What I Learned From The First Presidential Debate

1. ...

...
...
[*crickets*]

Perhaps I need to take a different approach to this.

When I settled in to watch last night (well, "settled" is putting it strongly), I thought, "Hey, this is something you should write about. You know, like every other blogger out there."

But the truth of the matter is ... I don't want to disseminate the answers that were given. Partially because very few actual answers were given -- but also because let's face it, there are plenty of opinion pieces out there. I don't need to add to that noise.

That got me to thinking, though. I did have some observations.

1. I am not a Republican.

2. I am not a Democrat.

At least, I'm certainly not a party-line person for either crowd. The viewpoints I heard last night didn't win me over for either side. Given that ours is a stalwart two-party system at the moment, I find my lack of identity (and representation) incredibly frustrating.

None of that was truly new, but the polarization was irritating.

3. There are those who prepare well for debates and those who do not. Like it or not, Mr. Trump wasn't prepared for whole thing -- maybe he had the talking points, but he didn't have the patience for the full ninety minutes. (Or should I say the stamina?) I find that worrisome. Ninety minutes isn't very long.

4. I'm not sure Secretary Clinton takes her opponent as seriously as she should. (This is based solely on body language and tone, mind you.) That is also worrisome.

5. Apparently, I get annoyed when people don't follow debate protocol.

6. Are there people watching the crowd to make sure the audience stays quiet? What happens if you react too loudly?

7. Mid-debate hyperbole is a bad idea.

8. Chinese food and wine goes really well with a Presidential debate.

9. This is a rare time where football can help a person's blood pressure stay down. Thank you, MNF, for airing at the same time.

10. The election season is now in full force. I've gotten fifteen phone calls just today on my landline. There are entire weeks where I don't get that many.

11. The more I see of these two yahoos, the more I want to see Governor Johnson on stage as well. At this point, as much because I like the guy as to mix things up a bit.

12. FiveThirtyEight helps me stay sane. When in doubt, statistics.

13. October is gonna be a mess.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

?

The confusion continues. Tuesdays seem to be the days for odd discoveries. Hmmm ... Much stress. Big presentation for work tomorrow. I'm downright scared right now, but that's probably mostly due to the fact that I have NO IDEA what to expect. On the bright side, in 24 hours, it'll all be over. Thank goodness. Then there are just papers left, but papers I can handle. And a presentation for senior design, but that's a group thing. Ten days and it's just finals week. I like finals week. Things are oddly easier during finals week.
Read more

The Ashley Files: The Gerbil Story

I'm not totally sure what spurred this memory, but this is a story that needs to be told. Over the years, I've had a lot of random jobs. It started when I was young and glued pictures for bridge reports (my family's version of "working with the family business). I had a job at Subway one summer (easily my least-favorite job), was a bridge inspection field technician with the family business, worked in a church camp kitchen, and was a lab assistant. The summer I started this blog, I was working at the school's day care. It was my second summer there. The job was certainly not what I was hoping to do the rest of my life -- but for a nineteen-year-old it was decent money and okay hours. And hey, a couple times a week I got to hang out at the pool and get paid for it. Not a bad gig. [My dad also referred to it as the "world's best birth control" and he may have been right.] I don't remember a lot of the ins and outs of that summer -- most
Read more

2019 Year In Review

It was awful. Fine. It wasn’t all bad. I have a niece now. My job is pretty awesome. I like my residence fine. I … avoided all parking tickets? But wow, was there a lot of garbage in the meantime. An unexpected funeral for a friend who died decidedly too young. Family members in and out of (and back into) the hospital. And throughout the last third, the specter of cancer hanging over everything. While a part of me keeps saying, “There is no need to dwell on all the crap, Ashley,” the rest of me is almost too exhausted for optimism. 2020 has potential, yes. Buckets of potential. Oodles of it. 2020 is chaotic neutral staring us in the face. Switzerland with anger issues. Taunting us with its possibilities. RIP 2019. 2020... Please don't be a jerk.
Read more