[Marxism] No Debate, by Ralph Nader

[Greg McDonald]

Published on Saturday, February 2, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

No Debate

by Ralph Nader

It was billed as the great debate that, in the words of moderator  
Wolf Blitzer, “could change the course of this presidential race and  
the nation.”
Situated at the packed historic Kodak Theatre-site of the Hollywood  
Oscar awards, thousands of people, including anti-war protestors,  
were outside, where tickets were being scalped for $1,000.

The burgeoning excitement swept up Mr. Blitzer into an introduction  
reminiscent of a heavyweight boxing title fight. Referring to the  
“glamour on this stage…one of the great stages of all time,” he  
declared that “this will be the first time that Hillary Clinton and  
Barack Obama will be debating face to face, just the two of them, one- 
on-one.” The crowd ROARED!

When it was over two hours later, here is how the reporters, not the  
columnists, of the New York Times described the showdown: “Senators  
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama sat side by side here  
Thursday, sharing a night of smiles, friendly eye-catching and gentle  
banter…It was almost as if the battle was to see which of them could  
outnice the other.”

Since neither scored a knockout, a knockdown, and neither stumbled,  
the audience left without many feeling the pain of their champion  
being bested. Even the Times’ critic, Alessandra Stanley, she of the  
usual barbed pen, could only marvel at the smooth harmony ideology  
both candidates decided to adopt. She wrote: “They let their eyes  
make nice…As they stood in front of the audience before the debate,  
Mr. Obama leaned down to Mrs. Clinton and whispered a few words in  
her ear, as if continuing the fun chat they had just shared backstage.”

The two candidates were unperturbed by any questions from the  
reporters that they had not answered before or they were soft balls  
they could hit out of the ball park.

As in all debates involving presidential candidates, the reporters  
were unwilling or incapable of asking the unconvential questions  
reflecting situations and conditions widely reported or investigated  
by their own colleagues.

This phenomenon of invincible reluctance should be studied by  
anthropologists or psychologists. Examples follow:

Full: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/02/6801/print/