Quote of the Day “I don’t know what they call themselves doing but it ain’t debating.” Smily in the previous post (here)
Does anybody need to watch this “debate” tonight? Are you undecided? If so, please respond to this post and explain what you are still waiting to find out and if you expect to (or do) hear it in the debates. I’m really curious. SC addressed the question of who is left that’s undecided a few weeks ago here, but what I want to post about this afternoon is what would make the debates worth watching. Here are my questions. I haven’t heard them asked in the first two, or anywhere else for that matter.
- “Name three issues typically associated with the other party that you agree with?” If they can’t come up with them, follow up with, “how are we supposed to believe you are going to do anything in bipartisan manner if you can’t name three things of substance you have in common?”
- To McCain, “what do you have to say to the people who think Obama is Muslim or a terrorist sympathizer.”
- To Obama, “what do you have to say to the people who think McCain is morally deficient as evidenced by his involvement in the Keating 5 scandal and committing adultery while married to his first wife?”
- “Is there a percentage of the overall Federal Budget that you think Military spending or Entitlement spending should not exceed, and if so, what is it?”
- “Name your biggest three errors in judgment in your political careers on policy matters.” Follow up with either “what did you learn?” or “if you can’t recall a mistake of substance, how are we to believe you will recognize and correct future mistakes and be honest about addressing them?” This was asked of Bush in ’04 (not the follow up) and he famously and idiotically was unable to name anything he’d take back.
- “What percentage of all taxes paid do you believe the group of people making over one million dollars a year should pay and the group of people making under seventy-five thousand should pay?”
- “What will you do, if anything, to collect taxes from large corporations?” Here’s the link to the article stating most corporations pay nothing.
There’s a lot more I’d ask if they’d ever turn the moderatin over to TB, but this is a start. I also think there ought to be a BS panel to make the telecast more interesting. Every time they start to use talking points, obvious scripted lines or over-generalizations, we’d buzz them–the first time gives the candidate a minor shock, number two mutes them for five minutes, number three drops them through a trap door into a pool of water. Really, they ought to put me in charge.
Y’all let me know what happens. I’m decided, they won’t ask my questions, and I ain’t watchin. I’ll be working on the Thursday pick’em post.
Travellinbaen 
I ain’t watchn. I want to vote for one but he absolutely has instilled less and less confidence in me. I have resigned myself to accept who I think is going to win and give them a chance, optimistically, and hope common sense prevails on some of their ideas about how to handle things. After two years if they have made the people sick then Congress and The House will be purged again as it was during Clintonian times and maybe the new guys will have learned some lessons by then.
The House and Senate got purged two years ago too. A little more purgin coming up I think too.
I didn’t watch and already, what I’ve seen this morning I am sick of which is Joe Plumber. I must say that agree with Smilyj. I’m already used to making lemonade and making the best of what I’ve got, in fact, I’m an expert. From that I feel pretty safe in saying that I’ll make it no matter what. I’d like to applly to be on the BS panel – is there an application process?
I’ve watched every debate as an information hound and a desire to make the best decision I can. Yes, I have already decided who I am voting for but I also want to know when I am grousing in a few months about the policy of the the next president I can return to the promise each candidate made during this time period. I am one of those people who writes letters to our policy makers about things I believe need change. I unfortunately live in an area with “taxation without representation” so I don’t have much of a voice. I do know from first hand experience that we have freedoms in this country that many people do not have in the world and that lots of people fought and died for these. Apathy is easy to fall into but I strongly believe if you don’t partake in the process then you really can’t complain. I like to complain so I watch the debates.
RMac – I’d love for you to meet my son – you would have alot to talk about. Shortly, he will be living closer to you but not quite. He is a very neat person who I’ve been trying to get on this site; however, he does not have internet at home so it is a little more difficult. He will be moving to Richmond VA soon. I’ve only met you once or twice but I know you would be able to educate him more than I would ever be able to with your background. He recently told me he had written an 8 page opinion on this election. Personally, I wondered if he had too much time on his hands but also was glad he had thoughts on the matter.