And we only have one television. My wife, a reliable Democrat, is scared to jinx the debate by watching it. We were in BJ's Wholesale the other day watching football on a big screen for sale and the Atlanta Falcons had gotten behind the Raiders with only 40 seconds left.
"C'mon," she said. "Let's go." Because she thought that if we watched the last 40 seconds of that game, the Falcons would lose, and she'd be to blame.
We left and walked into a yogurt place about 30 minutes later. The kid behind the counter was wearing a Falcons jersey. I said, "The Falcons lost, right?" He said, "No they won! Kicked a 55 yard field goal!" With that kick, the Falcons are the only undefeated team in the NFL.
I'm trying to find a way to convince, or trick her, into watching the debate. We commute together and are leaving work in about an hour. I can't talk about it on the way home. Hmmm. Maybe a collegue at work mentioned the debate and she'll feel obligated to watch it now. I can't get her to do anything, but if someone mentions it at work, then that person's word is golden. It might even be some suggestion I had said before that she rejected. If someone at work suggests the same thing two weeks later, she thinks it's gospel and why didn't I think of it?
Here's the thing. I don't especially like the town hall concept unless the Rethug on stage messes up. But...how am I gonna know if Romney messes up? He didn't really have any 'zingers' in the first debate. He just talked and looked sincere and lied his ass off.
My wife and I, matter of fact, watched that first debate and thought President Obama won because Romney lied. You can't lie and win a debate! But...I've been thinking about these zingers Romney still has in his hip pocket. Maybe he'll send a few of those zingers out to the audience, perhaps even one-on-one.
Such as, Romney to a gentle lady in the audience: "May I call you Miriam? Miriam, now I was wondering just now looking at you, before I answer your question: You voted for Obama last time, didn't you? You're really not undecided, admit it!"
Or, Romney: "Candy, may I call you Candace? And you can call me Willard?" There has to be some snide remark, glance, smirk, shit-faced lie, punk-fleeced, pin-headed comment Romney's gonna make. And I hope it's early. And I can sense it reading the live-blogging here, and then turn up the volume on our TV!
Nope. My wife will have us hiding out at T.J. Maxx or something. We'll go out for a late dinner possibly. But if we stay at home, the TV has to come on. She bought me an Ipad for my birthday and I can watch it there, maybe. Not really the same thing.
I can flip channels if the TV is on. I can catch snippets.
These are undecided voters. There are going to be some real people exchanges in that auditorium. I heard yesterday that Romney's experience with town halls this year was with a scripted audience. Or screened audience. Or, really, a friendly audience. Not so tonight, huh?
I want to hear Romney explain to an undecided voter, not President Obama, about what he meant by the 47%. I want to hear Romney explain to an undecided voter why his tax reductions for the wealthy are at the expense of everyone else. I want Romney to explain to an undecided voter why he can't release his damn tax returns back more than two years. I want to hear Romney explain to an undecided voter why his presidency would be better for women. He can't do it.
Speaking of that, I heard today that the Romney campaign is "going after" the women vote with new ads. This is too funny. All he's gonna do with this is piss women off more by reminding them what a crass ass he is.
I don't blame the President for the last debate outcome. I couldn't stand to look at Romney either. It's very possible that some of those undecideds will feel the same thing. If only I could convince my spouse that watching the debate is a helpful group excercise. We might not see any red meat out there like Biden delivered. We might, just might, see Romney take a fall or two, maybe confuse some real people out there, perhaps change a million votes in our favor through election day. But I wish I could watch it...live.