Completely agree. I think the accusation makes the left just look petty, like they can’t lose a debate graciously so they have to find a sinister reason why Obama lost this round. But, I am sure the right would have done something similar had Romney been declared the loser.
I also read that the original accusation was by the Wonkette, so it doesn’t have much credibility anyway. The Wonkette is not known for it’s unbiased reporting.
Am I the only one who thinks that candidates should have notes with them for debates? That way, you could have things like “It’s interesting that you should say that, because <checking notes> on April 14, 2011, you said the exact opposite at your speech in Kalamazoo, Michigan. What caused you to change your mind?”. Or the exact numbers for the latest economic figures, or a list of countries we’ve given aid to and the amount to each, or whatever. I don’t want a president who makes decisions by the seat of his pants: I want one who will consult the best information available.
Shit, give 'em the Internet with everything that entails. I’m wanting my leader to be maximally competent, and I don’t care how he or she achieves that. It can be through supergenius IQ, through profound research abilities, or through expert advisers; all I care about is that that job gets done. The president is the head of a team, and if the whole team represents at the debate using the president as avatar, well, that kind of how the job works, too.
Forbidding them from bringing notes makes for an inauthentic audition for the job.
Measure, I reread what you said when you quoted me, and what I first perceived as an attack on me, wasn’t at all. So I am sorry for getting defensive. That last line was out of line on my part. I apologize.
here is a facebook exchange I had with a friend of mine.
Her: Romney cheated (with link to video)
Me: Well it not a prop chart or diagram. Now the question becomes is is notes, other writings or is it the type of paper of their choosing for taking notes.
I admit I can’t make out if there is any writing on the paper when viewing on my phone. Viewing it on your computer can you say for certain that the paper is not blank?
If the answer to that is no, then I don’t know how you can say he cheated.
Her: This has been the subject of much discussion across the 'net today, and it seems that it is well established that this was a handkerchief, not a cheat sheet. I withdraw the accusation.
Classy lady, and no wonder why I think the world of her, she is adult enough to admit that sometimes she might be wrong.
Probably a hanky. Even if it wasn’t, what are they going to do about it? Nobody pays any attention to the rules in these debates, and there are no consequences for violating them.
Fully agreed. I’m anti-republican in this prez race, but Mittens looked ready for a debate, Obama did not. Mittens STILL hasn’t told us about his magical golden-underwear economic plan.
Candidates can play the gotcha game or have statistics wars at any time except during the debates. I for one would not be interested in sitting through ninety minutes of “But you said…”
Not that I would have any firsthand knowledge of this, but my guess is that presidential decision-making involves a lot of seat-of-the-pants judgment based on limited, imperfect information summarized by people who have their own agenda. It’s not like writing a journal article where you have time to carefully read a long list of references that themselves are the product of lengthy and dispassionate reasoning.
On the contrary - what I’d like to see is one event where the candidates are given a set of questions that they then have to take into a room and write out the answers to - with no notes or other help - and the next day the answers are released verbatim to the public. There would still be campaigning and debates, but this one event would provide a lot of insight into the candidates’ thought processes.
