October 16, 2012

 

DEBATE 2: TOWN HAULIN’ (WRITTEN & BLOGGED DURING THE PROCEEDINGS)

  1. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Romney's gotta show he has emotions. Haven't we learned he’s a feelin’ man over the past couple of weeks?
  2. . . . It'll be 65 degrees in the hall. That's what the candidates requested. Creature comforts.
  3. . . . Nevertheless, “The Heat Is On” (Glenn Frey, on MCA Records, from 1985).
  4. . . . It looks like the candidates each have on two microphones. A wireless hand-held and then a “lavalier mic" clipped on Obama's tie and on Romney's left-side suit lapel. So they're a bit different in this regard.
  5. . . . Obama: reddish tie with a pattern. Romney: blue and white striped tie. You figure out the significance.
  6. . . . The wide shot makes moderator Candy Crowley look miles away from the candidates.
  7. . . . Ms. Crowley identified herself as from "State of the Union," her Sunday talk show, and not from her namesake network CNN. 
  8. . . . I guess anchors are bigger than the networks they work for.
  9. . . . Already Romney more things to say during his answers than time will allow and he and Crowley exchange a few words on her wanting to change the subject. Crowley wins that argument.
  10. . . . Romney's taking over again, showing his aggressive side. 
  11. . . . The candidates go back to their respective stools while the other one takes the stage.
  12. . . . Where’s the dunce cap?  
  13. . . . Once again, universally the live streams on the Web are eons behind the TV audio/video pickup beaming out of Hempstead, N.Y. It churns and churns and churns.
  14. . . . It's impossible to watch solely on the Internet. Too frustrating.
  15. . . . It’s got a long way to go to become the future TV.
  16. . . . Crowley looks lost in the crowd way back there. Her desk should have been moved forward more. I had to look for her.
  17. . . . REQUEST. Can we keep those "Trending Now," "factoids" and Twitter comments with its stupid birdie logo off the screen?
  18. . . . Get Sylvester the Cat after 'em. He'll take care of all those nasty birds tweeting.
  19. . . . Candy's got some curl in her brown hair and it's draping down her back, flowing freely.
  20. . . . Conversely, Martha Raddatz, last week's VP debate moderator, had hers hanging down straight and laying flat. They were two different moderator images.
  21. . . . Romney likes to sit in the back on his stool and smile while his opponent has the but the smile doesn't seem like it's representing friendliness.
  22. . . . Women in the work force. They discuss it.
  23. . . . Romney seems often on the offense and Obama seems often on the defense.
  24. . . . Good question from a Susan Katz. She's asking how Romney is gonna be different from fellow Republican George Bush who came before him.
  25. . . . Romney is critical of the former president. 
  26. . . . There was a little kerfuffle about the format. This seems to be happening a lot tonight. Romney and Obama have both been complaining and argumentative about it.
  27. . . . It's a lot more contentious than the VP debate. That was calmer and more controlled.
  28. . . . I'm glad to see pencil and paper back on the candidate's tables. They look like yellow legal pads on a clipboard.
  29. . . . I guess the candidates haven’t gone paperless.
  30. . . . I didn’t see a tablet or n  iPad back there on table top. They're old-fashioned guys – unlike NBC’s Chuck Todd with Apple product in hand or CNN’s John King at the big board or the male anchors on Fox & Friends on the weekends who refer to their notes on their iPads.
  31. . . . Obama's always talking about college. Not everybody goes to college and folks, it's okay if they all don't.
  32. . . . They're not the only ones who deserve jobs.
  33. . . . Romney's a businessman, we know that. He knows all the figures and has a lot of plans on how to improve the economy and the job situation.
  34. . . . Wait til he arrives in Washington.
  35. . . . Romney's answering a question posed by a young Hispanic woman about immigration. 
  36. . . . It's a good format tonight but it does seem to encourage speechifying, which each candidate is good at.
  37. . . . Romney says what he wants to say and tells Candy what he's going to do and not what she's asking him to do.
  38. . . . Candy asked Romney to sit down and let Obama have the floor.
  39. . . . "Have you looked at your pension?" asked Romney of the president. Obama said no he hadn’t but that he was sure it wasn't as big as his opponent's.
  40. . . . Uh oh, here comes Benghazi, a question from the audience addressed to President Obama, about the death of an American diplomat and three others in a terrorist attack in Libya.
  41. . . . Trouble spot. Let's see what Romney has to say about it.
  42. . . . Mitt's starting out being sympathetic to the victims with his answer.
  43. . . . But he's critical of Obama going to a fund-raiser the day after  news broke of the event, and he’s extending his criticism to the rest of Obama's foreign policy.  
  44. . . . “Hillary Clinton is a great secretary of state but she works for me and I take responsibility,” attested Obama.
  45. . . . But yesterday Clinton said she’s taking the blame for the attack and she’s responsible for security.
  46. . . . (“Who’s Gonna Take the Blame” – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles on Tamla Records, 1970).
  47. . . . JUST ASKING. Will Obama deploy the Navy SEALS to find the murderers like he did for Osama bin Laden?
  48. . . . Candy knows her facts. Boy, she's got to keep up with this crowd. She got applause for speaking up clarifying the “terrorist act” controversy.
  49. . . . (“Controversy” – Prince, on Warner Bros. Records, 1981).
  50. . . . “Weapons of war don't belong on the streets,” said Obama in regard to a question about assault weapons.
  51. . . . Romney blames the gun violence on "Fast and Furious."
  52. . . . Candy asked Mitt why he changed his position on an assault weapons ban.
  53. . . . Mitt talked his way out of that one.
  54. . . . Candy is trying to wrap Obama up and he keeps going on and on and on, like the Energizer Bunny.
  55. . . . At the end of it all I'd like to see Romney and Obama swinging and swaying together a la Milli and Vanilli just for the heck of it. Wouldn't that be fun and just the levity we need? 
  56. . . . Like two puppets.
  57. . . . Or what about Gangnam Style?
  58. . . . Romney doesn't look like he has a bald spot. Obama doesn't seem to have one either. Earlier in the evening a network reporter related that one of the candidates asked the Commission on Presidential Debates for the lighting to be adjusted so as not to expose it. 
  59.  . . . Well, if there was one I guess they did a good job hiding it.
  60. . . . Debunking a Myth: What's the biggest misconception about you (each candidate)?
  61. . . . A thoughtful question from “undecided” audience member Barry Green who had a good knot in his brown tie.
  62. . . . Romney: "My faith." I worked as a missionary. I got our schools ranked #1 in the nation. 
  63. . . . Instead of focusing on the question he made a campaign speech.
  64. . . . This is not answering the question.
  65. . . . “I'll do this, I'll do that.”
  66. . . . Obama: “I believe everyone should have a fair share.”
  67. . . . Obama's not answering the question directly either.
  68. . . . It's over. Everybody comes out on the stage: the audience, family members.  
  69. . . . It's an autograph session and a photo op. They’re rock stars.
  70. . . . They're all posing for pictures and video (to go viral?).
  71. . . . “Pretty in Pink.” That's what Ann Romney and Michelle Obama were in their similarly colored outfits.
  72. . . . All those people crowding the stage must give the Secret Service a real headache. They were all over the place -- the ones with those ear plugs (ear buds, listening to a favorite playlist?) in their ears.
  73. . . . UH . . . “The Whole Word is a Stage” -- The Fantastic Four on Ric-Tic Records, 1967.


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