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(photo: DonkeyHotey/flickr)
All righty now. What we have here is the college perfesser and the spoiled brat rich kid who can’t keep his damn mouth shut.
The whole thing even more painful to watch than a repeat episode of My Mother The Car. And the car had more class than either of those two. With Jim Lehrer doing his best imitation of a store mannequin. Complete with black beady eyes. Couldn’t a stage hand or grip or someone just animate him a little bit ?
I watched it on the Democracy Now version with Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson and I have to tell you neither of those two came off as winner either, tho they were marginally better than the approved debaters. What was with Jill’s nasal sniffing thing any way ? It made her come off as a bad imitation of Lilly Tomlin’s Phone Company operator. And Rocky Anderson just repeated everything we already know but stilted.
More to the point though is where the hell are the statesman and real politicians ? Is this the best we can do now ?
Or is that anyone with any real smarts and common sense knows that this whole thing is going to implode any time and wouldn’t stick their hands is this crocodile’s mouth for love nor money.
22 Comments
It was depressing that O did not even bother to look even slightly Dem-ish for the viewers at home. As you said, empty chairs.
So, any silver lining? Well, I think it peeled off a bunch of nose-holding Obama voters. Not that any third party has a hope, and the idea of ‘sending a message’ is laughable. The 10% will take it all, and if they can’t take it the easy way, they will take it the hard way.
And we all have notice that whoever wins, most people’s lives will go from bad to unbearable.
Perhaps O actually does have a conscience, and is telegraphing that he is a hostage by committing eleventy-dimensional suicide on national TV.
Maybe Clint Eastwood, could have a chat with him.
When Candidate Obama debated McCain, his diffidence worked in his favour. He came off as a bright, articulate and polite young man, who was holding back out of respect for his elders, and allowed McCain to look like a crazy old man.
Now that he is Prez and debating an aggressive man in his prime, it just made him look like a doormat. Knut figured we were seeing the real Obama, and I have to agree. And I now understand how Obama is run by his ‘advisors’.
Oh, and wanted to agree about the expanded debate on Democracy Now. Have seen both on video before, but on DN they did not impress me. And I really wanted to be impressed.
Hope you’re enjoying yourself, comrade.
obama will try do just enough to get himself elected without getting a lot of down ticket dem candidates elected so he does not actually have to accompish anything except more of the same sellout stuff he and his predecessor BC did
Great comments! REC-o-mended.
I listened to the DN debate with Stein and Anderson, and I liked Jill Stein very much. I didn’t notice nasally noises at all, and I liked her answers.
I mean if they are going to have a staged debate, at least give them a script and some time to rehearse or maybe send them to improve school or something.
I think the best part of the Democracy now version was the interview she did with the Director of Open Debates. It was very enlightening.
Oilbomber is Republican Lite. Rmoney is a real Republican.
Nobody is drilling enough. Not enough free fracking drilling on Federal Lands. Not enough Clean Fracking Coal. Big Oil needs more free blow jobs.
There is no global warming. Global Warming is a hoax – perpetrated by that fat, liberal gas bag – Al Gore.
When the Democrat is R Lite…
and
R Lite vs. a Real Republican.
The Real Republican Wins…
Every Farking Time.
Kabuki, that was all this was. Barring Romney grabbing a baby out of the audience and sucking its brains out, the M$M was going to proclaim him the “winner.” Can’t let Obama get too far ahead now, can we? That would spoil the ratings, not to mention the advertising revenue. Notice all of the sports analogies?
The debates are for the audience of folks who cheer for either the Red Team or the Blue Team. And, like the Blues and Greens in Constantinople, the PTB have to let each one have its share of victories.
So the Red Team partisans get to cheer for a week or so. Gotta give ‘em SOME hope, or they might not watch the rest of the game, or worse, not buy the products being sold to sponsor it.
This sets up the Dramatic Obama Comeback. Just wait, CM, you’ll see I’m right about this. I may even have to write a post tomorrow or the next day. Weather permitting, I wish to go admire the NE Ohio foliage. Looks real pretty this year.
And it’s actually more important in the larger scheme of things than this farce of M$M pontification.
To answer your question, yes, this is the best we can do now. That will change, but probably not for another few years yet. The best aren’t allowed to take the stage these days.
Oh, yeah. Recc’d.
Exactly.
