Continued

Where the hell was I?

The main two things I enjoy about watching the debates—first, the Wheel of Fortune aspect of the debates (see, there was a reason for the blog title after all). That is that when you're at home watching Wheel of Fortune, all the puzzles are glaringly obvious, and you can't believe how dumb the contestants are. You don't consider the fact that those contestants are freaking out- there they are, with Pat Sajak talking to them, hundreds of people watching them and millions judging them at home. I'm surprised they can remember their name. As a recovered actor, I can remember millions of times when those lines that I had been saying every day for three months, which should be flowing steadily out of my mouth, are gone to some far-off galaxy, having a glass of wine, leaving me to fall on my metaphorical ass.

Oh yeah. So, I think I would be killer at the debates. I sit at home watching, and I always think of the Great Response that would be the greatest thing to hear them say. I'm that way when I watch panels (e.g. Real Time with Bill Maher) as well– these people are all very well versed in their specialties, but not particularly skilled at saying the right thing at the right time. When they do speak eloquently, it's such a wonderfully amazing thing. That has happened on occasion on the Daily Show, when Jon Stewart starts debating some politico, and you think to yourself, something special is happening here. Most of presidential debates, however, don't meet that mark. The only ones who say anything inspiring or exciting are Kucinich and Biden, and they wouldn't be saying those things either if they were the frontrunners. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have to be very careful with what they say, as any spontaneous, passionate response will inevitably offend one demographic or another who just want one of Them to be the next president.

The other thing I love in debates is the kind of corollary moments to the ones I mentioned above– it's the normal people, standing up to the mics. They're so nervous, they have great difficulty not tripping over their words... they are usually questioning some integral part of our country, and once you're face to face with these amazing politicians, I could only imagine how hard it would be to stand up to them. At the AFL-CIO debate, for instance. Now, I hate the AFL-CIO—I'm not that fond of unions in general—but there was one man who stood up and told his story... he was an industrial worker, and was injured on the job. Two years later the company he worked for declared bankruptcy, absolving them of any responsibility to pay him disability or severance. Unable to work and dependent on government health care, his wife is now too old to care for herself. He has no way, no matter how important she is to him, to take care of her now.

It's incredible to think how much courage it must have taken this man to tell his story. This wasn't some power-hungry college student vying for fifteen seconds in the spotlight. This was just some guy who wanted answers. He wanted to find someone that could lead America into an age where he could be proud to live here again. The politicians (I won't name names, but it's on YouTube) replied with a canned, rehearsed answer that was basically "I feel your pain, if you vote for me I'll help somehow," and they were even booed for not being able to be human long enough to convince the voters that these candidates are not Americans, they're oligarchs pleading for us to join their side, if only because they're the closest thing we'll ever get to a friend in the White House. But none of them, not even Biden, who shrugged off a question about a lost spouse to make a stump speech despite himself having lost his wife, have had the courage to say something human. I'll keep watching, though, and I think one of them will soon. I just hope it's not too late. I hope they don't get those stars in their eyes, leaving us sitting at home, uncomfortably aware of what they should have said but didn't.