WHY DID OBAMA AVOID TOWN HALL MEETINGS??

Wrote following column on Sept. 27, 2008
WHY DID OBAMA AVOID TOWN HALL MEETINGS??
I haven’t had a TV for the last few weeks (a column on that is coming soon), but here is my analysis of the debate as I heard it on the radio after declining Obama debate parties invitations.
I took three pages of notes. I wrote repeatedly that both Barack Obama and John McCain were giving detailed answers and demonstrating intellectual depth on a wide variety of topics.
Perhaps, my standards were low after reading transcripts of Sarah Palin’s interviews with Katie Couric, but Obama and McCain seemed far more substantive than previous candidates – Gore and Kerry as well as "Fuzzy Math" Bush (does anyone remember that pathetic performance?).
During the debate, I wrote "Why did Obama avoid Town Hall meetings?" Two weeks ago, I wrote that avoiding these forums was one of the Top 10 reasons Obama would lose the election. While listening to him Friday, I became more perplexed about why he declined McCain’s offer.
Looking at the stars I gave Obama and McCain after good points, Obama won the debate on substance. But I acknowledge that this may be my political bias. I’ve done lots of research and writing on how rich people use loopholes to avoid taxes and the issue infuriates me.
I also am a History buff and am infuriated (I have a blood pressure problem) when candidates use bogeymen like the idiot from Iran to score political points while ignoring the fact that high-level American officials (particularly Henry Kissinger) have repeatedly talked to brutal dictators with far more power than Ahmenijad (I know I misspelled his name, but I don’t care.)
Realistically, McCain and Obama were about equal on substance. To me, that is a HUGE victory for Obama because tens of millions of Americans are justifiably wary of choosing someone who IS inexperienced. On Friday, Obama took a huge step forward in allaying their fears. He DOES have the knowledge, and he does NOT have liberal, out-of-the-mainstream views.
I thought the key to the debate was McCain’s constant use of the phrase "Obama doesn’t seem to understand." Listening on the radio, this phrase seemed condescending and annoying. It also seemed stupid and counterproductive because Obama DID seem to understand. McCain’s phrase would have worked better if he was debating Palin.
I still think that Obama is waging a very flawed campaign because his decision-making is way too timid and he won’t give people a few specific pro-change reasons to vote FOR him (as opposed to anti-McCain reasons).
I think this also means that major long-term problems won’t be solved during his administration, but I believe his first debate performance against McCain also reinforces my belief he will be an excellent day-to-day leader of the USA if he is elected.
Shalom,
ZWrite
P.S. – Someone needs to tell Glenn Greenwald that his claims about a "conservative media" are as idiotic as conservatives’ claims about a liberal media. His favorite target, Mark Halperin, is lavishly praising Obama in a column about the debate.