(Probably not) livebloggin’
I was kinda thinking about liveblogging the debate again, but 1) who really cares and 2) once I heard about the format, I think I’d rather be livewatchin’. Five minute discussion period? Holy crap. I’ve been wanting that for like forever.
I might write something if it’s highly boring or highly interesting. Otherwise I’ll be checking other livebloggin’s while it’s going on.
10:32: Bob did a pretty good job on this. Some liberals were concerned but he didn’t seem slanted to me.
10:25: I’ll admit I’m thinking more about the pizza in the fridge than what crazy gray 1820s guy is saying.
10:21: Debb missed McCain with a wad of thread twice.
10:19: Softball education question. McCain’s last chance…is he going to turn it into an Ayers referendum somehow? He’s missing a punch here, he needs one.
10:16: OBAMA DRINKS WATER
10:13: Again the “Obama voted 14,000 times against loving your mother.” Just never going to believe those vote arguments.
10:07: I wanna punch Joe the Plumber in the nuts. Just for existing. Just for being available as a rhetorical prop.
10:05: Obama bringing out the pursed lips in lieu of the amused smile. Running out of patience maybe? I hope?
10:03: Still not interacting. Still no point in having the table. I wish they’d use the camera angle with both of them at the table, this split screen thing, they might as well just be at podiums anyway.
10:01: Whoops, McCain’s meds are slipping, he said “my friends”.
9:55: McCain’s not as angry as he used to be. I was hoping Obama could get him to interact and overextend. Debb thinks they’re medicating him. Much like I think McCain shouldn’t talk like he’s an expert on jello, he shouldn’t keep talking like he’s real familiar with Herbert Hoover.
9:50: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT UPDATE: Debb justdented Obama’s head with a ball of waxed thread.
9:42: I wish politicians in these things wouldn’t always wind back to their talking points no matter what the question is. Message repetition is the best way to get your views in people’s heads, I know. It just bores me.
9:40: Me: It’s a lot easier to watch Obama smile than it is to watch McCain smile. GRAHHH THE MUMMY STRIIIKES
9:37: McCain: ACORN IS THREATENING THE VERY FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY. Also McCain: I WILL BLINK AND GRIN THAT MOTHERFUCKING WALL INTO THE GODDAMN GROUND.
9:34: McCain starting to quack from his gut in the middle of Obama’s sentence.
9:31: McCain’s still “what you’re doing wah wahh”, not answering the question. I want one of them to.
9:26: hmmmm the nastiness question. Hrm. Hands it to McCain as an obvious Ayers opening. McCain is all personally hurt about what’s been said, doesn’t answer the question. Obama still not answering the question…man I would like him to answer the question. Say he’s erratic.
9:24: Heh, Obama hits Fox News one, and McCain gets all creepy bug-eyed. I’m sure someone’s gonna use that screencap in something fun.
9:22: McCain hits back on the Bush comparison. Man I wish I had the CNN feed with the moving lines.
9:17: What programs will you cut? Obama isn’t answering this one. But wow at least he’s staying on topic, McCain just felt like flying off the topic entirely. Wow, Scheiffer actually tried to cut him off and he just barreled through it. Huh…though Bob made him actually answer the question, I’m sure conservatives are irritated he held McCain to the question and not Obama.
9:14: InterruptionWatch: McCain 2, Obama 1. I think. I already don’t like this little hook I came up with.
9:13: InterruptionWatch: McCain 1, Obama 0. Dumbass snarky snickery comment, though. I want actual back and forth interrupting.
9:11: No real interaction yet—they’re still mentally standing at podiums. Think they probably gotta warm up to it. Wonder who’s going to interrupt whom first. Oop, Obama almost did…
9:08: Full on, knockdown McCain eye contact. Huh.
9:05: We have to keep McCain out of office. Not only would it mean four more years of “nukular”, but it’d add four more years of “Warshington” on top of it.
October 15th, 2008 20:34
McCain’s feisty! Weird to watch but I think he’s going to get good reviews.
October 15th, 2008 23:15
Phillies are going to the World Series!
Debate? Oh yeah…my kids have to watch it for extra credit in school…go upstairs I tell them.
October 16th, 2008 00:02
I mentioned on my own blog (to which I dare not link) that I felt like McCain got more last word moments on the various questions, but maybe it was just his inability to let Obama’s time to speak be Obama’s time to speak. Schieffer did a much, much better job than any of the other moderators. But in the future, they just have to cut off candidate A’s mike when it’s candidate B’s time to talk.
And holy fuck that smirk is awful.
October 16th, 2008 08:46
I’ve been involved in competitive debate for a quarter century, and in the study of public controversy for fifteen years. Got a doctorate in argumentation. I am here to tell you that last night, Obama administered the most lethal piledriving ever seen in the history of presidential debates in this country. Not close. Not imaginably close. McCain had “clumsy” and “desperate” written all over him. And I say that as someone who does not intend to vote for Barack Obama.
And I’m looking at the reviews this morning, and while a lot of folks do seem to call it a win for Obama, they’re also calling it close and saying it was McCain’s best performance. Unbelievable. Like mentioning Mozart and Manilow in the same breath.
October 16th, 2008 12:45
I grappled with that after the debate. I was saying to Debb: “I’m trying to extract my bias here. Obviously I don’t like McCain, so I will prejudge him negatively. But I’m trying to think how he looks to undecided people…I mean, how can you see him as anything but uncomfortable, glossy-eyed, mean and twitchy?”
Some of my answer came in the post discussion with Frank Luntz’s focus group on Fox–a guy says “I think Obama won, but this isn’t an election for the best debater.” So okay, he’s a McCain supporter, and he will excuse McCain problems much as I’m likely to excuse Obama problems. But after we’ve had the visual effects of the Nixon-Kennedy debate drilled into our heads, it’s hard to take appearances as “not that important”. On strictly that shallow basis alone, I can’t see people saying McCain did a good job.
But yeah, Anon, I dunno. I guess you’re a different audience. I think your problem is that you know what a debate is. If we had actual debates between presidential nominees, then your standards might apply. In fact Debb expressed some incredulity when Gibson and Stephanopolous were fawning over how impressive the debate was. “How can they say that?” she asked. “Eh,” I replied, “it’s what these guys are used to. That’s what they think a debate is.”
October 17th, 2008 08:32
Joe Klein’s probably nailed it:
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/10/senator_government_v_joe_the_p.html
Not on the “this is a good year to be Senator Government,” about which I have no opinion, but about journalists only grasping which arguments have worked in the past. Which is just a minor elaboration on what you said.
November 12th, 2008 22:58
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