Last Tuesday night, the second of three presidential debates was held between Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Many, including myself, were eagerly anticipating this political showdown in Nashville, Tennessee, as both campaigns had recently significantly upped their personal attacks on the other candidate. However, the 98 minutes passed, and one letter came screaming out of nearly every American that had watched the debates: ZZZZZZZZZZZ.......
Despite all of the hype and potential for this debate, almost nothing was actually accomplished by either side, other than reiterating the fact that both candidates lack any real concern for the debate guidelines, as they strayed from taking questions from the town-hall, talked over their allotted times, and did not directly answer many of the questions.
For me, one main question truly bothers me following this second debate: Are the increasingly boring debates a result of the growing need for each candidate to appeal to every potential voter, leading to more generic and non-controversial responses, or are they a result of each candidates lack of the ability to take control of America's problems and reach out and touch America?
Unfortunately, we may not get this answer before the election in less than a month. In fact, we may not get this answer until over 4 years from now, when McCain or Obama is nearing the end of his first term. I completely understand the growing problem with the debates and campaigns as a whole, that they need to appeal to such a broad audience in the growing and culturally evolving America that any statement that can be contrived as controversial or offensive in a debate could lead to a public outrage, but are these candidates really just not the right answer?
It would be great to know the answer to this question, as America, with our unbelievable economic problems, with fluctuations unseen since the Great Depression, could certainly use a leader that could fix our problems or boost America's collective ego. Maybe, maybe neither of these candidates are the answer. Or maybe we will simply have to wait and see if the elected candidate can turn things around. The one thing I do know, is that you cannot have your voice be heard, or, in my opinion, have the right to voice your opinion, unless you vote in the general election on November 4. Vote.
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3 comments:
I totally agree with the lack of answers. I also think you are right on with the candidates having to appeal to the larger audience. It really just comes down to getting votes and the candidates are willing to be as vague as possible to reserve such votes. I was trying to think of a way that we could avoid such vagueness. The only thing I could come up with was that maybe we need more candidates with a legitimate chance at winning on the same stage. I feel at this point they would actually take stances because there would be no way to appeal to all of the voters. Nonetheless we are probably a long way from any such formats and we will be stuck with typical politicians for the foreseeable future.
That is what I find so frustrating, that there is foreseeable end to this format in sight.
I wrote about something similar in my blog. It's frustrating that the candidates just can't seem to answer a question. I found it interesting that so many of us noticed this vagueness enough to write about it. I think that shows that it's definitely a problem.
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