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Tuesday

7

October 2008

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Live Musings – Presidential Debate #2

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Third debate of the general election, third location. First was my apartment, all alone. Second was thundering through the air in a tube with like-minded strangers. Now I’m with my good friends in Seattle, watching it while waiting for pizza. Should be a good one…


(this time the times posted will be Pacific, since that’s where I am)


5:55 PM – Oh CNN. Thank you for getting into a room a whole bunch of people who can’t make up their minds. I’m intrigued by these people.


6:02 PM – Brokaw made a funny!


6:03 PM – Obama has a purple tie. And he’s chosen to wear it. Is that a subtle nod to the fact that there are no red or blue states – just purple?


6:06 PM – Nice specifics Obama. Of course McCain comes out with a bit of a jab . . . and OF COURSE McCain says that the solution is energy independence. Of course. I bet we get that from . . . drilling.


6:07 PM – McCain wants to re-negotiate mortgages. And . . . he randomly insults Brokaw. What?


6:11 PM – McCain corrects – wait, we have our first reference to Main Street. And you should REALLY let the whole “suspended campaign” thing go – it was not a good choice, and it’s a bad idea to bring it up.


6:13 PM – Zing. Obama’s cronies? Damn. That’s harsh. But good job pointing out campaign contributions.


6:14 PM – And Obama goes to the heart of the question. And the he brings the pain – yeah. McCain probably shouldn’t have gone there, with the Freddie Mac links to Obama, what with his campaign manager and all . . . 


6:17 PM – So McCain, how will this re-valuing of mortgages work? If my home value has gone up, will my mortgage go up?


6:20 PM – The question was kind of funny. McCain seems really uncomfortable. Am I wrong on that? I thought this was supposed to be his forte. And look at that – the men and women on CNN don’t seem too pleased with McCain. Did McCain even listen to Obama? Obama already explained his increases were paid for by cuts. 


6:24 PM – Ah, it looks like McCain took a page from Palin – don’t really answer the question asked.


6:27 PM – Oooh, novel approach. Obama answered the question as posed. But I think Brokaw is getting really annoyed with both of them for not cutting their time down.


6:29 PM – My friend Mike thinks that McCain looks like he has little wings. Meanwhile, McCain is again saying there will be a spending freeze on everything except defense and veterans affairs. Hmm . . . and yet McCain, who hasn’t done much at all for health care is saying he’s not going to tell people they have to wait.


6:31 PM – First reference to 9/11 comes from Obama. And my first Obama cringe comes from him talking about clean coal technology. Boo. Hiss. But at least he’s talking about sacrifices. It’s true – we haven’t been asked to adjust anything. Doubling the peace corps? Intriguing. Can I be sent to Ireland? I’m sure they need some help since they are in a recession.


6:33 PM – Obama seems to be reaching a bit for the right words. He’s not as eloquent as I’d like. But I do like the comparison to teachers tightening their belts and the unfair burden sharing. And drawing it back to McCain having unfair burden sharing by freezing all spending.


6:36 PM – McCain seems only able to talk about Obama. Interesting.


6:37 PM – I’m not sure this format is working. But oh HILARITY – the Straight Talk Express Lost a Wheel? And Obama brings it back to taxes. At least he seems to have learned from the last debate, so now he is not letting some of the bigger point slide. And by pointing out how things are related, he’s engaging us all in some more complex thinking.


6:41 PM – He’ll answer the question? So I guess that’s where he and Palin part ways. 


My friend Jamie is hilarious – McCain’s talking about how his party isn’t always happy with him. Jamie’s response? “I have no loyalty. I have no ideological consistency.”


6:42 PM – Interesting – And LAME. Man, the more of McCain I see the less I like. I used to like him a bit.


6:43 PM – McCain has mentioned Lieberman like five times. Hmm. And now he says “Obama thinks [nuclear power] needs to be safe OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT” – what the hell just happened? Did he have a brain fart? That was bizarre. That whole answer was all about me liking peanut butter and you swimming. I heart non sequitur theater.


6:46 PM – OH SNAP. Obama just threw a big ol’ piece of mud at McCain. “Congress hasn’t done anything about energy for 30 years – McCain’s been there for 26 of them.” And Obama throws in a fact about how drilling still can’t solve the problem. I also heart rationality.


6:48 PM – “That one?” Did he REALLY just do that? Is he trying to – oh man, Mike just stood up and pointed out that McCain looks like a puppet with strings holding up his elbows. It’s true! Think about it!


6:49 PM – Senator McCain, I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND. Please stop referring to me as such.


6:52 PM – Please don’t tax my health insurance. Please. Please. Please. 


Side note – Obama, you’re a bit long winded. I think you have like a minute total.


6:55 PM – What’s McCain talking about? I can’t follow him. I’m not feeling well, but can that explain it? Or is he totally rambling? And also, McCain talked about parents wanting to insure their kids. And yet McCain voted against adding more children to the list of those eligible for insurance. Not cool man, not cool.


6:57 PM – I agree that health care should be a right. I agree with what Obama is saying. This is good – Obama is explaining why you shouldn’t be able to cross state lines to get health care – the comparison to deregulation of banking was great too.


7:00 PM – Peacemakers. What’s going on now? I’m nodding off.


7:02 PM – Obama, we’ve heard this before. Something new please. 


I’m not sure I’m going to end up watching the third debate. Just the pre-game and after-party for me, I think. 


7:04 PM – And Obama’s the first one to mention morals…and then he stuttered. But I do like the idea that we need to intervene when possible from a moral perspective. 


7:07 PM – What’s going on? The town-hall format just wanders aimlessly. It’s odd. I don’t like it.


7:08 PM – What does “exacerbate our reputation” mean?


7:09 PM – Please answer the question. Either of you. Please.


7:11 PM – McCain, do you know at all what it means to respond to a hypothetical? Ugh. I like that Obama is honest about what he thinks should be done.


7:13 PM – Obama is bringing the smack down. Brokaw is taking it well.


7:15 PM – UGH. I had to leave. I had to leave. I cannot watch both of them acting like children and pointing at each other.


7:18 PM – Mike says “Jesus Christ. Is General Patraeus running for President?”


7:19 PM – Stop beating this horse. It died long, long ago.


7:22 PM – I’m done with this. I give up. I’m sleepy.


Okay. I think it’s almost over. I’m tired of these. I’m not happy about how this has gone, because I don’t think we’re getting anything new out of this. At all.


Lame.

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