The Debates

Nah...

Debates are only important for the side that catches the other saying stupid stuff.

Tell me, will you possibly change your vote based on the debates?

Keridan said:

I'm honestly only really looking forward to the VP debates. I can't wait to watch Biden without a script and on the spot for 90 minutes. The man is a riot.

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Has there ever been a very interesting VP debate? I watched Edwards-Cheney in '04 and was disappointed inthelack of confrontational firework. I think I watched Pallin-Biden, but I can't recall anything about that either -it seems like Biden was pulling his punches because Pallin was a female.

I think none of them will be particularly instructive, though some of them may have entertainment value. The party folks are already decided and the independents will ultimately decide at the ballot box.

Romney supporters will claim he won.
Obama supporter will claim he won.
Ryan supporters will claim he won.
Biden supporters will claim he won.

True libertarians will claim the nation lost.

Ryan will easily beat Biden in the VP debate, the other 3 will effectively be ties.

johnny_rebson said:

Ryan will easily beat Biden in the VP debate, the other 3 will effectively be ties.

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Biden has two thirds the intelligence of Palin but was far better educated. Biden is both less intelligent and less educated than Dan Quayle. Quayle had better records in Law school, didn't flunk the bar and actually was well regarded as among the most prepared senators no matter what the subject

What Biden is good at is pretending he knows what he is talking about. 36+ years sucking on the public tit and wallowing as one of DC's top porkers, Biden has learned government speak rather well and is able to convince the slow witted and the dullardly that he actually is intelligent and learned.

cpwill said:

:gasp!: WE NEED A DP VP DEBATE DRINKING GAME!!!

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How about one during the presidential debates?

Everytime Obama says "rich" or "wealthy" Democrats have to chug.

I'll let our resident Democrats pick Romney's magic word or phrase for this game.

TurtleDude said:

Biden has two thirds the intelligence of Palin but was far better educated. Biden is both less intelligent and less educated than Dan Quayle. Quayle had better records in Law school, didn't flunk the bar and actually was well regarded as among the most prepared senators no matter what the subject

What Biden is good at is pretending he knows what he is talking about. 36+ years sucking on the public tit and wallowing as one of DC's top porkers, Biden has learned government speak rather well and is able to convince the slow witted and the dullardly that he actually is intelligent and learned.

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All Biden had to do in the debate 4 years ago was not make a major mistake. Palin was already crucified by the media prior to the debate.

johnny_rebson said:

Ryan will easily beat Biden in the VP debate, the other 3 will effectively be ties.

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I've never been that impressed with Biden. If he prepares well for the debate and gives nothing but scripted answers along with his typical Obama-worshipping praise and his ''lets hear it for the little guy" routine he will have done his job. If something causes him to veer off the reservation though, he could make a screw-up that would cost the Obama campaign a full week of clean up-time that would be at a crucial juncture in the campaign. He has way more downside than upside...

During the POTUS debates, I think the last debate - on foreign policy, will be the hardest for ROmney. Just two weeks before the election Romney not only has to debate against a master like Obama on a subject that is way out of Romney's area of expertise, but he also has to try and go on the offensive and attack, trying to tie foreign policy to what really matters most this election: The Economy.
He will be far enough behind in the polls at this point that he will be desperate and the likelihood of him saying something incredibly stupid is very high. And just two weeks prior to the election it could totally doom him if he is not already doomed by that point anyway.

CONSagainROMNEY said:

... Romney not only has to debate against a master like Obama

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This is far more than humorous or funny ... it is galactically hilarious. A "master" ... this has to be a joke. Putting the Kenyan up before an audiance sans a teleprompter will show that the "master" is in reality a very weak T-baller. Some people here forget all the ummms, aaaahs, and myriad other sounds that flow from the "master" when he doesn't have a script.

A L

poweRob said:

What's not surprising is that the closer we get to the election the larger my ignore list grows due to pointless postings like this.

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Yes, it's time to bury that head so deep in the sand you don't even have a slight possibility of learning the truth about Obama....

I think Romney will take him to task over his economic record. MIddle class has done worse under the recovery than they did under the recession. That info came out last week. THe middle east is getting more volatile. Russia is beginning to flex some muscle. The Fed can't cut interest rates any lower. Unemployment has been above 8% for almost 4 solid years. Obama's grown the debt by $5 trillion, with trillion dollar budget deficits as far as the eye can see. Obamacare is still unpopular, with 65% of the nation supporting repeal.

There's a lot to criticize.

It's going to be interesting.

CONSagainROMNEY said:

I've never been that impressed with Biden. If he prepares well for the debate and gives nothing but scripted answers along with his typical Obama-worshipping praise and his ''lets hear it for the little guy" routine he will have done his job. If something causes him to veer off the reservation though, he could make a screw-up that would cost the Obama campaign a full week of clean up-time that would be at a crucial juncture in the campaign. He has way more downside than upside...

