Debate Talk

Sorry for the delay, everyone:

Whether you love, hate, or have no general opinion of Vice President Biden you have to admit that he made for some exciting television last week. Where the second banana debate is just that, this meeting of the minds was somewhat compelling.  However, where Biden was animated Paul Ryan was direct and caustic. Even though conservative pundits praised Ryan for keeping his cool, his lack of specificity in explaining the campaign's economic platform made me very wary.

As for the second presidential debate, I found President Obama's performance to be much stronger than it was the first time around, and the incumbent and challenger almost fought to a draw. Gov. Romney's "binder full of women" remark was pretty awkward, and it probably would've blown by if women's rights weren't a crucial issue in this year's election. My only question is, was this narrow victory too little too late for our 44th president? At least one guy thought so.

One last, completely unrelated note: the weekend before last, I made my annual sojourn to Normal, IL for homecoming. Since I graduated nearly five years ago the area has changed dramatically; the "Uptown" area east of ISU's campus is almost unrecognizable from six or seven years ago. While having a beer with my ex-roommate at one of the new restaurants in town, I stepped away to use the restroom. As I waited to use one of the stalls, I watched six or seven guys in a row walk up the urinal, do their business, than walk out without washing their hands. After I did my business, another guy at the urinal threw a beer bottle on the floor and threatened to fight me. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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