Was Twenty Too Many?

Yes, I too watched last night's MSNBC Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate from Ohio but I was in no rush to write about it. There was very little to discuss. In fact, in you didn't watch the debate you didn't miss much. And if you did watch the debate you may be asking yourself the question -- are twenty debates just too many?

Of course, there were the standard general questions about Healthcare, NAFTA, who's playing naughty and, Iraq. Tim Russert even tried to spice up the night, without success I am happy to say, by asking a question about controversial Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan's comments about Senator Barack Obama. That pretty much sums it up.

What was most notable about the event were the questions that weren't asked. There were no direct questions on the US budget deficit, the weak US dollar, home foreclosures, the credit crunch, skyrocketing oil costs, the aging power grid, food safety, impending water shortages, the privatization of US utilities and highways, illegal immigration, education, securing US borders, domestic spying, you know, all of the other issues that the next President will have to address.
Some of this issues received a casual reference but most received no mention at all.

Today, the mainstream political pundits will have fun discussing whether " Hillary did what she had to do" or "whether Barack faltered" but most Americans won't learn anything new about the candidates or their qualifications. Maybe that's the point. When debates are promoted as if they are prize fights haven't they become more infotainment than information.

After all, if you're really interested in the candidate's views you can always go to their websites, check their voting records or research the issues yourself.