Presidential Faceoff Is Debatable

At my house, watching a presidential debate ranks right up there with the season finale of American Idol. Before the show got started, I made myself a little snack, homemade guac and ginger ale, and I settled on the couch with my laptop so that I could take notes and follow tweets of celebs like Anderson Cooper and comedian Sandra Bernhard. Even though my daughter was yelling at me from upstairs to blow dry her hair for school tomorrow, I was too mesmerized by the lines on the bottom of my television screen that looked like the EKG of a deceased person. It was actually a play-by-play interpretation of the viewer’s reaction to the speeches. I should have known this debate would fall flat.

Let’s face it, sometimes the anticipation of a big event is greater than the moment itself, and tonight’s political face off was one of those letdowns. I mean, the build up reminded me of a red carpet pre show on E!, and I was even expecting Ryan Seacrest to interview Ann Romney and the first lady backstage.

By the way, I loved their advice to their husbands before the candidates took the stage.

Ann: “Trust your own gut.”

Michelle: “Have fun, relax, and be yourself.”

Sure, easy for them to say.

Anyway, the debate started off interestingly enough when the president wished his “sweetie” a happy twentieth wedding anniversary and told her, “One year from now we won’t be celebrating with 20 million people watching.” Even Mitt Romney felt obligated to extend congratulations to his opponent.

After those niceties, I thought I would witness a real showdown, but neither candidate hardly made eye contact and both smirked at each other’s comments. Surprisingly, the Republican nominee blew away many viewers with his obvious preparedness and specifics about an economic recovery plan that included a $5 trillion tax cut. Personally, I thought he came across rude and disrespectful to nice guy moderator Jim Lehrer, a seasoned journalist who has hosted this gig for 12 years. Meanwhile, President Obama looked half asleep with his eyes closed (he was actually looking down while writing notes to himself, I hope) and didn’t bring much new to the table even though his educational incentives that include the “Race to the Top” program always impresses.  One thing that kept me busy was when I tried to count how many times the candidates blinked their eyes per minute because a study shows that excessive blinking is a sign of nervousness and usually indicates who loses the election.

Finally, I was expecting some real zingers, quotable one-liners that usually highlight these 90-minute showdowns other than Romney’s rant about how he “loves Big Bird.”

What were your memorable moments of the debate?