Subplot Kudzu

Any of my friends in the Great White North want to comment on the apparent upset of the tories I'm hearing things about today? You can comment on your own blogs, but I want the local skinny.

Well, that's over. I am working on a larger, Kermit the Frog themed response to the while thing, but I do have a couple of initial thoughts.

One, I am glad that the winner won by a larger enough margin that there is no legitimate cause for complaints - no one "stole the election", no crtitical post election day recounts (yes, we're likely to see them in Missouri and North Carolina, but their outcomes will not change the electoral vote decision one way or the other).

Second, I am very glad that my fellow Commuters (that's the group term for people from Connecticut, dontchaknow) voted down opening up a constitutional convention. The issues that people were pushing as being so critical that they needed a convention just weren't that critical. I don't want to see our state go the way of California with open ballot initiatives. What other people do with their love lives and life-partner decisions makes no difference to me.

If people really want to separate the releigious sacrament of marrage from the legal definition of Civil Union I expect them to also argue that their religious sacraments have no legal bearing whatsoever. If you want our politics out of your sacrament, I want your sacament out of our politics. Hence  everyone who was married in a religious insititution should lose their tax benefits, ability to make medical decisions for their religious spouse and so on. I think that would leave kriz1818  & mapmakr , ashacat  & netcurmudgeon  and the Fullers as the only people I know with special legal standing for cohabitation & decision-making. The rest of us would have to go back out and find a justice of the peace, and likely pay some back taxes.

On a similar note, I am saddened that Prop 8 passed in California. I am heartened that demographically speaking the tide is turning towards. In another generation I suspect it just won't matter anymore. Until then, you have my solidarity.

I'm probably going to segue this into other political natter starting tomorrow, but I do want to put forward one thing I think political parties need to do to restore some sense of trust.

( Thet have to publically own or disown their outliers.  )

I'm not great at Player vs. Player video games, in part because I don't spend the time mastering the rules the way you have to if you want to be a good player. People can tell me to do things, and explain why they work, but I always get the timing wrong and, as a result, get my ass handed to me. That doesn't make those rules unfair, but it does show that I'm better served when I stick to a few simple moves and repeat them. I'll still lose, but at least I'm not standing there holding my ass wondering what happened.

I mention this as a prelude to thoughts on last night's debate. Prior to the debate I read this article on Slate which discusses how Bill Clinton scored such a big win in the 1990's debates. The answer? Clinton figured out the up up left down move that none of his opponents even thought of: the rules of the debates forbade split screen shots to show other candidates reactions while one candidate was talking. But, this being a supposedly free-roaming town hall, the candidates were allowed to move around the stage. Clinton's team worked out where the cameras would be, built a fake stage and blocked out where old Billy would have to stand to always be in the shot when someone else was talking. This gave him the effect of the split screen and reaction shots without violating the rules and let him dominate the screen time. End result? Bush (and later Dole) got his ass handed to him. (Perot, being a ferengi, actually has a 4 lobed ass and is immune to such assaults. But I digress....)

Based on last night's debate, it sure sounds like someone explained the up up left down move to McCain and he tried to use it. However, he didn't practice enough and, being 72, lacks the physical grace and charisma that made the tactic appear so effortless in the 90s: I have read a half dozen comments this morning on various blogs wondering why McCain was stumping around the stage and in the background of every shot. Was he lost? looking for the bathroom? didn't he realize he shouldn't look for a physical comparison to the younger, lither more physically charismatic Obama? what?

I suspect the final verdict of history will be that he was wandering around trying to figure where this ass in his hand came from.