On Tuesday night members of the Kitsap Sun Sounding Board, a
collection of locals who agreed to take part in our election
coverage, got together for pizza and soda and some time to meet
each other. And there was a debate.
We didn’t hold high expectations for major developments out of
the meeting, just a chance for us to all know each other a little
better. Maybe we’d understand each other too. For all the
high-voltage stuff that gets distributed behind anonymity on the
Internet, there is an equal amount of depth we get to see when we
manage to interact with each other in person. Sure, even in person
we can resort to sound bites, but Tuesday night’s event was
refreshing.
Before the debate there was lots of conversation going back and
forth. I didn’t hear a lot of it, but they apparently got into some
depth.
It seemed to be a pretty even mix in the room, maybe more
left-leaning than right. That’s a contrast to our earlier
experiences with the live blogging.
David Nelson, local news editor, asked those attending what they
got that was new, what struck them in the 90-minute exchange
between the two senators who would be president, John McCain and
Barack Obama.
Heather McClellan said she most noticed McCain’s last statement
by McCain, one in which he recognized the sacrifices made by those
in military service. “I know what it’s like to put country first,”
she said.
Nikky Southerland pointed out the candidates’ differences on
health care. McCain said it was a responsibility for government.
Obama said it should be a right for individuals.
Jeff Kehring drew out McCain’s call for the Secretary of
Treasury having the right to help homeowners renegotiate their
mortgages. He also wondered whether Obama would be strong enough to
kick against Democrats. “I can see him taking on Republicans,”
Kehring said. “I don’t know if he’s strong enough to take on his
own party.”
Susanne Hughes again criticized McCain for picking Sarah Palin
as his running mate. Hughes was quoted in one of our stories saying
she had been willing to consider McCain after her first choice,
Hillary Clinton, lost. But Palin was the deal breaker. “She is
absolutely in over her head,” Hughes said Tuesday. She cited
McCain’s melanoma as reasons Palin is closer to becoming president
than Biden.
Fran Lawrence sided with Hughes on the Palin pick. “I want
somebody smarter than me and my buddies” as vice president, she
said. Lawrence described herself as a social conservative and said
McCain’s character has disappointed her. Overall her support for
Obama has to do with her three children. She favors Obama’s
“temperate and thoughtful” demeanor. “If my sons go to war I want
to know there has been a lot of thought that went into it,” she
said.
Colleen Smidt pointed out McCain’s answer on Israel as one of
his strengths. McCain was decisive, Smidt said. That was a point
Jeff Kreifels referred to as well. To them, Obama’s decision to
first talk about prevention in a question about what to do should
Israel be attacked seemed an avoidance.
Kreifels also referred to Obama’s failure to answer how Obama
would have parents punished for not insuring their kids. Jane
Rebelowski said it would be like parents who don’t get their kids
educated. But it was not something that could be answered in our
room, especially because it hadn’t been answered on stage.
My question was about whether a meeting like this would have
been easier or tougher four years ago, during the Bush-Kerry
contest. Most seemed to agree with me, that this election doesn’t
seem to be as emotionally charged as the last one. Kreifels said he
thinks it might be moreso, drawing attention to those who instantly
pounce on opinions from others. I conceded that in the case of our
Web site, that is true. We didn’t have story and blog comments four
years ago, and from my memory that’s probably a good thing.
That said, overall I think this election is less extreme than
the last one. Then again, I was covering Bainbridge Island in
2004.
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