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.
