I care about politics. Okay, maybe I don’t care about the murky concept known as politics, but I care about the results. I care about who is elected and the policies they support or oppose. I care about how my city, country and state are run. Heck, I even used to work in Washington, D.C. for a federal agency. I’ve written congressional testimony. I am not apathetic. I am not uninformed. Yet I did not watch the first 2012 presidential debate.
I’ll admit that part of my avoidance was due to sheer exhaustion. This campaign season has felt long. I know who I’m voting for, so I’m tired of all the ugly back and forth. Let’s pick a president already!
However, there is another reason that I didn’t feel a great need to watch the debate: I know it will be spoonfed to me afterward. Between social media, news media and blogs I will learn all the gaffes and gotchas. I will learn about any significant policy revelations (probably few). I will hear about any tics or tells the candidates had when listening to their opponent. No, I won’t just hear these things. I will see these things in links to the best clips. If it turns out that I truly missed an amazing debate I’m sure I can watch the whole darn thing online.
Of course, I did peek at Twitter a few times during the course of the debate, but it was hard to tell what was really happening amidst all the smart-assery. (I think everyone was drunk.)
Did you watch the debate What did I miss? Did Gary Johnson win?
UPDATE: A lot of people have found this post when searching for a link to the video of the full debate. You can watch it here. You’re welcome.
Kim Z. Dale 