Saturday, October 02, 2004

Debate Presidencial

Firstly, a confession:
I am not registered to vote. There's a number of factors to this one, all of which will be waved aside by women's rights groups or by my father, the lawyer. Let's just say it boils down to this: I'm living in a state where "liberal" is a dirty word, and there is a billboard on one of the main drags that says "Repent! Vote Republican!"
Yes, I am afraid of torch-wielding villagers.
And now, the story:
Although I am not registered to vote, I felt a need to watch the Presidential Debates. I watched them 4 years ago, when I did vote and it made no difference (I've got to move to a Democratic state). From watching the debates I have 2 observations.
Number 1: The candidates were much better behaved than they were during the Gore vs. Bush II debates. Anybody else remember all that eye-rolling and heavy sighing? I'm surprised that Gore didn't get offered a spot on a soap opera after the election was over, such was the caliber of his acting.
Number 2: Presidential Debates are much more entertaining when you watch them in a language you don't speak. After an hour of the debate in English, I switched to Telemundo (the fabulous all-Spanish channel). It's much easier to listen to the boys argue when you can't make out what it is they're saying due to the simultaneous translation that occurs. And I don't know about you, but I LOVE the translators' voices. They put me in mind of the dubbed-over black and white Japanese horror flicks that used to be such a staple of Saturday-afternoon television.
If you're looking for an entertaining mindless afternoon, tune to Telemundo when they're playing an American movie dubbed over in Spanish. The other day I caught the tail end of the Thomas Crown Affair, and Pierce Brosnon's dubbed voice was just too wonderful! It sounded like it was done by an actor who could crush Pierce in the palm of his hand.
In summary: Telemundo is good, Debates were better than the last time, I'm not registered to vote (sorry, Dad. Sorry, Ms. Cady Stanton and Ms. Anthony).

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