The second political discussion that I viewed The Place for Politics on NBC, this is from the “Face Off” segment. The two debaters are Maryland Democrat Christopher VanHollen and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn. The main topic was why Democrats seem to have an advantage, if they do at all. The host tells the two that in a poll of “Who do you want to control Congress?” The results were democrats 49% and republicans 36%. VanHollen is asked if he “fears that there is a ‘throw the bums out mentality’ that is sweeping Washington?” VanHollen responds that he does not fear this because the people have always looked at Congress and distinguished between the decisions of the democrats and the decisions of the republicans. He claims that when they observed this the people noticed the democrats as a political party “trying to get the economy moving again,” and a party that “understands the health care stress.” VanHollen claims this is why all polls support the democrats. Blackburn responds that in the generic ballot the advantage of the democrats is creeping down. She states that the proposed bail out package is “incredibly unpopular,” and the democrats were the ones that “took the lead.” Furthermore Blackburn states that McCain is putting more focus on ensuring Americans of his judgement and his trust. VanHollen says this is merely McCain changing the subject because McCain “constantly loses whenever he brings up the topic of the economy.” VanHollen argues that McCain’s tendency to constantly change the subject is yet another reason that Americans are “noticing that Democrats are the only ones working to change the economy.” This was civil dialogue on both of the speakers parts however they both stood behind their political party. I learned that their are 100 votes from the undecided states up in the air and the economy issues and the candidates plans seems to be a deal breaker.
