Let's be honest here. We all know our candidate's strengths--and we know his faults. I won't bother to list the former. But over-thinking debate questions certainly can be listed with the latter. Our candidate is outstandingly intelligent. But sometimes he may need a little help with "bumper sticker" succinctness!
But for this week's debate he really needs a couple of zingers--something polite, respectful, and memorable.
Like...
Quayle: "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency."
Bentsen: "I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
Or
Gore: "George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise."
Or in the 1984 Primary:
Mondale: "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef?' "
So in the interest of spicing up the Saturday evenings of those who are so footsore from canvassing or ear-weary from phone banking that they can't do much else, grab your favorite beverage and suggest a few one-liners for our candidate. I'll start:
Senator McCain, I won't distract this audience with stories of people who committed crimes when you were eight years old.
(Of course, there were probably many since the FBI scared the populace with a prediction of a major crime wave in 1944.)
Or perhaps:
Senator McCain, we all make mistakes. I forgot what anniversary year this was. Within a few hours of the debate, you fixed a "typo" on your website skewing your mortgage plan tens of billions of dollars in favor of the banking industry.
Think of a good quote--no nastiness allowed. And just for fun, let's see how many readers already voted.