September 29, 2004
I'd Rather Eat Broken Glass
I would rather eat pieces of broken glass than watch the presidential debates. The spectacle of two grown men bickering and posturing and trying to get in some catchy zinger makes me wish for a New Zealand citizenship. There are moments of substance in the debates, but these are overshadowed by the focus on image and style and who could deliver the most clever put-down. The partisan debate audience cares very little about the issues - they are there to cheer on their candidate. They aren't there to learn anything. The media will anoint a "winner" and a "loser" based on some objective criteria like who sweat the most or who looked at his watch. I feel very embarrassed watching the debates.
Why should I watch the presidential debates? If I want to know where the two men stand on the issues I can look up their positions on their web sites, or look at the comparisons that routinely appear in the media. I'm familiar with their records (Bush more so than Kerry). I can use statistics to analyze what happened to the country or state over their term in office. If I want to evaluate their characters I can observe how they've conducted their presidential campaigns, what they've said and what has been said by their surrogates.
And yet - eating broken glass does not help me to fulfill my civic duty to evaluate the candidates and vote for whoever I think will do a better job of leading this country over the next four years. So I will watch at least one of the debates.
During some past presidential cycle a news writer observed that a presidential debate is one of the few venues that the candidate does not control. Speeches, news conferences, public gatherings - all these are mostly controlled by the candidates. Not so with a debate. We get to see how he or she will react in unknown circumstances. Are these circumstances relevant to presidential performance? Yes, because verbal debate is part of the political process, part of governing in this country. The debates are a data point we don't already have.
I will watch at least one debate. But I won't enjoy it!
Maybe I'll keep a bowl of broken glass on the coffee table nearby just in case.
