10/02/04 Debate... What debate?

I listened to NPR's coverage of the US presidential debate last night. It was a pleasant debate. At least on the surface. There was a seething undercurrent, but it was carefully masked by a thin veneer of pleasant platitudes.

This was a chance for Kerry to really come out swinging. Instead, he smiled a lot, and kinda tried to fire a couple of pot shots, but never really connected on anything. Not the way he could have. Bush was an easy enough target.

I sat and waited for the knuckle duster, the full on sucker punch, and got nothing for my patience. He skirted around using strong, aggressive, and ultimately pointed language, and lolly gaged in trying to make his points. It was like watching a church committee try and decide whether they should serve lemonade or orange punch at the next family social. There was no commitment. Just lip service.

Bush is really lucky that he didn't have to weather the kind of storm that could have come his way. It's no big secret that public speaking is not his fortay. He's got a kind of "Pervert got caught in the porno shop" skill set. Full of um's and ah's, and repleat with mixed, and quite often confusing metaphors. Kerry should have riled him a little, and set a few verbal bear traps. Indeed, Mr. Bush is a very lucky man.

But the biggest disappointment is that it all seemed like a Coke vs. Pepsi taste test. "Do you like the shiny red can? or the shiny blue can?"

Given the amount of slander, libel, and character attacks, that this campaign has bandied about , I expected a show down at the OK corral. A real Godzilla vs. Mothra battle. What I got, was far far far less.

I (and I don't think I'm alone here) wanted this debate to be very much like two rhinos having a pissing contest, trying to mark their territory. It needed to be a clash of near galactic proportions, especially now In the post 9/11 era. Regretfully it was not. This election should be more important to both parties than it currently appears. There is more at stake here than a leadership race. Literally, the fate of the freedoms we enjoy are at stake, not to mention what (in addition to How) decisions about both international and domestic policy will be made.

Sadly, the after effects of this election will change the entire planet. We, likely will still feel it's impact for generations.

My country is laced very tightly to America, but we smartly (and smugly) passed on The war in Iraq. We Canadians seem to know a looser when we see one. Happily, we also tend to root for the underdog.

For the record, I like the shiny red can best. It tends to give me heartburn though.

end of transmission