The Blog of toussaint

When i started watching the debate, i expected more of the same one line sound bites that we are all used to that don't help us figure out where these people stand.  i must say i was pleasantly surprised.  Keith O actually let them mix it up a bit so that they could answer back and forth like normal people talk, especially on the issue of Pakistan.  Of the three major candidates, i feel that Obama won in that he finally threw some punches and landed a few on political correctness and lobbyist money.  Hill held her own, like she always does, making sure not to go to far out on a limb.  Edwards on the other hand sounded like vanilla ice cream that has been in the freezer to long and has lost the little bit of flavor it started with.  He has been trying to get to the left of everyone, but standing next to Kuchinich he sounded boring.  It is also a shame that Joe Biden can't win because he sure knows his stuff. 

Having said all that, most of the candidates all agreed with each other on almost everything and spouted a lot of platitudes.  They all did it, some more than others. Here are a few i wrote down.

"I'm a union man; let's stop the race to the bottom; we are safer but not yet safe; put Americans back to work; this will be my highest priority; I will lead on this; this has fanned the flames of anti US sentiment;  lets fight on the right battlefield; let's help working families; we need a change; but lets not exchange one group of insiders for another; give the power back to the people; the system is broken/rigged; we need a new direction;  I will cut pork barrel spending and corporate welfare; we need broad reform; smart trade; fair trade that maximizes the benefit but minimize the impact; this is not just good for wall street but for main street; I am not a Washington insider; China is a strategic competitor; in Iraq we only have bad options and worse options; phased redeployment; we need to get out smarter than we got in; we should not engage in hypotheticals; (every one of the questions is a hypothetical!); we have to look at where we have been to see where we are going"

There were more but my hand got tired.  The reason why these are platitudes is that you can't really argue against them, yet you really don't know what the speaker means when they say them.  We need to put some meat on these very meager bones.  i hope very soon that half of the field drops out so we will have the time to make these people tell us what the really mean.  Somehow i doubt this will happen because the front runners like it just the way it is, most of all Hill and Obama.  They don't really have to dig that deep and they can continue their platitudes and popularity contest.