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Date:         Tue, 13 Oct 1992 21:08:00 EDT
From:         welcome to the faith dome explosion <SWEDE@DRYCAS.BITNET>
Subject:      quayle and gore mosh it up; stockdale chaperones
Comments: To: politics@ohstvma.bitnet

Forget the panel - the single moderator debate is the way to go.  This vice
presidential debate was fresh, feisty, raised a lot of good points from all
the candidates (even Stockdale, who seemed at times lost).

First, Dan Quayle.  I watched a rerun of the '88 debate on CSPAN earlier today,
and was amazed at the improvement Quayle's made over the past four years.
Then, he talked in an unconfident monotone that had me wondering if he'd been
taking sominex for breakfast.  Tonight he was articulate, clear, didn't make
any serious mistakes, hit hard on Clinton's waffling tendencies, and came off
very well, much better than Bush did.

Al Gore at times reminded me of my high school principal, explaining why we
had to attend the meeting in the gym instead of leaving school early.
Fortunately, when it came time for the discussion and reply times, he showed
great strength in ripping into the Bush/Quayle record, coming up with some
great facial expressions while Dan was talking, and hitting hard on jobs
being sent abroad, and the abortion issue.

James Stockdale was clearly nowhere near his element in this debate.  He
started out by asking "who am i? what am i doing here?" and at times I was
asking him that (who he was, rather, not who i am).  Particularly this
business about running a civilization - I really wanted him to shout "*I'm*
the god!", but he didn't.  Other times he came up with the perfect responses
that stopped Quayle and Gore dead in their tracks, particularly with his
remark on "this is why we have a gridlock in Washington" while Quayle and
Gore were going into their first "lets both speak at the same time" slamdances
(I swear, once they said "you're not answering the question" at the same
exact time - I expected Rod Serling to come out and start talking to the
audience).

So who "won"?  Tough call, that.  Quayle came out strong, and I thought for
a moment he might outdo Gore, but Gore loosened up halfway in and dominated
the debate from there.  Stockdale might win a few votes from the "we like
gruff old guys" caucus, but I think it ended in a dead heat for Quayle and
Gore, overall.

Clearly, though, the moderator style debate was much, much more spirited than
the panel style (perhaps I should save the comparisons for thursday, when
the presidential candidates try this style, but I think it'll be much more
fun than sundays debate).  I say we keep it.

One last thing...the bit of the debate I liked the most was when Gore casually
mentioned his own military service in vietnam and praised Stockdale's vietnam
record.  He didn't say a thing about Quayle, but he was very conspicious by
his absence from Gore's comment.  Very deftly done, I thought.

Ok, liese, you can open your eyes now...:)

Gary W. Olson                "My lips may promise but my heart is a whore"
SWEDE@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU  - Nine Inch Nails, "Last"
21 days and counting down...
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