Presidential & VP candidate debates

I saw a comment recently about Biden losing the VP candidates' debate due to his bizarre aggressive behavior, and how Obama 'lost' the first presidential debate "because he didn't interrupt Romney enough."  So I assumed the commenter was saying the “winner” is the candidate who interrupts the most.  The companion assertion is:  no interruptions at all is deemed to be bad. 

That doesn’t sound like a winning strategy to me.  In viewing the debates I didn’t give ‘points’ for interrupting, but what was said and how.  Indeed, I’d say a whole set of different characteristics were used by viewers to evaluate the candidates:  Confidence, thoughtfulness, being forthright, strength of conviction (but not arrogant,) and certainly intelligence.  Biden was one or two of those.  Ryan hit on all of them.

On the other hand, I think the deficiency on the part of the president's performance was passion in his answers/responses.  He doesn’t need to be hostile or uncivil to be effective, just positive, persuasive, ardent, and still factual.  

When someone refers to the constant interruptions by Biden (numbering 82 at one count) and says “Both parties do it," then I have to ask for an example of that behavior by a Republican candidate.  I can’t recall such boorish hectoring on the part of any GOPer, though it’s certainly possible if intemperate passion overrides civility for a brief moment, and it could be said the debates during the GOP primaries were heated.  Biden made it a practice for 90 minutes.  Also, as someone has said, “pointing to bad behavior doesn't excuse other bad behavior.”  

If there is an example of disrespectful behavior on the part of a Republican candidate, I will promptly condemn it, for what that is worth.  Perhaps Romney was interrupting Obama?  Not that I recall as significant, so was the commenter, above, asserting that Ryan laughed rudely during Biden's presentations?  Certainly not.  Speaking of which, did anyone think viewers were laughing along with the VP?  I really doubt it.  However, the Democrat base probably was thrilled about the "designated pit bull" for their party going after Ryan and challenging him viscerally; though most viewers were appalled.

No, the president also “lost” on substance, not just style, although the latter brought the most comments.  He did look listless and almost, I’d say, aloof.  As I write this on Sunday, October 14, here is a prediction:  Look for Mr. Obama at Tuesday’s debate (town hall format) to come on like gangbusters, double down on the VP's disgraceful performance in terms of hostility and discourtesy, and further erode his standing with all-important independents (now at 55-45 deficit.) 

In terms of polls, states are slowly turning "pink."  FL, VA and NC have moved from toss-up to "lean Romney."  PA, MI and MI are moving from the Democrat column to toss-up status.  CA moved 8 points toward Romney.  (Granted, he’s still down 22 points – hey, it’s LA-LA land – but that movement is nationwide.  

Bob Woodward on Fox News Sunday today said, 

     “Everyone has been kicking around this question, ‘Are you better off now than 4 yrs ago?’  But the question people want answered is ‘How are you going to make me better off in the next year, in the next 4 years?’  If you really look at the details, neither campaign has answered that sufficiently.”  

     That was a good point, but it’s the wrong question because I don’t think "the government can make me better off.”  If the government gets out of the way then businesses and individuals can do better on their own.  So the question should be, “How will your administration improve the business climate, ease regulations, and encourage businesses to hire."

Government can't create jobs, only businesses can do that, and they will do so when the economy expands so demand increases for a particular service/product of a respective business.  

Congressional Progressives vs. CP-USA

Congressman Allen West said he believed there were 78-81 members of the Communist Party in Congress by which he meant the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/04/allen-west-says-many-dems-in-congress-are-communists.html

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/04/allen-west-says-many-dems-in-congress-are-co

Here's proof.  Which of these are verbatim items from the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ platform and which are from the Communist Party USA’s platform?  Too hard to tell because they are virtually identical!

