October 19, 2012

• Reflections on the debates

  JDN 2456220 EDT 15:19.

   

  We’ve had three debates so far.

  The first one was bad: Obama looked exhausted and distracted (perhaps due to the challenging business of being President of the United States), while Romney was constantly on point, taking control, getting all his talking points delivered. The moderator was effectively worthless. Romney lied through his teeth, and went largely unchallenged, except by a few of Obama’s comments.

  After that, however, things got a lot better. In the second debate, Joe Biden, who is normally affable but also gaffe-prone, was completely on message, and expertly demolished Paul Ryan’s misleading statements and vague claims. The moderator was excellent, and Ryan was so utterly outclassed I felt a little sorry for him.

  Then in the third debate, Obama was much more prepared, much more energetic, and much more aggressive. Romney didn’t seem to know what hit him; he had been expecting the same smooth sailing of the first debate. The moderator was not quite as good as the second debate, but still demanded factual answers. Many of the questions were quite good, and dealt with some issues (like women’s rights!) that hadn’t been dealt with in the other two debates.

  What will happen as a result of these debates? Sadly… almost nothing. Or maybe it’s not that sad: For the people like me who read up on things and try to understand issues in detail, the debates don’t say anything we didn’t already know. For most of the American public who doesn’t care all that much and votes based on one issue (like abortion, or gay marriage, whether the economy is doing well), the debates aren’t going to have an effect either. The only ones who would be affected are voters who care about policy issues but don’t know much about them yet; and it seems like in this day and age, if you care about policy issues you look them up on the Internet, you don’t wait to have them spoonfed to you with spin.

  But still, there are a lot of people out there who clearly don’t know much about policy issues, and should know, and maybe some of them watched these debates and actually picked up some things. Even basic things, like “Actually Ryan’s tax plan makes no sense” or “Wow, Romney is a misogynistic douchebag.” You don’t need to understand the nuanced details of cyclical fiscal deficits to see that Obama/Biden is a much better choice than Romney/Ryan. (Frankly, all you have to do is not hate women.)

  My main disappointment, therefore, is that Jill Stein and Gary Johnson were not included in these debates. I doubt they have much chance of winning, but that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. And even if they can’t win, they can still influence the discussion. Stein could bring up global warming, which hasn’t been talked about really at all in these debates. I was almost bashing my head against a wall as Obama and Romney were arguing about who is more pro-coal. If only Jill Stein had been there to say, “I’m not pro-coal. Coal is dirty and dangerous, and the EPA estimates it kills 30,000 Americans a year. I want solar and wind power, and fusion research, and fission in the meantime. Coal is bad, for our health, for our climate, and ultimately, for our economy as well.” Johnson would say stupid things about economic policy (that’s kind of his job description), and he could have the undesirable effect of making Ryan seem less radical by comparison. But at the same time, how awesome would it be for Obama, Stein, and Johnson all to say, “Of course gay people should be able to get married, why not? What’s wrong with you?” while Romney squirms?

  Will the debates change a lot of minds? Probably not. Still, as part of an overall political discourse, I think it’s good to hear Republicans called out on their “bunch of stuff” (as Biden so PG put it). I wish this were a contest between Obama and Stein, but alas we have to deal with the ridiculousness of the GOP, so we may as well confront it head-on and call them out on their lies and distortions.

  Here’s hoping Obama keeps up the performance in debate 4 that he did in debate 3.

  • 3:43 pm
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