In which I talk about politics that I can't actually vote on.

[framlingem]

(sidenote - I'm listening to REM's "End of the World". Boy, do they ever sing it slowly. I'm not used to being able to keep up.)

I finally managed to watch one of the presidential debates tonight, as my roommates have gone home for Thanksgiving weekend. Maybe they'll go out next Wednesday so I can watch the next one, too.

I can't vote on it, but it does affect me. Canada gets the pollution that drifts north, Canada goes into a recession if the States do, Canada's a little bit more careful than it should be in international politics for fear of incurring the wrath of the States. I dislike how much we depend upon the States in business, but I'm not going to pretend that we don't. Major trading partner and all.

It always baffles me, when watching debates, how the people asking the questions let the debaters get away without actually answering the question as asked. One lady asked Bush to specifically identify three mistakes he'd made and what he did to fix it. He said "[he] made some mistakes in terms of appointments, but wouldn't be specific," and then went off on a spiel about Iraq and Afghanistan. He has signed thousands of pieces of paper while in office - surely three of them must have not worked out the way he'd thought they would? It does not make someone less of a president (unabashedly biased viewpoint iuntruding on my attempts at trying to be impartial in my analysis here - I'm not sure anything could make Bush less of a president) Similarly, a man asked Kerry to look into the camera and state, simply and uncategorically, that he would not raise taxes for people with earnings under $200 000/year. Kerry said "Yes, I will do that", looked directly into the cameral, got about halfway through, and then went off and turned his sentence into a paragraph.

Bush did a better job in terms of public speaking skills than I've seen him done before. He even pronounced and used "ethanol" correctly and in an appropriate context. I did find him a bit abrasive - he had a microphone, there was no need to shout. (I call this "Wheel of Fortune" syndrome "C'MON, BIG MONEY! YEAH! T!").

Still, as I hear was the case during the last debate, Kerry seemed more confident. While Bush was speaking, Kerry was smiling and writing things down. Bush also wrote things down during Kerry's speeches, but did not smile. Furthermore, Bush tended to speak in generalisations, whereas Kerry had a figure to back up everything.

All in all, an interesting experience. They spoke about quite a few things which I have very strong opinions on (stem cell research, abortion, and environmental issues, to name a few), and it was interesting to watch the reactions in the audience.

Comments

:)

[mpulse.livejournal.com]

quote "I'm not used to being able to keep up"

so can already feel the multiple people slapping me from here, so not even going to comment...

Re: :)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

oh behave, dearie.

[mopeydick.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of us down here in the Great Yellow South that are well aware of what Bush is doing to the world, and our place in it. Many of us do not want to be hated and feared by the rest of the world. Many of us are still silly enough to believe that we could get things done without killing and exploiting people. Every day, I pray as hard as I can that we will have our own democratic regime change soon. We need to get rid of the evil, murdering, lying cheaters.

- MD

[tckma.livejournal.com]

I watched it solely to laugh at the candidates, then cry that one of these is what I have to deal with for the next four years.