I didn't follow this debate last night for several reasons. First, I was doing something actually enjoyable - watching the Gamecock Baseball team come from behind to beat the Aggies 3-2. Second, I don't watch debates between people who I'm not eligible to vote for. Third, debates are pretty boring. I'd almost always rather watch Olympic women's curling. (The Swedish women aren't bad.)
In any event, if you're interested in the Sanford/Bostic race, check it out. If you're not interested in politics, you can enjoy some chicks with guns here.
Don't worry, unlike some celebrities, there are no curse words here. (I used all mine up last Saturday anyway.) The debates were pretty interesting when viewed in the context of each other. The final debate was most interesting as to what the candidates thought about the state of the race.
First a little recap. In the first debate, Romney came out hard, attacking, playing the prosecutor. At the same time, Obama thought he could just show up, recite his stump speech and win. Alas, it was not to be.
The first debate showed two things. One, Romney wasn't the evil guy that all the attack ads made him out to be. He actually had a plan for the future, and he could explain it. Two, Obama just didn't have the fire that he did four years ago. He was just "checking the box" of the debate, and his plan is to continue with "investing" in roads, bridges, and the same stuff he's been saying for four years. Romney ate his lunch, and everyone knew it. Well, almost everyone.
I think that Obama was playing a prevent defense too early. He knew he had a good lead in some important swing states, and he was simply going to show up, recite his stump speech, not make any major errors, and keep the election on it's current trajectory. As John Madden once said, "All a prevent defense does is prevent you from winning." That's exactly what happened. Romney scored touchdowns, and Obama wasn't even trying to play offense.
The second debate was what everyone thought the first debate was going to be. Both candidates came out of the gate hard, challenged each other, and at one point, I actually thought they were going to start hitting each other with the cordless microphones. Obama to his credit, responded well, showing that he still wanted the job. The energy debate centered on who was more in favor of drilling, which must have driven the environmentalists insane. In any event, basically a tie. However, the damage had been done in the first debate. The people who tuned in for the first debate had formed their impression. Relevant quote for this debate: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
The final debate was on foreign policy. Or at least it was supposed to be. At a few points in the debate, both candidates decided that they were just going to talk about domestic policy. Bob Sheiffer decided that he wasn't going to interrupt and get them back on the topic of foreign policy (or maybe he fell asleep) and the candidates talked about domestic policy for at least 10 minutes each in a 90 minute debate. Oh well, when the economy and domestic policy is as important as it is this election cycle, there aren't many votes to be had going into detail about foreign policy. Just kill the bad guys, which both candidates are in favor of.
Very differently than before, though, Romney came across as not the prosecutor, but the calm guy who was reasonable. He wasn't going to be the "Cowboy" President, unlike that last Republican in the White House. Romney agreed with Obama more in 90 minutes than he did in the entire campaign. Romney didn't attack Obama when given chances. On the contrary, Obama attacked Romney. All I can take away from this is that Obama thought he was behind (which he is) and Romney thought he was ahead (which he is). It was just the flip side of the first debate. The question is, does Romney's prevent defense work at this point, or does the Romney momentum fade too soon?
Ultimately: Most people voted for Obama last time. Why? Remember where we were four years ago? The outgoing Republican incumbent was toxic, and Obama was such a great story. It was a great combination that created a tidal wave of support. The landscape today couldn't be more different. The economy has been mired in the doldrums for four years, and the inspirational candidate from four years ago isn't here. This version of Obama is petty and condescending. People desperately want the economy to get better, and they have a binary choice: Government continues to try and solve the problem, or government gets out of the way. We'll know in a few weeks. It's going to get more intense before then, so brace yourself - especially if you live in a swing state.
At some point (hopefully tonight) I'll get a chance to give my post-debate thoughts. In the meantime, and for comparison, here are some Tweets from celebrities on the Final Debate. [Note: Sarah Silverman's is not exactly safe for work.]
If you watched the first presidential debate between President Obama and Mr. Romney (and you weren't totally in denial) it was clear that Mr. Romney got the better of President Obama. And when I say "clear", I mean, 72% to 20%. That's a Clemson vs. West Virginia in the Orange Bowl kind of win. Which leads into this: When Obama walked off the stage after the debate, he thought he had won.
Here's my take: If the President didn't prepare for the debate, slacked off playing golf because he thought he was going to win, that's one thing. It's overconfidence, and it can be forgiven. It's easy to see why he thought he was going to win. Everyone around him for the last four years has been telling him how great he is, how awesome he is, how he's the smartest guy around. So it's understandable that this happened:
'President Obama made it clear he wanted
to be doing anything else - anything - but debate prep,' the Democrat
said. 'He kept breaking off whenever he got the opportunity and never
really focused on the event.
But here's the thing that is more problematic than laziness/overconfidence:
Obama believed he had actually won.
It's one thing to not study for the test because you think you're going to ace it. It's one thing not to practice hard before a big football game because you're playing a school from a lower division. However, if you flunk the test and lose the football game, you have a much bigger problem than laziness/overconfidence - you're out of touch with reality and/or you're so incompetent that you don't even recognize what competence looks like.
I don't want a lazy president, but hey, it happens. What I really don't want is a president who can't tell when he's just gotten his butt kicked.
So, the millionth GOP debate was last night. I haven't been watching them, but I decided to watch this one. My thoughts:
Huntsman pledged not to sign any pledges. Think about that for a second...Also he seemed kind of snarky/arrogant all night long. He also kept saying that he wouldn't "pander" either.
Ron Paul laid out his position that we shouldn't be concerned about Iran and nuclear weapons. You know the movies where aliens land and one guy goes out to "reason" with them and gets promptly blasted with an alien ray-gun? Yeah, that's Ron Paul.
Bachmann wears too much makeup (poorly) for me to take her seriously. She also has zero accomplishments.
Santourm Every time he talks, I fall asleep. Oh, and the last time he ran for anything, he lost his home state of PA by double-digits. Doesn't sound too "electable" to me...
Perry. He lost me when he said he wanted to be the "Tim Tebow" of this campaign. He just never really seems serious, and his idea that Congress should work less is silly.
Gingrich talked about Jackson abolishing some Federal Courts in 1802 and said that's what he wants to do to the 9th Federal Circuit. Interesting history lesson, bro...The Courts may have some decisions that you disagree with at times, but they're really the least of our problems at this point.
Romney. There's a saying in law school: For certain multiple choice questions, all of the answers seem kind of right and kind of wrong so you "Try to pick the answer that sucks the least". That's what Romney is for me. He's the guy that sucks the least so far.
I like my 9mm because it's not as expensive every time I burn through two boxes at the range. The expensive Corbon JHP's are what go in the mag when it's not on the range.
