Will You Watch the Debate?

people backing a guy that jumped, fully bedecked in a flight suit, from a jet that he did not pilot, onto the deck of an aircraft carrier that was only 30 miles from shore ( it was toooo far for the helo to reach??) for a big photo op really shouldn't be too concerned with the opposition's grooming products. ( wheeew! that was a long sentence, even for me. lol!)

hey, not everyone gets to blow out of the office early to grab some rays in the warm glow of the gentle crawford sol, amiga.

love those cheap sun glasses...

I'll be watching, but I have a prediction about what will be discussed here tomorrow night:

Dems who are going to vote for Kerry will say he won, and Repubs who are going to vote for Bush will say he won.

I think it will be interesting to see how the topics re foreign policy will shape up. Bush will be have to explain why the US will have to stay the course in Iraq, and Kerry will have to explain his shifting positions. Both might have trouble explaining their reasoning....

i agree with you on this one alv. most people probably have their minds made up, or are pretty close to it. so, the big event will most likely be watched waiting and watching for zingers. there may still be a few undecideds left though.

how are you by the way?

Good, thanks. Has some bidness to take care of and was gone for a couple of days.

And I agree with you about the pleasure of blowing off work to catch some rays.... someday...(sigh)

i'll be there watching it though. might even blow off the diet and grab a sixer and some chips !

but, i'm afraid the big rule book they've put together will take away from the "ummphh" of the whole thing.

"where's the beef !?!?!?"

I'll be watching, but I expect the same sound bytes we've been hearing for the past year.

I figured out that the third debate is a tie-breaker for Kerry....he gets the same questions in all three and if he gives the same answer in two of the debates then that may be where he stands on those given issues.

I will look in initially to see how the candidates comport themselves. Sice I made up my mind nearly four years ago to vote against the gangster from Crawford, I don't see the point of hanging on every utterance.

I think there are a lot of Kerry voters who feel as you do...also Bush voters who would never vote for a liberal Dem.

I've watched every presidential debate since 1976 (with the exception of the 1996 debates -- I was out of the country at the time). But I don't think I'll be watching these debates. Not that I have suddenly become bored by the constant vacuous yammering of the two candidates (that happened months ago), but because I have become appalled by the media's complicity in perpetuating that constant vacuous yammering.

The candidates' answers are predictable (I could probably deliver them all myself), but that's because the questions are predictible. The media have given up trying to act as the "fourth estate" in American politics. They have given up on their role as the public watchdog of the political process. They've become complicit in the trivialization of the electoral process, where discussions of war and peace are condensed in commercial-sized portions. And the debates are merely the end result of the media's abject capitulation.

This will be a sound-bite debate, just as the debates in years past have been sound-bite debates. Two minutes to answer a question, 90 seconds to respond -- what kind of substantive debate can take place under those conditions? It will simply be Bush's sound-bites vs. Kerry's sound-bites. No thanks, I've heard them all before.

Imagine if the Bush-Kerry debates followed the same format as the Lincoln-Douglas debates: one hour for the first speaker, ninety minutes for the second speaker to reply, and thirty minutes for the first speaker to respond. Now that I would watch.

Three HOURS, Joe?

Better get more than a six pack for that one. But, I totally agree. I don't think the debates should be scripted at all.

I say give them each a podium of the same height, a microphone and some lights. Let them go, starting with whoever won the toss, for 90 minutes.

Then, no commentating for 24 hours. Everyone by that time will have their own opinions about the debate, and aren't as easily influenced by what the media tells them to believe.

Kicky that is exactly what I am afraid of - can't we just hear what they feel are the issues and what they plan on doing and how? No bullsh*t. If it becomes bullsh*t, I could be so disgusted that I shut it off. To be honest, I am not sure I ever heard Bush answer a question. Usually when asked a question, he answers something totally different that has nothing to do with the question. I need answers here!

Politicians and bureaucrats are schooled to make the points they want to make in an interview or debate regardless of the questions asked. I attended such a 40 hour training course when I entered the Senior Executive Service. Videos of the masters of the technique were shown to show how it was done. Teddy Kennedy was the most frequent example shown. :wink:

So basically Larry, what you are telling me is that I will not learn a thing by watching these debates? Will I get any substance? I would like to make an intelligent decision in voting, but it is difficult. I may have to write in a candidate if I do not get any clear information.

Yes, you will get substance. But it will be the substance the candidate wants you to get, not the substance the moderator may be seeking.

So, you can then judge which candidate said more of what you wanted to hear.

Wouldn't miss it.

What time is the debate?

he asks, sounding like an idiot

9 pm EST

I think you can learn a lot from how the candidates react. Facial expressions, body language, comfort levels those sort of things.

I am watching for sure.

Nope. If I want to see kids squibble, I am sure I can get my friend to loan me hers.