By George Harris, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will face off Friday in a debate on foreign affairs, no doubt with questions like, “Say, Senators, how do you think the financial meltdown will affect foreign affairs?”
If things weren’t so serious, we could have a lot of fun with the debate.
Ah, what the heck, let’s have fun. Here are my suggestions for dissecting and rating the debate. Following are categories of answers/responses and suggested points. But create your own categories:
Santa Claus moment: -1 point for a ridiculous promise by a candidate.
Pinocchio response: -1 point for a little white lie.
Smokey answer: (as in Smokey and the Bandit) -1 point for evading a question
Senior moment: -1 point for a complete non sequitor (-2 if by Obama because he doesn’t get the senior discount.)
Rove reply: -2 points for a gratuitous character attack. -1 point if carefully done.
Bon mot: +1 point if well worded and genuinely fun. -1 point for failed witticism. -2 points if obviously planned and yet not funny.
Blah, blah, blah: -1 point for repetition of the obvious or of rehashed talking points.
Right on!: +1 for a logical response. +2 if supplemented by actual evidence.
Atwater attack: -3 points for attempted character assassination. +3 points if successful.
POW reference: -1 point for Obama thanking McCain for his public service. -1 point for McCain referring to the home he had in Vietnam or any sentence with a noun, a verb and POW.
Reagan moments: -1 point for any variation of a Reagan joke about age. Also, -1 point for Obama asking if you’re better off now than four or eight years ago. Thanks but no thanks. We don’t want to think about it.
General support: -1 for reference to the opinion of any General who is not retired. They’re supposed to support the Commander in Chief.
Sighs: -1 point, but both candidates know better by now.
So, please add your own scoring criteria and suggested points!!
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"Day Job"
John McCain says he may not show up for the debate on Friday because he suddenly discovered he is paid to act as the Senator from Arizona. I firmly believe that elected officials who decide to run for higher offices should be required to immediately resign from their present positions. They cannot do justice to their day job while actively campaigning for another job. Such a requirement would automatically screen out those who constantly seek the presidency for their own ego. Just imagine if all three senators and Governor Palin had to resign from their safe seats and gamble on winning a spot in the White House. The faint hearted would fall by the wayside.
George: My legal name is Santa Claus--a candidate for President!
Hi, George:
You wrote, "Santa Claus moment: -1 point for a ridiculous promise by a candidate." Not cool. My legal name is Santa Claus; and, I'm a formal write-in candidate for President of the United States, permitted to run in 16 states, so far. I'm running because Obama and McCain refuse to address the plight of 2 million children in the U.S. annually who are abused, neglected, exploited, abandoned, homeless, and institutionalized through no fault of their own. There are 50 million adults who, as children, suffered from the same political indifference these children do today. So, perhaps, a better description of a "Santa Claus Moment" might be when one recalls the plight of these vulnerable children in dire circumstances and compels the candidates to help them. Or, how about a "George Harris Moment" when they can't remember anything useful to say about or contribute to an important issue. Blessings, Santa www.SantaClaus08.com