Presidential Debate #2

The second presidential debate was held on Tuesday night and proved to be slightly more intense than the first one. Perhaps it was due to the town hall format where the candidates were surrounded by actual people, sitting in a circle around them, and had to address questions asked directly by them. (These people were all undecided voters, by the way). The answers seemed directed at real people this time, not at a generic TV audience. The vile insinuations about Barack Obama remain as the subtext of McCain's campaign, but that's of little comfort. People pay attention to the subtext when the main text sounds like just a string of the usual words. McCain has reached a stage where he can speak almost as meaninglessly as Sarah Palin without alienating his supporters. Case in point: his telling us during the debate that he knows how to do everything and *can* do everything and will do everything -- this includes knowing where Bin Laden is and knowing how to get him.

For a humorous critique, watch Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. The first four minutes of this eleven-minute video are a little dry, be forewarned!

As for me, I wonder what Obama's first broken campaign promise will be. Let's face it: the economic crisis is going to mean that neither Obama nor McCain can successfully carry out what they're promising to carry out, once elected into office. Not that any politician ever does even in good times, but in these times especially it is unlikely that they will be able to fulfill a whole lot. As for McCain breaking his campaign promises if he gets elected, one can only hope he breaks at least some of them.