The Corpus Callosum

Who Won the First Debate?

Posted by Joseph j7uy5 on September 27, 2008
(2)
More »

I can’t top this, so I’ll just quote.  It’s from href="http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/09/so-who-won-debate.html">Mike
Shedlock, the guy with the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau_word">portmanteau
nickname, “Mish”:

Careful analysis shows both Obama and McCain lost the
debate…For the first time in history, I am proclaiming a moderator to
be the
winner of the debate. Jim Lehrer asked very good, pointed questions
that neither candidate would answer. Better yet, he forcibly kept at
it, attempting to no avail to get some answers on the economy.

McCain: McCain was clearly imitating the “Rope A Dope” strategy of
Muhammad Ali. He was ducking and bobbing and weaving and dodging his
head even when he was not talking. He was hoping Obama would give him
an opening.

Obama: Obama, having regained the lead in the polls now that the
country is taking a closer look at the pathetic hopelessness of Palin,
took a different tactic. Obama’s strategy can best be described as
“Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me”.

src="http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/%7EYF7M-ON/match15.gif"
align="left" height="111" width="117">The
mention of rel="tag">Muhhamad Ali reminds me of a minor event
during his career.  In 1976, he had an exhibition bout with a
mixed-martial-arts practitioner, href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Inoki" rel="tag">Antonio
Inoki.  Everyone wondered what would happen.
 Which fighting style would prove to be superior?  

What happened was this: nothing.  The match ended in a draw.
 Each contestant avoided the strengths of the other.
 It was called the href="http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/%7EYF7M-ON/ematch3.html">most
boring match of the century.

Neither candidate’s performance will sway anyone from the other party.
 Neither energized his respective base.  

What influence will the debate have on independent voters?
 Not much, because it was so forgettable.
 Independents who are swayed by logic might have been nudged a
bit toward the Obama camp, but those swayed by emotion might have been
nudged toward the McCain camp.

(2)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 Science Avenger
    September 27, 2008

    I thought of Ali as well, but with Obama as Ali smoothly counterpunching, but avoiding any big exchanges, and McCain as Marciano, charging in and attacking, trying to keep the fight nasty and in the corners.

    I think though if you look at whether the candidates got any votes, surely Obama did from the crowd that actually believed the “empty suit who can’t talk without a teleprompter and has never done anything” persona, since every bit of that was refuted in a way no one could miss. Other than that, yeah, pretty dull and to be expected.

    I like the idea of a panel of experts who can buzz the collars on the politicians whenever they lie or refuse to answer the question.

  2. #2 Carol
    September 27, 2008

    Geeky triviality: From the documentary When We Were Kings, I got the impression “Rope-a-dope” was the Ali strategy of lying against the ropes and letting the opponent wear himself out, taking tons and tons of blows, then knocking him out once he was tired. Quite different from Ali’s other dancing, bobbing and weaving strategy mentioned above.