During the POTUS debates, I think the last debate - on foreign policy, will be the hardest for ROmney. Just two weeks before the election Romney not only has to debate against a master like Obama on a subject that is way out of Romney's area of expertise, but he also has to try and go on the offensive and attack, trying to tie foreign policy to what really matters most this election: The Economy.
He will be far enough behind in the polls at this point that he will be desperate and the likelihood of him saying something incredibly stupid is very high. And just two weeks prior to the election it could totally doom him if he is not already doomed by that point anyway.

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What kind of "expertise" did Obama have on foreign policy in 2008? Oh, that's right, less than Romney does now. Foreign policy isn't Obama's strong point, take a look at how well the middle east is doing without a strong American President. They're running wild, with fundamentalism sweeping across the middle east. Revolution going on in Syria, and Obama too afraid to say anything about it because of Russia's and China's warning to Obama. Nothing going on about Iran getting a nuke. He's happy to let Israel take care of it.

The October surprise is going to be Israel taking out Iran's nuclear capability because they can't rely on Obama to help them AFTER the election. This is what military leaders in Israel are saying anyway. Believe there were a couple stories on that last week or the week before.

The most important debate is when Romney dismantles the Obama economic record. It's vital for Romney to paint the truth in the debate. Economically, we are worse off than before the Recession, and a study came out last week that proved that the middle class has done worse during the recovery than they did during the actuall recession. Obama doesn't even have a nub to stand on when it comes to the economy. Stimulus didn't work, it didn't significantly lower unemployment, and the sheer fact that Obama's primary strategy is raising taxes on the rich proves he doesn't know what to do to create jobs.

I think Romney can hit the "you didn't build that" comment, even using the context in which Obama meant it. The true context of what Obama said is particularly damning. It's not how most Americans view this country. He's in real trouble, his approval rating is in the low 40s, and Romney has taken the lead in 3/4 of the polls being conducted. Most importantly, Romney leads among "likely voters".

I would prefer that each candidate be submitted a list of questions and then spend all the time they want to write down the answers. Their answers then could then be published and then the TV debate should be used to clarify their positions. The debates never cover all the issues and my format would allow for responses to be presented side by side objectively.

One thing people seem to undersestimate when it comes to debates is, charisma.
JFK had it. RFK had it. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Ross Perot had it. Bush 43 had it. And yes, Obama has it.
Gerald Ford did not have it, Mondale did not have it, Dukakis did not have it, Bush 41 did not have it, Al Gore did not have it. John Kerry did not have it. Hillary did not have it. And Romney does not have it.
Does that mean he is going to join the long list of losers who have been unable to dethrone the Incumbants?
More than likely, yes.
Romney has the lowest likability rating than any candidate who has ever gotten a major party nomination since the time that these numbers have been tracked. And despite spending millions of dollars and 8 years of non-stop campaigning and glad-handing, Romney quite simply he does not conect with most AMericans. People, especially the comman people, DO NOT LIKE HIM. He does not hae charisma.

CONSagainROMNEY said:

One thing people seem to undersestimate when it comes to debates is, charisma.
JFK had it. RFK had it. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Ross Perot had it. Bush 43 had it. And yes, Obama has it.
Gerald Ford did not have it, Mondale did not have it, Dukakis did not have it, Bush 41 did not have it, Al Gore did not have it. John Kerry did not have it. Hillary did not have it. And Romney does not have it.
Does that mean he is going to join the long list of losers who have been unable to dethrone the Incumbants?
More than likely, yes.
Romney has the lowest likability rating than any candidate who has ever gotten a major party nomination since the time that these numbers have been tracked. And despite spending millions of dollars and 8 years of non-stop campaigning and glad-handing, Romney quite simply he does not conect with most AMericans. People, especially the comman people, DO NOT LIKE HIM. He does not hae charisma.

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WE get it. you don't like Romney, you love obama. we get it.

In the last 100 year, there have only been FOUR Incumbent presidents who have been dethrowned.

FD Roosevelt unseated Hoover in 1932 at the neight of the Great Depression, Jimmy Carter unseated Gerald Ford in 1976 riding on an anti-watergate and anti-vietnam wave. Then Ronald Reagan unseated J Carter in 1980 and Bill Clinton unseated GHW Bush in 1992.

In 1980 and 1992 the USA economy was not exactly a robust one, which draws parallels to this 2012 election. The difference though between those two elections and 2012 is that the incumbent was going up against VERY charismatic candidates. ALSO in those two elections there were actually viable national third party candidates in the mix. John ANderson in 1980 who Carter famously refused to debate (which cost him severly) and ofcourse Ross Perot in 1992 sandwiched between Perot and Bubba Clinton GHW Bush looked even less charismatic than he actually was).

Here in 2012 there is no viable threat by any third party candidate. And here in 2012 there is not a challenger with even a fraction of the amount of charisma of either a Ronald Reagan, a Ross Perot or a Bill Clinton. The debates are only going ot highlight this. Obama will once again charm America into the voting booths while Romney will at best bore them into a submission hold of apathy or mistrust.