Category Archives: presidential debates

Sep 18 0 comments
Barack Obama, presidential debates, Sarah Palin

MCCAIN-OBAMA DEBATE AGREEMENT

THE TWO CAMPAIGNS AGREED on a framework for four General Election debates, to be sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Key elements of the agreement are:

First Presidential Debate
Date: September 26
Site: University of Mississippi
Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security
Moderator: Jim Lehrer
Staging: Podium debate
Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment.

Vice Presidential Debate
Date: October 2nd Site: Washington University (St. Louis)
Moderator: Gwen Ifill
Staging/Answer Format: To be announced.

Second Presidential Debate
Date: October 7
Site: Belmont University
Moderator: Tom Brokaw
Staging: Town Hall debate
Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

Third Presidential Debate
Date: October 15
Site: Hofstra University
Topic: Domestic and Economic policy
Moderator: Bob Schieffer
Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table Answer
Format: Same as First Presidential Debate
Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

All four debates will begin at 9pm ET, and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the CPD’s participation rules for third-party candidate participation.

My only question is this. We all know John McCain is somewhat short in stature, and Barack Obama appears to be a tall man, but how short does that make Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd? Huh? Compare the photo at the top of this entry with the one just above it.

Nov 06 0 comments
American History, Democracy, Elections, Politicians, presidential debates, Republican, US Flag

No Direction Home (Politics As Usual)

palinrocks

The Political Delusion

EVERY TWO YEARS DURING THE NATIONAL electoral cycle they tell us we need change and it’s they who want to take us off into that new direction. Details? Oh, here are a few talking points. Oh, here are a few criticisms of my opponent. Oh, we need change. Yep, we need a new direction.

My head is spinning. I am dizzy from wandering off into a new direction with every election, and just to keep this head buzz going, no matter how I try to cut through the kudzu of practical politics, it seems as if nothing has changed. The new direction is no different than the old direction.

And what about these red state, blue state tags? Not even that makes sense, although I realize that this designations came to us by accident of the media blitz in the 2000 election. But shouldn’t the Democratic Party stripe be a red stripe, as in Communist red, signifying their penchant for tax and spend policies geared toward a national if not international wealth redistribution. That would leave boyish blue as the color signifier for the grand old party of the good old rich boy network. Just had a thought. Perhaps Republican red, as we now know it, is a reference to the willingness of the party to start bloody wars in Iraq. Now that’s a army of change not everyone else in the voting population expected. Change can sneak up on you, like WMDs and Muslim jihadists on student visas…

Not long ago the Republicans were America-first statesmen which translated into a national isolationism, and an honest distance from global affairs, while letting the rest of the world take care of itself. And let’s not forget how the eyes of many in the Democratic Party misted over in convoluted dreams of world revolution and the apotheosis of the worker worldwide, with a good portion of those despising the flag waving nationalism of the opposition.

Okay. So things haven’t changed completely, but where is the party of Lincoln? Where is the fierce nationalism of FDR? We need a new direction alright. One that leads straight to home base. We need to steel ourselves in safety at home, protect our borders, get organized. As talk show radio clown Glenn Beck says, “Vote American.”

Because frankly, I happen to believe that Al Qaeda believes in change as well, and are hell-bent on demonstrating their beliefs one by one as outlined in their political platform, one that hasn’t changed in over 1300 years. You can find those marching papers in the Qur’an.

No direction home. Politics as usual.

—GT

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