Friday, October 01, 2004
SPITBULL WATCHED THE DEBATE, BUT COVERTLY
I am sure all six regular readers of this blog (ah! but the readership trend is increasing exponentially and we have great hopes of reaching ten by year-end) will be shocked, shocked to hear we weren't at the official Northern Alliance + live-blogging debate-watching party.
Instead, Spitbull unwittingly followed HH's advice by watching the debate alone. Well, the Warrior Monk watched it alone. I watched it with the three year old who, while exerting no pressure on me to be right in my analysis, exerted pressure on me not to pay attention for an entire Q&A exchange by continually poking my face with her finger. So, my only impression was surprise that Kerry was able to get any clear positions across, given the kid-poking I was enduring and his previous tendency to spout rhetorical thickets when asked a simple question.
A post-debate confab with the Warrior Monk yielded the insight that the debate format, with its time limits and threat of buzzer embarrassment, helped force Kerry to be succinct. Wow! Maybe he ought to hire a guy with a timer and buzzer to accompany him in all his public appearances.
On the other hand, answering that the US is only entitled to make a preemptive strike to protect itself if it passes "the global test," while clear, may not be helpful to Kerry's political aspirations.
Instead, Spitbull unwittingly followed HH's advice by watching the debate alone. Well, the Warrior Monk watched it alone. I watched it with the three year old who, while exerting no pressure on me to be right in my analysis, exerted pressure on me not to pay attention for an entire Q&A exchange by continually poking my face with her finger. So, my only impression was surprise that Kerry was able to get any clear positions across, given the kid-poking I was enduring and his previous tendency to spout rhetorical thickets when asked a simple question.
A post-debate confab with the Warrior Monk yielded the insight that the debate format, with its time limits and threat of buzzer embarrassment, helped force Kerry to be succinct. Wow! Maybe he ought to hire a guy with a timer and buzzer to accompany him in all his public appearances.
On the other hand, answering that the US is only entitled to make a preemptive strike to protect itself if it passes "the global test," while clear, may not be helpful to Kerry's political aspirations.
