on three occasions during a post-debate discussion.

Friday's debate was aired amidst heightened worries over the economy, yet few of the McCain supporters, who said they were fiscally conservative Republicans against expanding government, were uninterested in the candidates opening remarks.

“The economy is not my top concern,” said George, “A president gets his top people to handle the economy.”

Others take a more pragmatic approach and believe McCain should take a more populist approach in his rhetoric rather than cautiously matching Obama's what-and-see approach to the economy.

“McCain could do more, but he's caught being in the party he's in,” said Shinn, “He should go four square on this bailout issue. He should hammer populist themes against golden parachutes and corporate greed.”