Answer the question please

Originally posted 09/29/2008
I watched the presidential debate the other night and found it somewhat frustrating. At this point in the campaigns the candidates have had ample opportunity to tell us who they are and who they claim their opponent is. The moderator is there trying to ask that perfect question that will tell us something new, something unexpected, something to sway those who still haven't decided. But that doesn't seem to be what the candidates want. If they had something else they wanted us to know they would have already thrown it out there in a 10-second sound bite or a 30-second TV ad.
So instead, we're left with this game of seeing which candidate can more deftly reframe the questions to fit their standard talking points. Since there's no real new substance in their answers we judge their performance on how presidential they acted. Did they get rattled? Did they rattle the other guy? It's really unfortunate because the moderator, Jim Lehrer, is a seasoned professional who asked some well-thought questions. The candidates had an opportunity to give us a deeper understanding of who they are. Apparently, neither felt it was worth the political risk. I guess maybe that tells us something about both of them after all.