Debate Predictions

I'd like to make a few predictions about tomorrow night's Presidential Debate.

1. George W. Bush will only deviate from established sound bytes/talking points long enough to steer whatever question into one of his sound bytes/talking points.

2. John Kerry will go over the time limit more explaining his positions.

3. It's a 90-minute debate, so that should give time for at least five references to John Kerry's "flip flopping," though George W. Bush will not use that particular term.

4. Both candidates are going to claim they won, so long as no one projectile-vomits on the moderator.

5. We're not going to hear anything we haven't heard before.

Click here to read the Memorandum of Understanding outlining the debate specs. (pdf file)

The debate starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. Schedules indicate it will be carried live on C-Span 1, CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and MSNBC (apologies to anyone I left out). My personal preference is for C-Span.

Please, for the love of all things good and decent in this world, tune in for the debate and turn off the TV as soon as the second closing statement ends. Watch what the candidates have to say, then make up your own mind. I have the utmost confidence that Penguin Perspectives readers have the intellectual capacity to form your own opinions based on the evidence presented, without relying on the spin doctors and media talking heads.