1. Uphold the right to universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all.
2. Provide a health care system that is comprehensive and free with guaranteed access to quality care whenever needed.
3. Preserve guaranteed Social Security benefits for all Americans, protect private pensions, and require corporate accountability.
4. Increase Social Security benefits and COLAs, expand housing programs for low-income seniors, provide social support for culture accessible to all, acknowledge the contributions that seniors have made and continue to make to society.
5. Preserve prudent public interest regulations that encourage sustainable growth and investment, ensure energy diversity and system reliability, protect workers and the environment, reward consumer conservation, and support an expanding marketplace that rewards the commercialization of energy-efficient technologies
6. Create a sustainable economy that takes priority over profits.
7. Ensure working families can live above the poverty line and with dignity by raising and indexing the minimum wage.
8. Increase minimum wage.
9. Extend the Voting Rights Act and reform our electoral processes.
10. Demand people’s right to full participation in the decisions which affect their lives.
11. Bring U. S. troops home from Iraq as soon as possible.
12. A two-state solution and an end to the occupation of the Palestinian Arab lands.
13. Re-build U.S. alliances around the world, restore international respect for American power and influence, and reaffirm our nation’s constructive engagement in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
14. Foreign policy will be based on mutual respect, peace, and solidarity.
15. Enhance international cooperation to reduce the threats posed by nuclear proliferation and weapons of mass destruction.
16. U.S. policies threaten not only world peace but increasingly threaten the very existence of humanity. The most egregious examples are the U.S. imperialist invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
17. Increase efforts to combat hunger and the scourge of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases.
18. Recognize that the internationalization of economic and social life means that social problems anywhere in the world impact all countries, including the richest ones
19. The U.S. Constitution, as originally written, placed many restrictions on democracy, so from the time of the country’s founding there has been a continual battle to extend democracy -- from demanding that the Bill of Rights be included in the Constitution to legal battles to ensure that all people have inalienable rights, from eliminating property requirements for voting to outlawing poll taxes, from not only freeing the slaves but enrolling them as voters to extending the franchise to women, from the Voting Rights Act to lowering the voting age.
20. Invest in America and create new jobs in the U.S. by building more affordable housing, re-building America’s schools and physical infrastructure, cleaning up our environment, and improving homeland security.
21. Sunset expiring provisions of the Patriot Act and bring remaining provisions into line with the U. S. Constitution.
22. Export more American products and not more American jobs and demand fair trade.
23. Reaffirm freedom of association and enforce the right to organize.
24. Protect the personal privacy of all Americans from unbridled police powers and unchecked government intrusion.
25. Fight corporate consolidation of the media and ensure opportunity for all voices to be heard.
26. Ensure enforcement of all legal rights in the workplace.
27. Eliminate all forms of discrimination based upon color, race, religion, gender, creed, disability, or sexual orientation.
28. Honor and help our overburdened international public servants – both military and civilian.
29. Encourage debt relief for poor countries and support efforts to reach the UN’s Millennium Goals for Developing Countries.
30. Free ourselves and our economy from dependence upon imported oil and shift to growing reliance upon renewable energy supplies and technologies, thus creating at least three million new jobs, cleansing our environment, and enhancing our nation’s security.
31. Promote environmental justice in affirmation that all people have an inherent right to a healthy environment, clean air, and clean water wherever we live, work, and relax.
32. Change incentives in federal tax, procurement, and appropriation policies to:
33. Speed commercialization of solar, biomass, and wind power generation, while encouraging state and local policy innovation to link clean energy and job creation;
34. Convert domestic assembly lines to manufacture highly efficient vehicles, enhance global competitiveness of U.S. auto industry, and expand consumer choice;
35. Increase investment in construction of “green buildings” and more energy-efficient homes and workplaces;
36. Link higher energy efficiency standards in appliances to consumer and manufacturing incentives that increase demand for new durable goods and increase investment in U.S. factories;
37. Eliminate environmental threat posed by global warming and ensuring that America does our part to advance an effective global problem-solving approach.
38. Expand energy-efficient transportation choices by increasing investment in synthesized networks, including bicycle, local bus and rail transit, regional high-speed rail and magnetic levitation rail projects.