Some things to notice. Romney was predictable if you saw his primary debates; Obama was boring. Net effect. Boring. Lots of folks switched channels.
The interesting poll today showed that Romney increased his support among Republicans and Obama increased his among independents (and lost a little Democratic support). It’s just one poll.
This was a debate that Romney had to do very well in order to change the game. He did well enough to hold his own for the moment but not game changer. Obama had to not make a major false step that was a game changers; Obama succeeded in doing that.
The format is controlled by the Commission for Presidential Debates, a wholly owned subsidiary of the DNC and RNC together. The two campaigns came to an agreement on format, moderators, and ground rules–a written agreement (likely including a lot of legalese). That’s where it becomes kabuki. My guess is this first debate in moderator and format favored Romney’s style of debating. The next two, and especially the foreign policy debate — where exactly do they disagree? — are going to be different. The format of the second debate advantages Obama. The content of the third debate, foreign policy, advantages Obama.
There will be no dramatic Obama comeback because there will be not much to come back from, just like the RNC convention bounce. The M$M will continue to try to find something, anything, to keep the race close in the polls–ad revenue like you said.
This is the best we can do for now. Look at the hodgepodge of principle, ideology, competence, experience, voter recognition, campaign capabilities, and viability. You want it to be different? You’ve got four years to change the game before the next round.
Good discussion prompt, CM..recc’d
As I’ve said before, this presidential election is already over. Romney lost Ohio for sure when he nominated Ryan. Probably Florida, but I admit I don’t understand Florida because for the life of me I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would want to live in such a horribly boring climate punctuated by hurricanes and palmetto bugs.
With Ohio gone, Romney’s only chance was to pick up Iowa plus some other Midwestern state besides Indiana; Wisconsin was the most likely, plus New Hampshire. Now, both Wisconsin and New Hampshire are out of reach regardless of what happens in the debates.
By “dramatic” Obama comeback I meant how the M$M will portray his great “victory” in one of the next two debates, probably the town hall format, though they might hold off until the final one just to try to keep things interesting a bit longer. More dramatic that way, too, no?
I don’t know what I can personally do in the next four years, but the current system has less than that if the Midwestern and Great Plains drought continues unabated. If that happens, don’t be surprised if there is no election, and maybe no elected president, in 2020.
Food shortages aren’t good for social stability. Ask Louis XVI if you don’t believe me.
Romney’s biggest mistake so far is going after Big Bird. Visualize all those young kids crying out to their parents not to Kill Big Bird.
Worse than kicking his dog in public. He just kicked a whole bunch of kids.
I rest my case.
Touche’.
Octogenarian Clint Eastwood would have been more fun and likely just as pertinent to watch doing Lehrers gig. Or mixing it up with Mitt and Barry. We know Clint Eastwood can handle talking with a empty chair. Likely easier then for Eastwood doing so with two empty suits.
Jim Lehrer looks,sounds and acts like Lehrer has postponed retirement way past Jim Lehrers Time To Step Away Is Now Expiration Date.
Why not let Jon Stewart do the Lehrer debate wheel guy gig? And make these contrived R vs. D UniParty preloaded BS toss-athons into some Daily Show Specials? The jokes would write themselves.Comedy Central could do this. Capture the eyeballs. Jon Stewart is ready.Does politics as well as anyone in American electric media these days.Often better.
The comedy and clownshow schlick these “debates” orbit around would fit right in on Daily Show format. Add Clint Eastwood then too to get more eyeballs to watch. It would be an improvement. Could not get much worse.
I was OK with her answers, although it seemed to me that she grandstanded rather than answering briefly (Rocky too). I found the snorting annoying, but hey, if your president snorts but is otherwise OK then I can live with that. Totally.
Agreed, our presidential race is another example of the prevalent mode in America, the race to the bottom.
The idea of sending a message is not laughable.
Romney is 65. That is not anyone’s prime.
The federal government still has not even released matching funds to Stein and Anderson.
If either of them came off even slightly better than candidates who have millions to spend on strategists, researchers, etc., one of whom has been President for almost four years, then Stein and Anderson accomplished a massive feat.
As far as the sniffing, I did not watch Democracy Now. Was it more annoying than Obama’s “ah” and his drawn out “and?”
I agree with your overall point, though. With a population of about 350 million, it’s difficult to know why we don’t have spectacular candidates.
Maybe it’s the old maxim. Anyone who wants to be President should never be President.