Thursday, September 30, 2004

A big night for politiphiles...

Is that even a word? So tonight's the night--Bush and Kerry will finally go head-to-head. It's less about debating the points, and more about seeing who looks better now that we can finally see them side by side. My republican friend (yeah, I have one, I know...) insists that he has to watch the debates alone. I'm guessing he just doesn't want to deal with me chuckling every time Bush makes up a silly word or screws up his subject/verb agreement. My politically ambivalent friends are just pissy that ER is being pre-empted. As for me? I'm kind of excited about tonight, even though I know that a lot of minds are already made up and the debates aren't too important to most Americans. I want to see how my boy will do in the big leagues. If he blows it tonight, we're in real trouble, especially in Ohio. It's amazing. Living in Texas, I saw a grand total of two different political ads, both by Bush, both on MSNBC during primetime. Here in Ohio, you can't watch a primetime television show without seeing at least five to six different mudslinging video clips. This is ground zero for the presidential race--it's not a cliche, it's the truth. An invisible line runs through this state, dividing the urbanites and the rural families, the southern Ohioans who still fly Confederate flags and the ones up here, who consider themselves part of the northeast. Every vote counts. And for a few people, tonight might tip the scales one way or the other.

If you're watching tonight and you're not too sure what to be looking for in terms of strategy (I'm no political analyst, so I could definitely use some help here), MSNBC contributor Howard Fineman has put together a fairly non-biased, easy-to-understand checklist of important things each candidate needs to achieve tonight in order to come out on top. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to keeping score. Are we on the verge of real change in this country? Or will things just stay the same? I think the answer depends on a lot more than who wins on 11/2, but it's an exciting time to be a voter. Just don't blow it, Kerry....
-Peacegrrl

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