The Frinklin and Fred Show

Get Your Debate On II: The Quickening

Well, now we reach the Town Hall Debate. As I mentioned previously, I really dislike this format. Call me an elitist if you would like, but I shudder at the sight of normal people stammering through questions, some of which make no sense. The big question here is whether the President will bounce back from a lousy performance last week that has been downgraded to disastrous by the spin-doctors. Cheney’s performance on Tuesday helped matters, but the President needs to do will tonight. The question then becomes if he’s capable of doing well. George W. Bush isn’t a great debater under any circumstances, and this is a format he doesn’t like. According to reports, his team fought to keep this format out of the debates entirely. It is odd though, the President has a real strength in his ability to connect with people. He does not however, respond well to hard questioning. It will be interesting to see how he does.

Kerry on the other hand, needs to continue the momentum. His running mate did passably well at his assignment, and Kerry dominated in the first debate. Another solid win could put him ahead in the national polls, though he still has problems on a state-by-state basis. It is funny though, considering the march of bad news from Iraq, he is still a longshot to win. Had the Dems nominated someone better, this might be in the bag for them. Then again, between Kerry, Dean, Edwards et al, who else is better.

Other than Lieberman, of course. The Lefties would never get behind someone as sensible as Joe Lieberman.

Update I hate to wimp out, but I'll call this a draw. Bush was vastly superior than last week, Kerry about the same. Nothing really exciting, nothing really memorable, but a good debate nonetheless. While my distaste for Town Halls is well documented, the questions were very good.