Danny Evans of Dormont, PA nails the debate
A contributor to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's reader forum on the Disgraceful Debate captures my own sentiments perfectly:
That was no debate--it was a rerun of Access Hollywood. If we Pennsylvanians should be bitter about anything, it's that our state debate was turned into a sort of media carnival, rather than dealing with the real issues facing our region, and the American people.
Still, if I had to find a silver lining? I admired the restraint Obama showed in NOT diving headlong into the fray. Though it did seem to frustrate him that over half the debate had nothing to do with substance, he held his tongue in check, defended his opponent on one occasion, and even said "she could win" without so much as batting an eye.
Hillary seemed to enjoy wallowing in ABC's mud just a little too much for my tastes. Especially since she still hasn't given a straight answer on her Bosnia lie, or how she can reconcile taking 800 thousand dollars from the Columbian government while campaigning AGAINST the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. All in all, I saw in Barack Obama a frustrated (yet honest) commitment to trying to stay away from the political pie-slicing that has paralyzed our country and silenced OUR voices for far too long, now.
As bad as it was to watch, what we did see (pay attention PA) is that we, as voters, need to seek out as much information as we can, not just what the networks and cable shows think we want to hear. Barack Obama didn't have his best night, yet carried himself with grace and dignity in the face of farce. That's my kind of President. Because NOT wallowing, NOT changing, means he really does stand for HOPE in ways we've not seen in a long, long time.
Danny Evans, Dormont
Danny Evans, across the Internet I shake your hand. This morning, I read with amazement various accounts claiming that in the choreographed mud-wrestle of the first 40 minutes, Obama was "on the defensive" and "tentative." I thought that while Hillary took her cues for attack like one of Pavlov's dogs, Obama, as he has again and again in this campaign, exuded magnanimity and...what Danny said. When the debate moved on to policy matters after a mere 40 minutes of pseudoscandal, Obama was not sharp. But who would be after scraping off all that shit?