Saturday, October 18, 2008

On Being Presidential

Thursday night at the Alfred E. Smith Charity Dinner the presidential candidates for one evening laid aside incivility and became human. Both men were funny, self-deprecating and yes, likable. They traded jabs, but in good fun; and for a few brief moments, each seemed to be the sort of person one would like to have as a dinner guest in his own home.

But Friday it was back to the harsh reality of nasty personal attacks that seem to have become the standard of political discourse, making even their performances of the previous evening nothing more than lies.

Promises of bread and prosperity along with the daily proffering of circus-like spectacles will inevitably cloud the judgment of the electorate. Thus, for the candidates, Mission Accomplished.

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