Debatable

I considered trying some sort of liveblogging of last night's evasion-fest 2.0, but then I laughed at myself and realized that no one would even remotely be interested, and that there are already great liveblogs out there. But I thought I'd just share a few, pretty irrelevant things that I came away with from the debate. Overall, I really didn't think it was too incendiary, decisive, or opinion-changing. I think both senators held their ground reasonably respectably, although I do think that Obama came off as more eloquent, natural, and informed (and more intelligent, reasonable, likely to be a good leader, etc. etc., but that's another issue altogether).

* I thought it was weird that John McCain came out and began writing right away- either he has some brilliant idea on his walk from backstage (which I doubt, because he certainly shared nothing particularly light-bulb worthy during the debate), or, more likely, his septuagenarian memory skillz are fading fast.

* McCain made a bunch of really stupid jokes. (Not even counting his thinly veiled dig that it was "Nice to see Obama at a Town Hall meeting.") I'm not sure if viewers liked this, but it just creeped me out. I really don't need to know about a potential hair transplant for John McCain. Further, I think that his little joke about "not choosing you, Tom!" for the Treasury Secretary was just a really poorly veiled attempt to stall for time. And also ridiculously un-funny.

*Why on Earth did John McCain choose to attack money spent on a planetarium? Really? That was the most flagrant foul he found? I mean, true, it was in Illinois (OMG, that's where Obama is from, too!), but seriously?

* The amount of evasion these two can manage is really astounding. And yes, I do see that this is part of being a good debater, but when you are asked a yes or no question and neither of them says either "yes" or "no," that's a little ridiculous. And when both were asked to prioritize three important issues? McCain decided that there's no reason "we can't do all three at once!" Oh the irony, coming from a man who barely managed to handle both a debate and an economic crisis when he wasn't even in any position of real power, just a couple weeks ago! And McCain even had the audacity to call Obama out for not answering a question somewhere down the line- honestly, neither of them directly answered most of the questions that were put to them, instead cleverly trying to insert their pet topics- energy! taxes! earmarks!- whenever they saw an inch of opportunity.

* McCain seems to make an awful lot of his points by simply reitterating that "yes, that is a major problem" or "yes, Americans are scared about this, and it is a huge challenge" and then reaching an edifying conclusion of "Yes, we can do it!" Social security? EASY. OK, good, that one's solved. Maybe if he says that he can do it enough times, it will come true? I'm not sure. But snaps for self-confidence!

*John McCain noted that there were "many qualified Americans!" to take on the job of Treasury Secretary. And, more importantly, that the key factor should be that a potential TS would be someone the American people could identify with. Firstly, he must have a seriously whack interpretation of "qualified", which, yes, we already gathered based on his veep pick. But secondly, why the hell do we need to be able to identify with the Treasury Secretary?? I would rather this person be far too smart, far too wayyy out of my realm of knowledge and expertise to be "identifiable." Seriously, the drive to laud people for being Average Joes and "relatable" Americans is pretty ridiculous, when what we really need is someone far above average to be running our country. I'd rather dude be unrelatably brilliant and talented (and sure, maybe kind of socially awkward) than be someone I'd like to grab a beer with.

*Also, stop saying "My friends," John McCain. It's condescending, and worse, false, to be addressed as your friend.

* When asked about what they don't know, both candidates were quick to avoid actually admitting any sort of ignorance, and both slyly tried to focus on that which they did know. McCain hilariously conceded that he did not know what would happen in the future. Thanks, John, good to know that you're only human! And not, as we all suspected, some sort of fortune-teller.

*Do you think John McCain could have mention Ronald Reagan more if he tried? Interestingly, he said that RR was his hero, and five minutes later said the same thing of Teddy Roosevelt! Who wants sloppy seconds of McCain's hero status, honestly? Oh, and then he proceeded to stumble through the quotation that he probably thought was a killer rhetorical technique (he must have, because he said it twice!) Uh, walk softly, no, speak softly...uh, I dunno, but you gotta have a big stick.

* Finally, I enjoyed that McCain mentioned that we had been seeking (I forget what, Bin Laden, or oil, or terrorists and their cronies, or something) in the four corners of the world. Ha ha, John McCain thinks the world is flat! Then again, his running mate thinks humans frolicked with T-Rex, so maybe that's actually not so far out of the realm of possibility...