Countdown to Wednesday's Debate

Political junkies like me have begun counting down to Wednesday night.  Mr. Romney’s debate prep team has been feeding him “zingers” to memorize.  He’s been rehearsing with Rob Portman playing the role of Obama.  President Obama has Sen. John Kerry pretending to be Romney.  Both stand-ins must be turning themselves into pretzels trying to get into the head of  men so totally different from themselves. 

It bothers me a little that Mr. Romney has to memorize zingers.  I can see being prepped for probable questions and advised on body language and possible pitfalls to avoid.   But that he has to rely on clever, memorized lines for responses to questions tells me he can’t be counted on to think on his feet.  Or it would tell me that if I hadn’t realized that from seeing him interviewed a number of times.  So, probably that’s why the memorization.

Quick thinking (with answers that are true, accurate, and not a terrible diplomatic gaff) is something I like seeing in a world leader, especially our President.   Ohhhhh, yes, there was Mr. Romney’s unforced diplomatic error in London the day before the Olympics, remember?  Mr. Romney told Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News he didn’t know whether our longtime greatest ally was prepared to host the games!  That insult angered London’s mayor, major government officials, and most likely every Brit on the planet.  So, maybe that’s why the Romney team went for memorization.  Wonder if he’ll borrow Sarah Palin’s interview strategy and write key words on his hand?

The one time I’ve heard Mitt Romney sound comfortable in his own skin and speaking words that seemed to come from a true and honest place inside him was at that $50,000 (or was it $150,000?) a plate fundraiser, remember?  He felt at home in that elegant mansion, relaxed enough among his own kind to say what he really thinks of “47%” of the people in our Country.   Ever since the video became public, Mr. Romney and his surrogates have said that Mr. Romney was “inarticulate” when he said what we heard him say in the video.  No, no, no.  He was not inarticulate. In fact, that was the most articulate Mitt we’ve ever heard. We got to see the real Romney.  Behind those beautiful doors that night he was being the man he really is—instead of the candidate the hard right/Tea Party base has bullied him into pretending to be.  Whatever he was that night, it was NOT inarticulate.  Forgive me for rambling off-topic here.  I will move back toward topical relevance.

The President’s people (I hear and I hope) are advising him to keep his answers out of the rambling zone; we do know this professorial Prez likes to teach his audience.  He explains things, sometimes far more than listeners' attention spans will tolerate.   I hope he’ll be able to keep  responses crisp and to the point.  For President Obama, keeping it brief in a forum without time limits would be for me like being offered everything I’d like from a to-die-for dessert cart, knowing if I give in to the temptation, it’s likely to cause problems (allergic reaction) later. 

The President’s ability to cozy up with brevity will be one of the suspense factors for me Wednesday night.  Brevity is something I struggle with, as well.  And I'll be waiting for Mr. Romney to match one of his memorized zingers to the wrong question.  It will be the Academy Awards combined with Christmas mornings for me.  Total junkie.

Tick tock.