A Fairy Tale

Gather 'round dear readers and let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time three people vied for the love of a land. One was young and full of hope, one was experienced and disciplined, and one was fiery and righteous. They came together to tell everyone in the land why they were the best, the most worthy, the one who would make things better. Their words words were inspiring and the people of the land were moved.

Ok, so that is the way the debate SHOULD have been last night, but it didn't completely live up to the fairy tale described above. The Triumvirate was out last night in Nevada and all were rolling the dice (ha! aren't I clever with my gambling metaphor . . .) to see who could get a leg up in the upcoming Nevada and South Carolina primaries. They were given two hours and the questions were directed by Brian Williams and Tim Russert. So far so good.

And then, Williams and Russert did exactly what I was bitching about in my Charts and Graphs post. They asked questions, but nothing that allowed the candidates to focus on what they would do. And I actually got the sense that the candidates really wanted to focus on policy and actions, because they kept trying to sneak in statements. Maybe I am just being naive (yesterday seemed to be my day for that!), but that was the sense I got. Instead Williams and Russert kept going on and on about the whole race/gender thing that the President of BET (whose name now escapes me) kicked off when he alluded to Obama's teenage drug use during a recent introduction of Clinton at a rally in South Carolina.

Finally one quarter of the way into the debate the two moderators started asking some substantive questions that allowed the candidates to talk about their positions and things they would do. They touched on the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis, with Clinton mentioning her plan to freeze the interest rates for several years and halt foreclosures for 90 days. Edwards strongly opposed nuclear power as an alternative to the current energy crisis. Obama struck out about the politics of fear that have ruled our lives in the last seven years. And all, once again, reiterated their respective stances on when and how they would get troops out of Iraq.

Of course, all three candidates stressed that they were different from each other. Certainly they are, but for me the difference in terms of what they would do policy-wise is miniscule. Feel free to disagree with me, but I really do believe it largely comes down to which candidate you like best. Yes, this is a high school-esque popularity contest. Even though it kept me up past my bedtime (shocking!) the 8.30 to 9.30 hour of the debate I saw was exciting to see because it gave the candidates a chance to really tell the American people what they would do and what they believe in. Even without charts and graphs. And that, dear readers, is no fairy tale.