Presidential Debate Desires: Part 5

This is installment five of the things that people would not like to hear at the McCain and Obama debate this week and number ten finishes off the list. I was a day late getting it updated, sorry for breaking the chain.

10.Act like the future president of the United States of America.

If you stand there laughing at the other candidate or sneering at their responses you both illicit two visions from us, that of an old man sneering at a young person or a disrespectful youth. Either way, the last thing we want to see is a president that can’t act professional with someone he disagrees with.  We are the United States, act like you represent the best we have to offer.  From these debates we will decide if you will act like a leader in control that other nations had better listen to, instead of “Joe six-pack” after two cases of beer or “Biff the fratboy” that acts like a know it all jerk.

After all these and many other valid points, it would be great to have a straight up debate that lets us learn about the two of you and allows us to feel good about whatever choice we do make.  It would be good to not feel like having to settle for the lesser of two evils yet again.

Presidential Debate Desires: Part 4

This is installment four of the things that people would not like to hear at the McCain and Obama debate next week and number nine on this list is my personal favorite.

8. We now understand that voting records are skewed by necessity at times.

We get that both of you have voted against good measures thanks to “pork” in bills. You both end up voting ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to really good bills because you do not want the ridiculous stuff in them or you have to take the bad to get to the good. The “He said” and “She said” game is boring and the only ones buying this blindly are the ones that are still taped in those small rooms in their houses because of item two on this list.

9. The Presidential Candidates should not waste their time protecting their Vice Presidential running mates.

You two picked real winners for the number two spots.  If we have to choose which of you we want based on the two V.P. hopefuls we are in trouble.  One of them has a grin after every witticism he uses that reminds us of a used car, insurance or aluminum siding salesman and the other one sounds like she has been coached to spit out facts and uses colloquialisms like any member of a losing seventh grade debate team.  We get it, you both picked poorly and if something happens to either of you we are well and truly hosed.  Please, avoid this topic. You both had great choices and reached into the hamster bin at the pet store and handed us handfuls of hamster poop. Gee, thanks!

Presidential Debate Desires: Part 3

This is installment three of the things that people would not like to hear at the McCain and Obama debate next week.

6. None of you should take credit for solving or causing the financial crisis.

You either were in office when it got rolling, weren’t in office but supported some of it or are in some way a part of the problem. The only thing we can be sure of is that neither of you whisking back to Washington in the crisis did anything but slow up the process on the Republican side or look like you needed to be there because the other candidate was. Neither of you “solved” it and if anything it slowed the process just enough to thrash some more American’s retirement dreams.  This was not a success for either of you, run from the topic before we figure that fact out.

7. Stop saying you are a better friend of Israel than the other candidate.

Honestly, are you running for election there or here?  We get that they are our ally, we get that neither of you will desert them and we know that like any other country they do both good and bad things. We will never allow another Holocaust to happen for the Jewish people but you might want to address the acts of genocide we allow for other apparently less desirable people around the globe.

Six and seven down, just three more things that people have asked not to hear at the next Obama and McCain debate.

Presidential Debate Desires: Part 2

I said there would be a follow up with more points and ideas people have expressed and written in advance of the Presidential Debate next week between McCain and Obama. To that end, here are numbers four and five.

 

4. Stop trying to get us to relate to your home town.

We all have a home town and for most of us you did not, nor do you, live there. You want to relate to us; then stop telling us how you relate and listen to us tell you what its like and what we want in our towns and cities. Then again, we overwhelmingly said we did not want a seven hundred billion dollar bailout that wouldn’t work and you guys both voted for it anyway. We are also aware that you did it for our own good because we are too stupid to know what we are saying and somehow you two are financial geniuses and not beholden to your constituents.

5. Stop talking about gay marriage.

The odds are good you will never pass a Constitutional Amendment for or against gay marriage in the next four years and the states seem to be addressing the issue by themselves for now. Besides, we all get that you guys are stuck on the fence. Equal rights but not the right to get married. It’s not really an answer but if you look at item one in this list which talks about not really giving answers; then you get that we do not expect you to give an answer anyway.

