The Days of Yore

When I was younger I remember hearing stories about great conflicts between mysical men called "Statesmen". Older folk would tell of these meetings, where two opponents would meet, questions asked, and answers (real ones!) given! These men would discuss something called policy, attack each others ideas based on evidence and something known as the "greater good". These debates, I'm told, were listened to by Americans the nation over and oftentimes, these Americans, would listen to the policies, discuss the policies, and then vote based on policies! These "Statesmen" didn't dodge questions just to talk about how great they are and how the opponent was terrible. They had something akin to "respect" for one another. What that was doing in politics I couldn't tell you.

I often wondered what this would look like, a debate where candidates focused on the issues and answered the questions using facts and logic. Thankfully, this myth was nearly attained the other night when Obama and McCain held their first presidential debate. Dont misunderstand me, they still stooped from time to time back into the traditional slandering, talking points, "I love children and my opponent hates children" format of the past. But largely the two answered questions, rebutted points with facts and logic, and really made the debate a class act.

Thank you candidates!