Every presidential debate this season—there have been more than 40 and counting—I hope the subject matter will focus on some of the more important issues (not just ones leading the polls) while asking candidates questions they haven’t addressed before.
Before last night’s debate between the Democratic candidates broadcasted from the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, I was sure moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos would do something different and avoid well-trodden issues while also focusing on substance over style—as I said after the last debate held in Ohio, and similar to the refrain of long-suffering Brooklyn Dodgers fans of the 40's and 50's: Wait till next time. But, I was wrong again.
The first half of last night’s two-hour debate seemed more like a 527 ad in October. Focusing on Senator Clinton’s trip to Bosnia and Senator Obama’s relationship to his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, it was a rehash of old news. Both subjects have been talked about to death. The debate questions were more relevant in the second hour, covering pledges to withdraw from Iraq, taxes, handguns and affirmative action and college applicants.
I think of what could have been during the first hour had the moderators chose to ask questions that haven’t been addressed before—maybe about the recently released, previously classified “torture memo,” yet another smoking gun proving that the president’s advisors have justified perverting Constitutional checks and balances in the interest of national security resulting in the monarchial presidency. Or, that two million homes secured by subprime loans will go into foreclosure by 2009 and that minorities were far likelier to get higher-cost loans.
I, for one, hope that yesterday’s debate was akin to the ending of the Dodgers’ 1953 season when the Yankees’ Billy Martin hit the game-winning run in the bottom on the ninth to win game six and the World Series.
I’ll wait till the next debate in North Carolina. Though CBS has yet to confirm the debate, it could be 1955 for us fans of unasked crucial debate questions go.