Frontline: The Choice 2008

[DroppinScience]

Mark your calendars for Oct. 14. Every four years, the PBS program has a profile of the two major party candidates.

It's truly the best way to know their biographies and where they stand. Accept no substitutes!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/

[DroppinScience]

Okay, I got to watch this show online and it was excellent. Made me realize how much Frontline kicks so much ass.

Anyways, no matter which way you lean this election, I think you can gain some insight and appreciation for both Obama and McCain. The report clearly was being very respectful of both candidates.

My gut impressions I got out of the candidates is that Obama is truly energizing and gives you great hope of where he can take things. It even showed him battle charges on "not being experienced" and "elitist" when he was getting started in politics and community organizing (since he was shaking up the black establishment in Chicago). It showed how he overcame those obstacles and succeeded and this program hints how he may just be able to do that all over again for this election.

As for McCain, I think there are elements of him in his past that are admirable and perhaps he may have been doing the right things had he been able to beat Bush in the race for the GOP nomination in 2000. But to me, it just seems to be a disappointing turn he's made in the last 8 years of towing the line between being a "maverick" and "outsider" while at the same time cozying up with the religious right, Bush, etc. (the very things he once denounced) in order to win the nomination this year. To me, it seems to have really tainted him and he now comes across like an old dog unable to learn new tricks. There is just something very tired about him this time around.

Bottom line: this special is ideal for an unbiased portrait of both candidates as told through the people who work with them and know them best.

[yeahwho]

I will vouch for your account on this show, it was an excellent history and presentation of how each candidate arrived at this moment in time. Better than 99% of anything a registered voter or even an average earthling could watch on TV.

Sometimes I wonder why they work so hard at Frontline, it seems as if it just gets flushed into the vast TV wasteland, but Thank God they do. (y)

[RobMoney$]

I'm going to wait for the half hour Obama infomercial that Obama bought airtime to put on ala Ross Perot before I form my opinion of him.

That'll be the the only real and unbiased way to get to know him. :rolleyes:

[DroppinScience]

I'm going to wait for the half hour Obama infomercial that Obama bought airtime to put on ala Ross Perot before I form my opinion of him.

That'll be the the only real and unbiased way to get to know him. :rolleyes:

And how about the Frontline special? Don't worry, they say nice things about McCain too so don't be afraid to watch it.

[yeahwho]

I'm going to wait for the half hour Obama infomercial that Obama bought airtime to put on ala Ross Perot before I form my opinion of him.

That'll be the the only real and unbiased way to get to know him. :rolleyes:

Your way off if you think this is propaganda.

I would say that in actuality the Frontline show agrees with your evaluation of McCain and goes beyond your praise of the candidate. It isn't a infomercial for either candidate, it is an objective history. No bias. I would go as far as saying it shows McCain in a more favorable light than Obama. I think the biggest mistake you and others who support McCain make is not just seeing things for what they are.

[RobMoney$]

I wasn't trying to disparage the frontline piece at all.
I was trying to make light of the half hour infomercial (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8684264/Obama-air-time-to-cause-slight-Game-6-delay)the Obama's going to unleash.

Quite possibly the smarmiest thing a politician can do. All I'm saying is, I will throw a beer through my 50" flat panel at the first sign of a pie chart.

[yeahwho]

I wasn't trying to disparage the frontline piece at all.
I was trying to make light of the half hour infomercial (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8684264/Obama-air-time-to-cause-slight-Game-6-delay)the Obama's going to unleash.

Quite possibly the smarmiest thing a politician can do.
I agree. I wish these multi-million dollar candidates would actually stop off at the food banks or shelters, outside big city emergency rooms or with the families of killed in action soldiers from Iraq. Make a proposal to donate monies spent on self promotion be equal to monies spent on charitable donations to those suffering the most in America.

But I think I speak for 99% of America when I say that every political ad I've ever heard rings hollow. It's just an exercise in branding yourself and belittling your opponent. Day in, day out.

[Dorothy Wood]

actually, I think he's taking a cue from Adlai Stevenson. he bought 30 minute spots on t.v. to address the public in long form in 1952. and Stevenson wasn't smarmy at all. he seemed like a pretty cool dude.


anyway, I watched the frontline thing and I thought it was pretty interesting. I didn't think it really went deep enough, but I suppose they did what they could in 2 hours. I thought they presented both men in a straightforward, non-biased way. as I said in another thread, I started remembering why I used to like McCain so much until they got to the part about him deciding to go after the bible thumper vote. I was also surprised to see how terribly he managed his campaign for the nomination at first, they were spending way too much money and not accomplishing anything. yes, he turned it around, but you can't make mistakes like that with a whole country and turn it around as easily. obviously we're finding that out now after W.