tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post780094776449892974..comments2024-03-28T03:10:19.013-07:00Comments on Fraggmented: My Thoughts On the DebateJohn Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07530526320973807452noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post-18811116409649438162012-10-05T18:34:43.706-07:002012-10-05T18:34:43.706-07:00I would also suspect an awful lot of viewers of th...I would also suspect an awful lot of viewers of that debate will be unphased by Romney's lies, or at least unaware of them, because they either don't follow things that closely beyond watching the debates or because they just assume all politicians lie.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03313705299660594086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post-70377601621114254172012-10-05T08:19:32.412-07:002012-10-05T08:19:32.412-07:00I'm going to disagree with you: it's not t...I'm going to disagree with you: it's not the media trying to sell a narrative (or, at any rate, not just that). <br /><br />Debates today are no longer about the ideas, they are about image; they stopped being about image when the "Commission" took over, and they became elaborate staged events in which the two campaigns sign contracts and negotiate over formats, topics, setting, lighting, and so on. Much like the Nixon-Kennedy debates, in which people who only heard them thought Nixon did better, but people who *saw* them thought Kennedy did. Debates today are all about the campaigns showing off their candidates, not their ideas.<br /><br />In that respect, I think Romney did better. He looked better, he sounded better (I'm talking about sound, not about content; flash, not substance). Yes, he lied continuously; but he *sounded* sincere, he looked confident, he looked in control. No, he wasn't really. Yes, it was empty content, lies, etc. There are a few I would really have liked Obama to throw back in his face: the "cut" to Medicare; and when Romney complained he was against a tax cut that was not revenue neutral, the answer should have been "then you are against your own tax plan"; and if Romney repeated that Obama was lying about the tax plan, then the answer is "I apologize; but because you have steadfastly refused to tell us the details, we can only go with the obvious implications of your nebulous hints; if they are misleading, then perhaps you should start releasing actual details."<br /><br />But in the end, if you view this not as an actual debate of ideas (because it isn't one), but as a showcase, I think it is definite that Romney came out ahead; he won a "showcase", a reality TV competition. But I agree that he did not win a debate. But then, there wasn't one.magidinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12255841033538755123noreply@blogger.com