Look, I try hard to see where the other side of the aisle is coming from, but this debate was painful – an egregious can-you top-this panderfest, in which nothing surprising, intriguing, thought-provoking or original was said.
The candidates knew what their audience liked and didn’t like, and served up soundbites accordingly. The audience didn’t like the war. They don’t like the tax rate on the highest earners and want it raised. They didn’t like the Supreme Court decision on the use of race to ensure diversity in schools, nor mandatory minimums in criminal sentencing.
They liked health care. They liked pledges of improving education. They liked just about any call for additional funding for just about any social program. They liked the citing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and major figures from African-American history. They applauded any comment that suggested that American society was a blatantly rigged game for African-Americans, that it was obvious to anyone with half a brain. They applauded any comment that suggested that our institutions were corrupt, racist, cynical, untrustworthy and rotted to the core.
They applauded John Edwards when he called for fully funding a cure for AIDS. As if the only obstacle to a cure is funding.
The only mention of the Pentagon was as a waste of funds that could be better spent elsewhere.
No mention of the war on terror.
The winner of this debate? Anyone who skipped watching it.
UPDATE: Campaign Spot reader Andrew notes, “No mention of immigration, either.” One might think that it might have come up, what with the vote and all…