Did you watch the Great Debate last night? Why??!! Did you expect to learn something about economics? Were you genuinely unsure who to vote for and thought the debate would help you make up your mind? Or did you tune in just for the entertainment value?
Entertainment value is important in the Excited States of America nowadays. Last weekend, as poll after poll showed that Mitt was not inevitable after all, the pundits were saying that the lamestream media would have to start hyping Romney to give at least the appearance of a horserace, for the sake of ratings over the next five weeks. Who wants to watch a contest where the result is already known?
Walt suspects that the majority of those who tuned in did so with minds already made up, cheering either for the candidate sitting in the red corner or the one in the blue corner. And what they wanted to see was a good scrap during which one or the other would get knocked down for the count, or slip and fall out of the ring, or commit some horrible gaffe which would lead to effective disqualification.
I think I've pushed the metaphor far enough. My point, if you missed it, is that the debates have become just another TV reality show. Perhaps they have been so ever since the sweat dripped off Nixon's face and caused 1000s of grossed-out voters to pull the lever for the dry and clean-shaven JFK. The crook who said he was not a crook thus became the first contestant to be voted off!
The first show in the 2012 series of Big Big Brother was not on a par with Superbowl or a WWF cage match. There was no knockout or even a TKO, but in Walt's estimation you had to give the match to Mitt on points. It wasn't so much that Mitt was hot but that the Prez was not so hot.
Obama talked about policy in more detail than an insurance salesman, but pulled his punches on Romney’s business experience and the spycam "47% video". One correspondent called Obama's attack, or lack thereof, "muted and strangely reticent".
Rudy Giuliani was quoted as saying Obama’s unease showed. "This is the first time in four years, since he debated Hillary Clinton, that anyone has really challenged this man, and he fell apart," said the wily pol, describing Obama at times as "totally befuddled".
To put it another way, it was not so much a debate as much as Mitt taking a drive in the country with Obama tied to the fender.
Does this mean we should rush to the bookmaker's and get our bets down before the odds change? Is it, as Republican Senator John Thune said, "a whole new ball game"? Hardly! Mitt picked up a first down last night, but the goal is still a good 60 yards down the field and the media wind is against him.
Note from Ed.: I have extracted from Walt a promise signed in blood that he will ease up on the sports analogies. What with the NHL season looking likely to be cancelled in its entirety, I think he is suffering from withdrawal.
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