That's More Like It

[akirlu]

I sometimes feel like I should apologize to my British and Australian friends, and anybody else for whom American politics is not approaching a monomaniacal obsession right about now. But I've never felt so much was riding on a single presidential election in my lifetime as there is now. So while I'm sorry if I'm boring anyone, it's not likely to change before November 2, at the earliest. And maybe not then, either. I think I may be the archetypal Deaniac in that way, that is, Dean's candidacy has fundamentally changed the way I feel about my involvement in politics, and the Democratic party. As I've come to see it, participation in politics is like doing the dishes. You have to do it every day, because if you just leave it for more fun stuff, and hope someone else will take care of it for you, bad things happen.

Swinnyway, after hearing the initial reaction of the NPR commentators last night, I was pleased to see that theirs was not the dominant reaction after all. Now Ruy Teixeira is pointing to a brand new Democracy Corps survey which shows Kerry having won last night's debate handily. This is particularly significant because apparently Democracy Corps uses larger and more representative samples than the other public polls. And their results show Kerry winning by 8 points, and making a particularly strong showing among independents, undecideds, and in swing states. So maybe I am the demographic after all. At the very least, I'm not the only one who saw last night's debate that way.

Comments

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I sometimes describe myself as a recovering Libertarian, because like alcoholism and Catholicism, Libertarianism is not something you ever fully get over. Yes, an awful lot of Libertarians are full goose bozo, which is why I never got that active in the party. And there are a lot of ways that Libertarianism is more about romantic dreaming, and trying to put together an unassailably consistent position, than it is about what actually works when you apply it to real people. So I had to move on from there, at some point. But I understand what it's like to lean Libertarian, on a theoretical level. It's so tidy-looking.

And I totally understand your feelings about debates. I've felt much the same in many election years. I'm not sure if I can explain why it's different for me now. I think it has to do with coming to a different understanding of what kind of communication political debate is. It isn't really like any normal mode of discourse, as far as I can tell, and the things that drive you crazy, like not answering questions directly, and looping around to stock arguments from stump speeches, are not really out of frame in a political debate. They're part of how you win. Because you don't win a political debate by winning the debate. You don't win by answering directly and simply, without attempting to factor in the larger political impact. We saw four years ago with Al Gore that being right, and having better answers, and having a better grasp of the facts, and winning the debate on points does not, in fact, assure that you will win the debate in the post-debate, spin phase. So what I look at, and hope for, in a presidential debate has evolved quite a bit.

One of the things I look at now is emotional tenor; how ordinary people will respond to the candidates on a gut level. And I think that Bush screwed the pooch on emotional tenor last night. I think he continued to reveal his hair trigger temper, and his inability to cope with criticism. And I am much cheered by this, because it has been deeply galling to watch the public react to George W. Bush as if he were a competent, caring, man of the people instead of the spoiled, petulant plutocrat he is.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

I used to watch debates, but I cannot bear to watch George Bush. Or listen to him. Jordin has been watching and reporting back to me. He has a stronger will than I. Like you, akirlu I'm monmaniacally obsessed though. Last thing I did last night and first thing I did this morning was surf the web for debate reaction. I'm wondering what will happen with me after Nov. 2

MKK

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when it comes to speeches, I generally change the station when they play Bush clips on the radio. He's hard to listen to, partly because I hate being lied to all the freakin' time by my so-called President. The debates have been different for me, partly because they've been an opportunity to see, or at least hear, Big John kick some butt. I was slow in warming to Kerry, but over time, I really have. It would be so very good to have this man who thinks deeply, speaks articulately, who can assess an emergency quickly and take the right action (as evinced both in Vietnam, and in the Senate incident where he stepped off an elevator and saved a man's life with the Heimlich maneuver), and can put what's right before his personal gain, in the White House. I don't think the next four years will treat him kindly -- I think fixing the mess the Bushistas have made will be hell -- but boy do we need him.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

I definitely feel that Kerry is screwed in the next four years, if he wins. He's got a lot to do, and it will probably take all fours years to do it. However, if we can get him in and keep him for 8 years, things will get better. We've got to be vigilant for the next four years not only for our sake but for his....the critics are going to do what they can to discredit him. The battle may be won on Nov. 2 (ghu willing), but the war (both...) will not be over.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

One of the main reasons why I cringe when I hear Bush speak publicly is because he breaks a gazillion public speaking best practices. Like saying "Uh" or "Um" all the time. The sign of a polished speaker is not to use those and banish them from your speaking style. But, as we all know, he's got no style.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

I used to watch debates, but I cannot bear to watch George Bush. Or listen to him.

I'm with you - luckily, I've been able to punt both debates for other reasons so far, as one was held on a Jewish holiday and the other on a Friday night. But I'm really going to have to see whether I can hold my nose enough to watch on Wednesday night. And the first thing I did after booting up my computer at sunset tonight was check for debate reaction.

[avram]

You think this one’s intense, just wait till ’08!

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

I sometimes feel like I should apologize to my British and Australian friends

Please, don't apologise.

I can't go to the US any more because the Bush administration have decided that US-Visit is a great way of stopping terrorists.

Muslim employees of British Airways (and probably other British airlines too) are being harassed by US immigration staff - and indeed local cops - because of "security" policies targetting people "flying while Muslim".

At least a dozen Brits/legal British residents have been arrested, unlawfully detained, and severely mistreated because the Bush administration figured it could do that and get away with it.

The Baghdad Museum was looted - and I spent many weeks thinking thousands upon thousands of early clay tablets, never read, were gone forever - and Donald Rumsfeld made a joke about it, though it was his responsibility, his fault it had happened.

In another universe, I'd probably not care a great deal about whether the Republican incumbent or the Democratic challenger won in November. I do this year. I care passionately. I want this pack of criminals and fools to go. So do a good many other Brits.

(In any case, no matter what you post about on livejournal, there's always lj-cut)

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

What yonmei said. Don't apologise. We are all hoping for the Right Result in a month's time.

(Although, apropos your actual comments, I'm not sure than any of the exchanges between the candidates qualify as a debate as "debate" is generally understood. From the clips I saw on BBC news, they barely seemed to acknowledge that the other was on the same stage/at the same table, never mind actually speak to each other.)

[daveon.livejournal.com]

What they said.

This one is turning into something of an obsession in the O'Neill household too. Kerry seems to be taking the fight back to Bush and actually looking good in the public events. I arrive in Seattle at 5pm on Election Night - what is normally done on election evening?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I understand your apologia. I've become almost monomaniacal in my postings, and more frequent, in the past couple of months, and for exactly the same reason (though I never was all that fond of Dean).

I have Libertarian leanings (though more social than fiscal).

For knowable reasons, I take this man's campaign personally... I want to see Kerry win in the worst way... for so many reasons.

No, the Office will not be kind to him. The Scaife Machine will wheel out to attack him as well. And some other stalking horse of the Agenda of the Right will be trotted out, to try and beat him.

I have become a Conspiracy Theorist Lite. This man, and the administration he represents, are evil. They have an evil agenda, and will do terrible things if we don't stop them. I'd far rather stop them with ballots than bullets, but if it comes to that, if revolution becomes the only answer... I've been well schooled in the art.

Which pisses me off to ponder.

TK

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

P.S. if you put "cluefairy" (with no _j) in your friends list, you'll see postings from my blog and maybe you'll read it more often? Not that it's as interesting as yours, my dear. Man I miss you guys (you too, terry).