I didn't get to see the debate last night. My company had a 'company picnic' which, to put nicely, sucked. I for one had one too many Mike's Hard Lemonades so by the time I got home around 7:30, I wasn't feeling spiffy and ended up going to bed early.
So, how can I give a recap on something I've yet to see? I can't really, but I can comment on people's reactions.
Neither candidate 'won'. It's not like there was a point system where either one could grab a ball and cross a line to be considered a winner, it was a debate. Righties will generally concede that Bush won while most lefties would consider Kerry a clear cut winner even if he had only drooled the entire time and screamed "I think I pooped my pants!" as his closing remark (trust me, this line is much funnier when you hear me say it the way I do).
So face it. Your bias is definitely going to shape who you think is a winner. Even if you think the other guy did better, you are probably still ignoring some mistakes your candidate made. And no matter how much you think there is a 'winner', unless you develop super mind reading powers and can get inside the heads of every pair of eyes that watched, there's no true way to declare victory.
So, my advice to the rest of the 'sphere: Give up trying to build a champion. Critique the debates, pick apart what was said, but don't fool yourself into thinking you know how everyone else judged the performances.
I for one can read minds. You should be ashamed of yourself.
rolled out on
Saturday, October 09, 2004 9:04 AM