Tuesday July 15, 2008 5:00 pm
The Election’s Not Over
After months of hard-core coverage, tons of big banner headlines and more primary elections than you can shake a stick at, suddenly the election news is quiet. Now that all the little battles are over (McCain vs. the world, Obama vs. Clinton, etc.), there is only one last war to wage.
And yet…no one seems to care.
The news has slowed almost to a trickle and the television coverage is slim at best. But there’s a whole lot more to do before the country takes to the polls on November 4, 2008. Namely, aren’t there supposed to be some Presidential debates coming up?
You Decide 2008
The most famous of all Presidential debates is arguably the Kennedy-Nixon speeches of 1960, the first televised debates in U.S. history. The tradition of letting Presidential hopefuls stand up against each other and argue is a long and honored one, however, beginning as early as 1858. Back then, a man named Lincoln squared off against Stephen Douglas (U.S. Senator) for a series of seven arguments held around Illinois. And though Lincoln did not appear on many southern ballots (not at all), he went on to win in November and write several chapters of history.
I look forward to the debates every four years. With only a thin veneer of respectability and civility to shield them, these would-be leaders step forward to light into each other and the issues, striving to get their points across and emerge as the best candidate of the bunch. How these politicians appear during debates dictates the entire outcome of the election. There is nothing more exciting.
So…why aren’t we watching any right now? For reasons unknown, none of the country’s political parties have stepped forward to schedule debates between Obama and McCain (the Democratic and Republic Presidential candidates, respectively). As it stands, the only possible debates in the till are those which were scheduled last year. All dates are subject to change.
September 26 is supposed to see the candidates in Mississippi to talk about domestic policy. The Vice Presidential candidates (as yet unknown) will follow on October 2 in St. Louis. A town hall-style debate is scheduled between the President hopefuls on October 7 in Nashville. Foreign policy is the topic for the October 15 debate in New York. Another debate is scheduled for September 18, but none of the candidates have ever agreed to participate in this event.
We may be now experiencing a summer lull as the candidates scope out possible running mates, refine their strategies and memorize all the appropriate talking points. But with the return of fall will come a return of the hard-core politics that have marked this year’s election - which could become the most famous in the history of the country.
And if you’re ready to hang it all up because you can’t get on board with Obama’s message of change or McCain’s advanced age, you can also cast your votes for another party. The Libertarian Party has put forth Congressman Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin has been named by the Constitution Party and the Green Party is behind Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ralph Nader is also running independently.
- Related Tags:
- 2008 presidential election, barack obama, debate, debates, election, elections, john mccain, mccain, november, obama, party, politics, presidential debate, presidential debates, ralph nader, sidefeatured, veep, vice president, votes
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yes, but a rather unusual area im interested in what they are doing with their money and the actions they take when a major event takes place
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I love politics -- it has such a lasting and widespread impact on our lives, and politics is the one arena where you can really express your opinion and stand up for what you believe in. For awhile I even considered political science as a possible major in college, but I opted against it for a more science degree. Politics is a great topic to debate too (which I love debating) as long as you keep it civil and respect the other persons opinions. Often there are no "wrong" opinions in politics, just different ways of approaching the same problem, so all of those in Congress should realize that they're all wanting the same solution, and they need to put aside their differences and work for the common good!
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lol i try not to get into debates, im too stubborn and ill deeply frustrate people XD anyway, is there any particular area of politics you guys are interested in?
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I don't go either, I like to keep up-to-date with politics as it's a pretty much everyday conversation that goes on about them. So I like to keep myself informed so I don't come off as an uneducated guy. However whether you like it or not, politics are like taxes and death. They will always be around..
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hehe your post made me think, sounds weird to say im interested even though i dont stay up to date but u cant really say ur interested in politics as a whole, because there are so many aspects to keep track of its like sports, usually ur interest in a particular one, or multiple but not every single one
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I sometimes am and sometimes i just don't give a crap,so i think im undecided.man i need to make up my mind.i don't want democrats to win though,i find them lazy (im lazy too,but its different).Dont know why.
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I personally do not like politics because I find it, yes, a tad confusing and boring. I think politics is important in our lives, but learning about it? Oh wow, I get totally zoned out and well, I end up not paying attention. So, you guys can all guess that I don't read the politics section in the newspaper. ;)
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Not really to much debating going on. People lie to get what they want to much drama for me. I really was never into politics. Democrat, Republican who really cares, I dont. To much of a big deal for me and I can live my life without it. You vote them in and they still make the same mistakes as others have in the past or do whatever they want and forget about the people so I dont pay any attention to them.
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well the way i see it, of course every pres will mess up somewhat because we have high standards but when you think about it, every decision to a 2 sided problem will be critisized by everyone send troops to iraq? were making war for no reason and families are getting killed dont send them? were not doing enough and practically letting terrorists do what they want with no consequences
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I actually don't like politics at all.There are obvious reasons for that.But not all country's political system is same.In our case, nearly everyone is corrupted. :(
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