POSTING #12

After the First Debate of the US Presidential Election Campaign

The Guru and I were driving to Grimsby, with the Guru at the wheel, so he could deliver some bottles of his best icewine for a silent auction being held by the Auxiliary of the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital. His family and mine use the Emergency Service at the hospital from time to time (it is small, personal and professional). We like to support it, through gifts and contributions.

Traffic was light on the Queen Elizabeth Way and I thought it wouldn’t distract the Guru too much if I asked for his views on the first debate of the US Presidential Election held in Denver on October 3rd. I prompted him by saying, “The pundits seem unanimous that Romney won the debate. What do you think?”

“The first thing is that it wasn’t a ‘debate’. Obama and Jim Lehrer were prepared for a debate, for a serious discussion of the different policy positions the two camps have taken over the last 18 months. But Romney wasn’t. He used the debate as an ‘etch-a-sketch’ moment in which he would reject his prior extremist right-wing policy arguments and use lies and misrepresentations to deny that he had flip-flopped. He turned the debate into a no-holds-barred brawl. It was as though Obama had come for a boxing match that would be conducted in accordance with the Marquess of Queensbury rules but Romney had come for a bout of ‘dirty fighting’ in which everything was going to be allowed---hitting below the belt, eye gouging, choking, whatever.”

“And the pundits love nothing better than a brawl, so they reported it as a brawl, not as a debate---and they scored the brawl as a win for Romney.”

“Exactly. But I believe it will prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. If Romney felt he needed to have a no-rules brawl, he should have waited until the last of the three debates. Obama would once again have been taken by surprise, would not have responded well and the voters would have gone to the polls thinking that he was some kind of wimp.”

“But”, I said, “Romney couldn’t wait until the third debate. His financial backers were deserting him and the morale of the GOP was sinking fast.”

“That’s it. So he struck without warning, catching Obama and Lehrer off guard. And he got an easy victory but his actions mean that the next two debates will have to be brawls. Think about what that means! If you were going to challenge a person from any city in the US to have a brawl with, which city would be the last on your list?

“Chicago, of course---they perfected brawling.”

“But I don’t think that Obama will come out with palpable lies and misrepresentations of the sort Romney used. Remember he spent part of his youth in Asia. I expect to see him use judo techniques in which the strength of the opponent is used against him. Romney will swing at him with some bald-faced lie and he will suddenly find himself lying on his back. At least I hope that is how the next debates will go.”

“So”, I injected, “you see him lying on his back instead of lying on his feet, as is his wont? Sorry about that! But seriously,  I suppose you would argue that by using judo techniques, he will be seen as taking the high ground.”

“Sure, the American people aren't stupid. They know that Romney played dirty and that it is OK for Obama to strike back. But he should strike back with finesse, pointing out not only Romney’s mendacity but also his attempt to conceal embarrassing specifics. And remember, there is always the big elephant in the room---Romney’s tax returns. I hope that Obama will end the next debate by looking at the camera (at the American people) and saying something like this. ‘My opponent has changed his positions, swinging as one of his primary opponent said, like a well-oiled weather vane. You need to ask whether he has any core values, any core at all. If elected will he bow to every extremist faction in his party. But worse than that, he is concealing crucial information from you. You have to ask why he is refusing to release more than two years of tax returns---what is hidden there that he doesn’t want you to know. Why he is refusing to come clean about the tax cuts he will make, why he is refusing to be specific about his Medicare changes (and on and on). Mr. Romney if you have any respect for the American people you will reveal all of this information before the next debate. ”

“Well”, I said, “I hope you are right. The polls are scaring me---I am afraid that we will see a return to Bush-Cheney, only, as Bill Clinton has said, on steroids.”

“Stay calm, and remember the worst doesn’t always happen.”

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If you have any comments, please leave them below or drop me a line at johnpathunter@gmail.com. The next Icewine Guru posting will appear in the fullness of time. My other blog, The Letter from Virgil, appears on a more regular basis.