About that Debate...

By Royce Tenney

I wanted to watch "Fringe" on Tuesday-—badly. But since the debates were being aired I guess didn’t have a choice.

Ok, that’s an excuse. I did want to watch the debate. I would’ve at least DVR-ed the debates and watched Fringe. Gotta have your priorities, people. With this visual devastation fresh in mind, I actually watched the debate slightly different this time than the first debate—angrily.

My reaction? Boredom, slight bewilderment, periodic confusion, disdain, and eventually complete rhetoric fatigue. The format was dumb and the moderation was overarching. Of course Obama ‘won’ the debate, if that simplistic analysis even applies anymore. He’s a better public speaker, more poised, and seemed to connect with the audience better. He presented the epitome of a level-headed cool that we should come to expect of a President. Simply put, he was more Presidential. He didn’t answer the last question, which annoyed me.

McCain, on the other hand, continuously paced around the room, refusing to sit down (restless leg syndrome maybe? I saw a commercial for that recently—mocked it until now), and did nothing to alleviate his generally erratic behavior over the last couple of weeks. What lost the debate for McCain, in addition to his restless leg syndrome, were a couple of things that came out of his mouth that I’m sure he wishes he could have take-backs on.

When a younger-looking Black guy asked him a question about the Wall Street turmoil, he quickly corrected him by saying it was a rescue—not a bailout. Unfortunately for McCain, the majority of the country sees the bailout for what it is—a bailout. Next, he decided to refer to Obama as ‘that one,’ forgoing a bevy of other choices for one that has been ran with all over the place today. Whatever folksy thing he actually meant doesn’t matter. Perception is reality, and I think people need the President to know that. Lastly when asked about healthcare, he said that healthcare was a privilege, then proceeded to gloss over his complicated healthcare plan. Obama said he believes healthcare is a right. Pwnd.

Wait a second, really? So owning a gun is a right in America, but healthcare isn’t? How is that logic even possible in a 2008 America? I understand that McCain is a student of Reaganomics (ie: small government, low taxes on the rich, supply side economic theory, minimal government programs, no minimum wage, weak regulatory agencies, no labor unions, huge military), and the Neoconservative sentiment is still that a big FDR government is the bad guy and shouldn’t have anything to do with healthcare.

Never mind most all other advanced nations make healthcare a RIGHT for their citizens through government intervention.

Ugh, why couldn’t "Fringe" be on. Dammit.