Woo Hoo, Jimmy!

First, let's put one misnomer to bed. These are "debates" like I am a major league, left-handed reliever. There is scant intercourse between the candidates, and the "questions" asked by the moderators are merely interruptions between captive-crowd speech notes recited once again by the candidates (with some apoligies to Senator Biden, the only qualified debater amongst the final four). So what have we learned?

We learned that this exercise in public speaking isn't about finding out what the policies of the candidates are (see the transcript when, with the penultimate question, Brokaw asked the candidates for their doctrine, and they gave platitudinal pablum), or about differences in philosophy (as opposed to side-swiping half-truths about each others' records and statements), its about what plays in Paducah.

For Obama, that means connecting with the emotions of the nation and asserting himself as a fresh, if somewhat less qualified, visionary for the hard path our nation must face. For McCain, it's about sound bytes. When he pointed his thumb across his twisted frame and said "You may not know who voted for that, do you? That one.", he played to the ignorance and "yeehaw, get 'em boy" football game culture (note: I don't say "mentality", as that would make an assumption I feel inappropriate) into which our political field has devolved. Let me clarify:

It is true that Senator Obama, in his ~4 years in the Senate, has voted with the Republicans a number of times (although it is well documented by his opponent that he voted with his party >90% of the time). Why would he do that, you ask? Because that's how the system works. If a bill is being pressed by the senior members of the Senate and the President, and a junior Senator wants to have a fighting chance at ever getting any cooperation or concession in matters he finds important, he signs it and takes his medicine. Not every time, not most of the time, but strategically, and when it will return him the most cooperation. Some might even call this "reaching across the aisle". I call it the system as it stands.

So, does that make Obama part of the problem? How can someone play into this system, and purport themselves as an agent of change? The answer lies in the solution. As a junior Senator, Obama has had virtually no chance whatsoever to affect any standing traditional protocol (although I love his work with Senator Lugar (R-Indiana) including S. 2446, The American Fuels Act of 2006). Power comes with seniority and influence. As President, however, he yields, theoretically, one third of the power divested in our government by The Constitution. Congrssional influence is peddled by lobbyists and exchanged for votes. Seniority = influence = votes = managing the state of the Senate.

Put another way, it is no small coincidence that Senator McCain's campaign is staffed by telecom and NRA lobbyists, and his top adviser is a lobbyist for Chevron, Texaco, Phillip Morris and Blackwater. He has been in the Senate over 20 years and has amassed a boat-load of support from huge international and national concerns that now support him, comfortable he will die on the sword if elected. Or did they put him in the candidacy for his good looks, exceptional public speaking skill, and overall charm? I digress.

If either candidate had any chance, if so inclined, to fix the system espoused as so "broken" by Senator McCain, it was Senator McCain himself. He can point fingers with great aplomb, but only because he knows (as counseled by Karl Rove to Republicans across the nation) that the public doesn't understand how things work, and the first candidate that tries to explain it to them is seen as an aloof intellectual, out of touch with the American people. How 'bout them Cowboys!!!

So, the answer is complex, yet simple. the only thing that can save the nation is a voter eligibility test. If we test people applying for citizenship on the basic civics of our great country, why wouldn't we qualify those selecting its leaders? It doesn't have to be complex, and, speaking as a former director of training, testing can be educational. I guess to sum it up, isn't a privilege worth earning? If not, the sound byte-sters will continue to corrupt the core of this country with fear, grade-school finger-pointing, and misinformation. Go team.