Canadian Debate: McCain Surrogates Wipe the Floor With Obama Surrogates

Last week in Toronto, Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and former adviser to Barack Obama, was uncharacteristically downbeat.
… Going into the Munk Debate on global security and the U.S. election, only 21% of the assembled audience agreed with the motion that “the world is a safer place with a Republican in the White House.” Two hours later this mostly liberal and deeply anti-Bush crowd had a profound change of heart: 43% ended up voting for the motion.

Did you get that? I visited Toronto recently, and most of the folks I spoke to fit the “mostly liberal and deeply anti-Bush” description and were looking forward to an Obama presidency. Twenty two percent of those who heard this debate changed their minds in favor of having another Republican in the White House!

Ms. Power is right be concerned about the causes of this unexpected shift in public opinion, in the microcosm of the Munk Debate, because of what it says about Obama’s candidacy and the coming U.S. general election.
The debate previewed three highly effective arguments — put forward with devastating effect by the formidable Charles Krauthammer, and historian Niall Ferguson — for why America, Canada and the world will be safer if John McCain and the Republicans form the next U.S. administration.
First, John McCain is not George W. Bush.

Despite what the Second Jimmy Carter term folks are saying! Read the whole thing. It’s heartening for Republicans and not so much for the Hope and Change Hucksters.

Periodically in American history, foreign policy issues trump domestic worries on election day. If this occurs on November 4, John McCain will be the next president of the United States. If you don’t believe me, just ask Samantha Power who witnessed the unthinkable: a downtown Toronto audience flipping for John McCain and flopping on Barrak Obama.

Heh.
Cross posted at Say Anything