October 01, 2004

The Candidates’ Debate

While the Yankees completed their sweep of the Twins to clinch the AL East I, a registered Democrat and registered Twins fan, watched the presidential debate with a group of Yankees-leaning Republicans. But I had a great time with the gang of bloggers and others, so I had no problem putting our baseball and political rooting differences aside for one night.

Karol and Jessica and Ace have roundups of the evening, but essentially we left the first bar (site of a “bipartisan debate party”) because the assembled backers of both candidates couldn’t stop heckling at the TV and each other. The second place was a bit better, although I did have to step between a couple of near-fights. My favorite moment was probably when a girl sauntered up to Jessica, noticed the “W” sticker on her arm, and immediately ran away, giggling like Jimmy Fallon. “I felt like a rare and exotic animal at the zoo,” she writes in her comments.

Also on hand- the Communists For Kerry. As usual, half the people present tried to fight with them, while the other half didn’t get the joke and tried to join them.

At any rate, I watched the full debate once I got home, and I agree with the general consensus that Kerry was as impressive as ever, and certainly was the winner. Yes, it was kind of embarrassing that he called the KGB headquarters “Treblinka,” and that he stated, erroneously, that New York shut down the subways during the RNC. But the senator more than made up for it by exhibiting a forcefulness and confidence that had been missing from his campaign for the past three or four months. And while I’m not one to often harp on Bushisms, the president’s attempt to use the word “vociferously” may have been the campaign’s funniest moment that didn’t involve Howard Dean.

As I said, most pundits- even Fox News and most of the righty blogs- either gave the debate to Kerry or called it a draw. The only one to call Bush the clear winner? You guessed it, Hugh Hewitt- author of a new book which all but calls for one-party rule by the Republicans. It’s hard to imagine what would have to happen in a debate for Hewitt to call it a victory for Kerry- Bush, in the first ten seconds, losing his balance and cracking his head open on the podium?

UPDATE: This is genius:

"There were these two scary men wearing the same suit on almost all the channels of the TV. They were arguing about who was the bravest of them all, and I just couldn't even think about sex. At least, not in any kind of organized way. And if I did think about sex when the two scary men were on, I was very ashamed, especially when I imagined what kinds of breasts the men would have if they were women. (The man on the right: Big, pumped-up artifical breasts hard as bowling balls. The man on the left: Droopy, grey, old-lady breasts with long hairs on the downward-pointed nipples.) I was up all night shivering, I was so afraid."
(Via Radosh).

Posted by Stephen Silver at October 1, 2004 04:52 PM
Comments

This was better than watching golf! Clear rules, well placed "timer" for all fans to yell out the countdown, both teams wore their team colors, and easily could involve drinking (games... Flip-Flop references, Wrong war... references, nucular, etc.). Hey, I even thought the ref called a good game.

Posted by: Jeff S at October 1, 2004 07:40 PM

Did anyone else hear the quiet "pop" when George Bush's bubble burst and he realized he'd been living in a fantasy world for four years?

(If you were wondering, it was more like a blister pack pop than a balloon pop.)

P.S. Like louder noises? Political games for all on my web site - gratifying sound effects!

Posted by: Freedom Fighter at October 4, 2004 11:25 AM

If that is what passes for 'genius' in your world, it goes a long way toward explaining some of your other views.

Posted by: DBrooks at October 6, 2004 09:04 AM
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