I'm pretty good at this political prognostication stuff, so I'm feeling quite confident when I make this bold prediction regarding tonight's debate:
I predict the Republicans will claim McCain won and the Democrats will claim Obama won.
Pretty daring of me, don't you think? Well, when you have the keen political insight I'm gifted with, bold predictions like this just come naturally. 'Daring' is my middle name.
For more keen, indepthful, bold-like and daring insights into the foul, fetid, stinking morass we call modern politics, please...
The trouble with McCain is that, like Obama (from whom it's expected), McCain acts like the average American is in the middle of some gigantic personal crisis, probably due to Bush's failed economic policies (never mind that presidents don't control economies), or perhaps the greed and avarice of Wall Street, and McCain's just the guy to fix it — whereas in reality the average American's life hasn't changed one iota in fifty years.
Even the 'new' things in our lives aren't really new, just modernized. An iPod is a smaller, smarter Walkman. A cameraphone is a camcorder and a telephone. A laptop is just a smaller computer.
The way both candidates act like our lives just hinge on what happens next in Washington is simply ludicrous. When Brokaw asked them what sacrifices they'd ask Americans to make, I would have replied, "Not a damn thing, Tom. Except for that crazy subprime business, everything's going along just great! You folks at home enjoy yourselves, now, y'hear?" People have never had it so good, yet even McCain's jumped aboard the "Everything's a wreck — we gotta fix it!" bandwagon.
As was my reaction after the first debate, I hate to say it but McCain looks old. When I view the two of them through innocent eyes, my intuition says to trust the older, wiser man, but my instinct says he's too far past his prime. If the debates swing the electorate one way or the other, it'll be that feeling, coupled with the assurance that Obama isn't just some fresh-faced kid, that sways a number of people.
The one thing that continues to puzzle me is this penchant so many bloggers have to "live blog" the event. First off, guys, hitting the 'Save' button every five minutes doesn't make it "live". That would be a chat line, like ICQ or the IRC.
But what I can't figure out is who they think is reading this stuff. If someone's online to read it, then they can watch the dang thing themselves on any of the major news sites. In the meantime, the bloggers, who should be sitting back and taking in the event, jotting down notes on the side, are missing all the body language and facial expressions and such because they're busy "live blogging".
Hum.
As far as the questions from the audience, at least this time no one dressed up as Frosty The Snowman while asking about the perils of global warming and how many months the candidates think we have left to live. (at the rate the ice pack is evaporating into outer space, I'd say about six)
I did a small parody of those early debates here, and Michelle Malkin has a round-up of the fraudulent 'undecided citizens' from those dark days here. The big difference was that there weren't any video clips tonight. Having members of the audience ask questions was okay, although it all felt so pre-planned that Brokaw might as well have asked the questions himself. And it's a total farce to call it a "town hall meeting" if the audience is told to shut the hey up. The impromptu participation of the audience is why this style of debate is called a "town hall meeting" in the first place.
This Just In
I just made the quick rounds of the news and blog sites. You'll never believe it:
The Republicans think McCain won and the Democrats think Obama won.
Color us stunned!
