The Debates

[Kätzchen]

I am so appreciative of the commentary that members here make about issues arising from the Democratic and Republican campaigns for US presidency. I especially appreciate Bulldog and Martina’s perspective and often find myself utilizing the way they filter the political process via their own unique system of filtering the latest and ongoing political events.

I came across Martina’s post in another forum thread on the 2012 election. Martina found three articles and of those three, the article published in The New Yorker – “Transaction Man: Mormonism, private equity, and the making of a candidate” – was very interesting read in that author, Nicholas Lemann, epitomized Mormon culture to a T. Lemann’s October 1st literary pièce de résistance was framed as a 4-part orchestral arrangement to the tune of: Church, Business, Politics, and The Rescuer (Link to article found, here)


As I read that article, I sat nodding my head in agreement with most of thematic tone and intent conveyed throughout the entire essay. When I got to the three final paragraphs, which describe in MBA lexicon how Romnean synaptic cells seem to not bond with the pubic in cerebral ways, the first thing I thought of was this: What is missing from this essay? Why did Lemann end his article with the synaptic allegory? Was he hoping to facilitate a synaptic hookup for Romney? And, at least 20 more questions came to mind that I cannot even give public utterance to except, do any of you remember that The New Yorker in the 2008 election coverage pressed political hot-buttons with their brand of satire (the front cover image of Obama dressed as a Muslim)??? Yeah, I doubt if they pull a stunt like that again, in light of what happened recently that cost a US ambassador his life and the lives of those caught in the cross-fire of the latest political upheaval in the Middle East.

This election is even more personal for me than the last one was. I grew up in a rural community where, at the time, Mormons comprised at least 90% of the population. The other 10% were comprised of German, Dutch, English and a small sampling of Irish and Scottish based households. The single most relative connection shared among all households was the idea that most familial structures were patrilineal by design; however, my family seemed to be the statistical troublemaker in that my mother’s lineage was of matrilineal design which often competed against the patrilineal structure internally as well as externally – a ‘Molotav cocktail’ (conflict of authority), as seen rather frequently in our household. Although my family was not Mormon, the school district that serviced my rural community was heavily proselytized by Mormons, so I totally get the socio-political cultural piece of Mormonism and what it means in terms of deep political connections to small and big business across the American landscape.

Since the first debate (and there’s one tonight, yes?) and ongoing press coverage of the presidential race, I find myself holding my breath and fine tuning my own filters by calling upon my large cache of life experience and academic achievements. One thing seems for certain, in the sea of political uncertainty over the past few weeks: There is a lot at stake in this presidential election. I appreciate the tremendous investment of time and energy Obama expends not only in his presidential campaign, but also in his brand of leadership.

[Martina]

this is the god's truth -- and it is funny too

Daily Show "You Broke Chris Matthews" segment

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/th...rt-thou--pt--2

[DanieClarke]

hey romney is sucking more money from the conservatives so let him pretend to be back in the game so the other senators etc etc don't get any $

[ruffryder]

Obama was so poorly prepared or was that what he wanted everyone to see and think? Could it have helped him by letting Romney talk and talk and spew his spiel. Could it be Obama hasn't debated in 4 years and he actually wasn't prepared?

Perhaps Romney may have initially, with this first debate, won some of the independent votes and the votes of those sitting on the fence wondering where the hell to cast their vote with this torn up economy and who to put their faith in for the next 4 - 8 years.

While watching the debate and at first I thought, "Wow! Romney dude, you won that debate. You gave the American people what they wanted to hear and you were quite poised and confident." He came across well versed, prepared, and confident. What he is saying, I agree with and like. But now I'm thinking maybe Obama's campaign and those that assisted him with his debate wanted it to look that way. . Too good to be true for what Romney promises? Let's leave America wondering about this Romney character. Maybe that's why Obama tended to look like a deer in headlights or bored or like, "Shit, I may just hand over the Presidency and walk away like an animal with it's tail between it's legs." This worried me to see this in our Commanding Chief Officer. Both candidates wrote notes. Romney seemed to use his at the first debate and the President, well he seemed to tuck them away to discuss with his team later and perhaps save for another debate.

I believe all politicians tell people what they want to hear. I don't like the numbers of unemployment, the numbers of high prices and gasoline, the numbers of low wages, etc.. I do agree with Romney and that the main concern is getting people back to work, and not just minimum wage and part time jobs but real careers where there is training, incentives, and being able to live the American dream and not just paycheck to paycheck. I want to hear more about specifics on their plans.. I want to hear how they plan on creating new jobs. I want to hear how all this funding not used on war now will be used. I actually look forward to the next debates and seeing Romney spew more and Obama gaining confidence back with the American people. Some one on Face The Nation this morning said something in relation to that it didn't matter who won the debate, America wins! I think we are all ready for something to change in this economy and these candidates see that.

[Martina]

Looks like he got a bump. It still might go up another point or two, I heard. So it's a horse race.