Debate Night Three

I watched the first two debates of the season alone. Tonight, for the third debate—the second with the presidential candidates—I went over to David and Julie Wheeler’s house and watched it with a group of people. I have to tell you, it was a hell of a lot more fun watching it with a big group.

When watching the debate by myself, or at least with the Twitter stream on the laptop, I’m consumed with my own thoughts. With a bunch of other people around, there’s a lively conversation in the room that follows the action on the television. And, of course, we’re all counting the number of times McCain said “my friends” and the like, although I don’t think anybody in our group played the drinking game on that phrase. If they had, we would have to have carried them out.

I have to say, I'm not really impressed with the way these debates have been run. The formats don’t hold the candidates to the topics and the moderators aren’t enforcing well. Of course, the rules are negotiated by the campaigns and are designed to keep the candidates out of trouble, but I’m tired of hearing snippets from the campaign speeches. It may be too much to ask, but I’d like to hear something new in these forums. As it is, I spend most of my time watching how the candidates treat each other.

Ah well. Only one more debate to go. And then it’ll be time for all of us to cast our ballots. You are all set and registered, right? You are going to vote, right? Good.