More of a telegenic contest if you ask me – amazing to see many commentators call it one of the most “substantial Presidential debates” in memory. Please, if repeating talking points and platitudes is “substance,” Mahatma Gandhi had nothing on me.
Then again, I suppose the whole thing needs to be placed in perspective when thinking of the voters the candidates were trying to reach – clueless gits that still think SH had something to do with 9/11 and that somehow, Iraq is tied-in with the ‘War on Terra.’ In that sense, it felt like watching first graders learning their ABC’s from teachers with different alphabets. Pathetic to think that there’s a large segment of the adult population that still needs those primers – but as continued polls show, plenty of them around.
From that perspective, edge Kerry – not because he was particularly insightful, but because he can simply string a few coherent sentences together better than The Doofus In Charge. Color me surprised. Going by after-debate polls and spin, it appears that’s the general consensus as well. That simply by virtue of not fumbling and looking ‘more Presidential’ than Dumbya, Kerry scored enough points to stay in the race and win this round. A slight gain of momentum seems likely.
But for fuck’s sake! color me elitist and dip me in chocolate if you’d like, I came away with the distinct impression that if those two are the best America has to offer as paragons of leadership, we are all in trouble. Obviously, because it’s already known that Bush is a complete moron, Kerry still gets the benefit of the doubt and the ensuing hopeful nod from most rational thinking people world-wide. Hopefully there are enough of those still left Stateside to take him to victory – if only because the alternative is too harrowing to contemplate.
But still, some of this talk about “Kerry finally took his gloves off” and “nailed the pResident on the Iraq War” only makes the slightest bit of sense within the context provided, i.e., he was talking to first graders. Granted, in Bush’s case that’s true, but in the larger context, again, what does that say of the American public at large. Ugh!
Just a bitty example of what I am talking about: when asked about ‘Bush lying about going to war,’ Kerry first softened the question by pointing out that he “never said it in those words” (granted, politically expedient to do so, but gutless anyway) and then barely skimmed the surface of the multitude of evidence that is out there. Uranium from Niger, aluminum tubes, student thesis, the infamous drones of death, Plame outing, the OSP intel sham run by Rummie and cohorts, Chalabi, the current and dire situation in Iraq, etc. etc.
Baah! if there was ever a topic – and an incumbent – that was ready for a KO, it has to be Bush. Of course, Kerry’s own initial, albeit clearly nuanced, approval of this madcap adventure ultimately hampered his attack.
Would that the “new and improved” Al Gore could have been unleashed on Dubya last night. Now, that, I would have payed to watch.