That gets the list to number five and some of the best ones are to come.  Check back here tomorrow to see more of what people have been writing and thinking about what they do and do not want in a Presidential Debate next week.

Presidential Debate Desires: Part 1

Americans have seen the debate between McCain and Obama last night and it makes for good snooze fodder. Yes, McCain was rude and yes neither of them did well at really laying out the issues.  I got to thinking about what people I know have said they would like to see in a debate and what I have read from other writers recently on that same topic.

I have created a list of ten things people would like to hear or not hear in presidential debates going forward.  I will dole these out at the rate of one, two or three a day over the next several days, ahead of the next debate. Some of these points are specific to Obama and McCain and some are aimed at those running for office in general.

The first three are easy to understand and a good foundation for the others to follow.

1. We want the candidates to answer the questions they are asked.

Most of us do not want another President that dodges uncomfortable questions. We could just pick someone from the Bush administration and move on like good little sheep. For an example, how many questions has Cheney answered since he has been running the country.

2. Stop the fear mongering!

We have been hammered with an “Orange” or ” Yellow” Alert since September 11th and the odds are good Homeland Security will never go “Green”. In essence, we know things are screwy and we are starting to ask questions instead of just duct taping ourselves in small rooms in our homes and buying cans of soup to wait for the end of the world. As a result you might not find us as malleable as we used to be when you start screaming, “The sky is falling, well not really falling now, but if it were falling, it would be bad. Go hide and we will tell you when its safe to come out.”
3. We know the scandal game means you are scared.

Some of us have probably figured out that the worse a candidate does in the polls the less real talk we get about the issues and the more infantile, whining, rhetoric we get about the opposition. If you are really a good candidate and we want you; then you probably do not need to grasp at straws to win. If you want to fuss about past associations I am sure that both Obama and McCain have enough skeletons in the, “why I talked to that guy’, closet to fill a Wal-Mart.

There are three ideas to kick off the next seven for things to talk about or avoid in a debate.

Sarah Palin Lookin’ for Terrorists

Sarah Palin is riding high these days.  She has survived her debate with Joe Biden and even got in a few rehearsed digs on him. You will recall that she asked him at the onset of the debate if she could call him “Joe”.  That was an obvious attempt to use rehearsed catch phrases such as, “Say it ain’t so Joe”. Note to self, “Much like a vampire should never be invited into your house, do not invite Sarah Palin to use your first name on national television. One will drain your blood and the other will wear you out with vapid and obviously contrived statements.  Both will leave you scared and weak from the encounter but for different reasons.”

Back to the topic at hand, riding high on the broomstick that her preacher tried to get her to stop riding, Sarah Palin found the false security needed to go on the attack. You heard it, she said it, all shall bow before the truth. Obama consorts with terrorists. Yep its true.  Sean Hannity has said it many times and Caribou Barbie listened. Keep in mind that she did not have an original idea about this, for her those are obviously in short supply. Yes, Obama met with Bill Ayers who was part of a pretty radical and militant group back when the Senator was a small child.  Obviously, we should overlook George Bush’s ties to Saudi Arabia and the members of the royal family that have bankrolled terrorism. We should overlook Donald Rumsfeld having personally met with Saddam Hussein back when he was the buddy of the United States.  Back then the grandfatherly Saddam only killed his own people and Iranians. We were good with that; until he had no need for us any longer and went after the oil in Kuwait which daddy Bush was heavily invested in. “Bad despot buddy, bad!”

See the problem with yelling, ‘Terrorist” in a room is that its rarely qualified with an explanation about whose terrorist they are. Its sad to say but Bill Ayers has nothing to offer except being useful for those that want power.  I cannot help but wonder that if Mr. Ayers were someone that Palin or McCain knew that he would now be called something like, “a progressive and tireless fighter for the rights of repressed minorities in the United States.”

Say it ain’t so, Sarah but I guess its all about who ya know and who is spinnin’ the tale at the end of the day.