They baited each other . . . . ok, ok, it's a bit lame but at least I tried.

There is a certain ridiculousness in using debates to learn a lot about what candidates think, because it's all about media coverage and zingers and comfort (or lack thereof) and necktie colors and all kinds of other irrelevancies. I suppose there's a chance we might learn something or see something in a candidate that persuades us to -- or not to -- vote for him or her but mostly I think people watch in order to confirm that their opinions are valid. "See, he/she just can/can't cut it because [fill in the blank]!"

I thought Obama seemed slightly nervous and a bit annoyed, and I thought McCain seemed a bit testy and determined to show how much he's done and knows. Neither made me want to vote for him or like him but maybe liking someone shouldn't be part of the mix anyway. It might seem pleasant but is it a requisite for a good president that people like him/her and want to be friends? How could anyone be friends with all the (vastly different) people in this country?

I actually thought the two strangest things last night were (1) the pink and white neckties and (2) the way they spoke to each other.

• They both wore pink and white neckties, one striped and one polka dotted. What was that about? Do you suppose they worked that out ahead of time? Was it a signal to the inhabitants of Mars or Jupiter that we come in peace - or that they can?? I mean, really.
  
• And why did Obama call McCain "John" while McCain called Obama "Senator"? I wasn't sure whether Obama intended to sound friendly or casual/disrespectul but it came off mainly as puzzling and a bit patronizing. I swear sometimes he doesn't have a clue (remember the jokes he tries to tell?!). And was McCain being respectful by calling Obama "Senator" or was he being sarcastic?!

I think I pick at Obama's statements more than McCain's because McCain seems more "usual" in his approach. It would be great if there were a way to shake things up and change something almost fundamental so our daily lives could be more livable and more pleasant. So I guess I'm hoping to find that Obama makes sense to vote for and would really have ideas that could get us somewhere good. But I keep feeling disappointed and thinking maybe he just isn't the one. When he said he wants the country to be a place people want to come to again, I said "yes!" but then he added that he meant to a place like the one his father wanted so badly to come to in the 1960s and I stopped in my tracks. The sixties were probably our social and military nadir; the Vietnam War had everyone here and around the world in utter disarray and loathing us. One wonders if he adlibbed that line because sure he didn't think about it before he said it. (And then there's the minor detail that his father deserted his family, left them in that wonderful America he'd wanted to come to and went far far away. Is this whole exercise for Obama an attempt to regain his father??) And, by the way, it's not as if immigrants aren't still flocking here by the gazillion so I guess they didn't get the memo about how bad it is. I certainly don't want a jingoistic president, but realistic would be nice.

I thought McCain seemed knowledgable and determined. Certainly more assured than Obama. Perhaps the expectations were very low because neither is known for good debating skills but Obama seemed downright nervous at times and never conveyed the calm secure tone that drew so many to him in the first place.

Most distressing was that neither was straightforward even about his own positions (some details here).

Well, one down, three to go. Next is Thursday: Palin and Biden.

Labels: 2008 election, disappointments