Jackson Free Press

OXFORD—Judging from applause, the McCain supporters on the Square are still most excited about his running mate. McCain's biggest applause line by far was his Sarah Palin "maverick" shout-out.

It felt like a Republican-dominated crowd, but I was struck by the universal concern for economic issues. You could feel--and hear--the crowd's interest dissolve after Jim Lehrer's third foreign policy question.

Jerry Windham of Ripley calls himself "more of a Palin supporter than a McCain supporter" because of McCain's more liberal positions on social issues. He was surprised by the confrontational tone that Lehrer encouraged with the long back-and-forth segments.

"That's the first time in a presidential debate I've ever seen somebody say, 'Go right to him,'" Windham said.

I asked Windham what drew him to Palin and he raved about her executive experience.

"I deal with the mayor of my town every day," Windham said. "Let me tell you: that sucker works twenty-four seven. That's where the rubber meets the road. Anybody that hasn't been there, I don't know if they deserve anything more than that. Community organizer? I don't know what that is. But I can tell you, if it ain't a mayor...it ain't a governor, with no executive experience, the rubber has not met the road."

Still, Windham winced visibly and downplayed expectations when I asked him about how Palin might fare in a debate.

"From what I've seen so far, the questions that's been tossed her have pretty much been hardball stuff," he said. "They've not been the softball questions that have been tossed to the Democrat. That ain't fair….As far as her, when she gets there, you know, she's been a mayor, she's been a governor, she hasn't been in the world...So it's hard for me to say. I just want it to be fair."

Cassania Hall, an Obama supporter and Oxford resident, thought Obama performed well. She wanted more from both candidates on the specifics of their economic plans, though.

"I would have liked to hear more about the economy and the mortgage issue, the credit issue, and especially the gas issue," Hall said. "I just bought a house a year ago and my house has depreciated by forty-five thousand dollars," she added.

Previous Comments

ID

138319

Comment

It's interesting that The Square seemed to have a louder pro-McCain crowd. In The Grove, the Obama camp was much louder throughout.

Author

bryan doyle

Date

2008-09-26T22:47:05-06:00