Bob Schieffer’s moderating tonight (perhaps we’ll FINALLY have a moderator who’s in charge?). Domestic issues only.
You wish. Domestic issues includes the war on terror which has become linked to the war in Iraq via the Pres and his statements. Bush will likely spend a lot of time on the war on terror as it is his strongest point and Kerry will slap back with the Iraq/War on Terror. I figure at best it will be as domestic as the town hall debate.
Can we get some clear rules on the drinking game? I have to work early tomorrow and I would like to be sober. 
Bush asks Schieffer if he needs some wood - 1 drink
Bush asks Kerry if he needs some wood - 1 drink
Bush asks America if they need some wood - 2 drinks
Bush actually produces a piece of wood - drink the bottle
Any variation on “hard work” from Bush = big drink
Any variation on Viet Nam from Kerry = big drink
Every “mis-statement” from either one of them = little drink
Good luck. I think you hit on the right idea already, at least for Bush. Bush mentions the war on terror = 1 drink. Kerry mentions that there was net job loss during Bush’s term = 1 drink.
I don’t know…
Kerry hasn’t been mentioning Vietnam nearly as much since the Clinton advisors started steering his ship. In the first couple of debates he only mentioned it a few times.
Bush won’t have much chance to mention his “hard work” talking points regarding Iraq. This debate focus is on domestic issues. They will vary from this a bit, but won’t be allowed to stray too far.
My idea for a drinking game (considering the topic):
Every time a candidate mentions the “middle class” take a drink.
Every time a candidate mentions money take a drink. This includes “funding”, “taxes”, “spending”, etc.
A drink shall be one ounce of liquid. There are 12 “drinks” in a beer. All viewers watch eachother. Cheaters must take a shot of whiskey.
Jaysus man. That alone is going to have you wasted by the end 
Should have added. I’ll be staying up till the early hours to watch it. I’ll be smokin’ rather than drinking so I’ll do a bong for every one of your drinks 
I usually agree with you, Debaser, but I have to take strong exception here. There are NOT 12 “drinks” in a beer at my house. It’s either 1 shot (of the hard stuff) or a halfie of beer.
If you really want to get loaded tonight, do a shot everytime Kerry says “I have a plan…” or Bush says “My opponent thinks/says/will…”
Is the Daily Show still in reruns? We could drink every time Stewart says “I have a plan…”
Nah, if you’re really gonna go hardcore, take a drink whenever a candidate makes his point by using that hand gesture that looks like the ASL for the letter “A”.
I find the better way is to wait until MSNBC (or whomever you’re watching) comes up with their list of buzzwords and the amount of times each candidate said them, then chug the correct amount. That way, you’re sober for the actual debate but get slammed anyway.
Anytime Bush talks to somebody who isn’t there, drink.
Anytime you find yourself wishing Howard Dean was up there so that at least the debates wouldn’t be so boring, drink
Anytime you find yourself in awe of the fact that in a country of 300 million people, this is the best candidates the two parties could scrape up, weep softly to yourself, then drink
1/2 beer at a time. 12 sips to a beer.
Whatever. The important thing is that we both realize that the drinking needs to be measured in order to assure fairness. That way some lightweight can’t simply take teaspoon size sips to avoid drinking more than he should.
New rule: Beer will be drank from cans only. Whenever Kerry says “win the peace” or Bush says “it’s going to be tough” everyone yells and throws empty cans at eachother.
New idea: You could play “Drink while Bush thinks!” You chug while Bush searches for his next word whenever there is a few seconds pause.
(Warning: may result in hospitalization if Bush performs like he did in the first debate.)
Win lose or draw, tonight is the very last time that Bush is going to listen to someone who disagrees with him. It will also be the last time that he answers hard questions. It will also be the last time, other than State of the Union addresses in the event that he wins, that he will appear before an audience that isn’t filtered to weed out unbelievers. Watch the debate, get drunk, then get sober and send him back to Texas.
You’ve said it all.
Darn tootin’.
I doubt he’ll be any more commanding than Gibson or Lehrer (and definitely not Gwen “I-said-thirty-seconds-biatch” Ifill).
Did you see Schieffer on The Daily Show? He was almost adorably nervous about the whole thing.
Has anyone looked at the transcripts for the last two debates and compared them to the drinking game rules in each thread to see who won or lost that way?
I’m afraid that they’ll never use my idea (illustrated here http://www.geocities.com/simthingd2/questionasked.jpg ) to show you on-screen the questions they asked of the debator. I’m not usually in favor of corporal punishment, but a little knuckle rapping to keep them on topic would be okay with me.
I like it!
Thanks for the laugh. That should go down in history as one of the great moments in presidential debates.