With the big day suddenly just three weeks off, we all know how important tonight’s Obama-Romney II showdown is. Somehow this race, which seemed like a no-brainer just a month ago, now has folks eagerly hopeful on one side, and nervous as all get out on the other. And not even Joe Biden’s complete dishmentling of the hopelessly outclassed Paul Ryan has done much to stem the tide of concern over Obama’s uninspired performance in the first debate.
One after another, regardless of which channel you watched, the reviews echoed what we all saw. Obama seemed unprepared and aloof, Romney looked presidential and engaged. Obama was uneasy and slow to react to Romney’s attacks, while Romney seemed comfortable and in control throughout. A few commentators addressed the merits of each man’s arguments, but really that wasn’t what it was all about. It was about perception, and the image each candidate projected. The substance of what they said was at best secondary to the way they said it.
Long gone are the days when candidates presented their best, most logical arguments for our collective review. And it’s probably better that way, anyway. We’re not the society we used to be, so why should our leaders be like the leaders of old? We’ve all got way too many things filling our inbox and clogging our TiVo to take the time to really understand the subtle nuances of important world issues. And even if we did have the time…really, who wants to bother haggling over social and moral gray areas like some dorky policy wonk? I mean, isn’t there an app for that?
So when it comes to the debates, we know we should watch, but we don’t really know what to listen for, so we just kind of look to see who we think won. Like it’s a fight. And that was actually our approach in evaluating the first debate – “who won the fight?” As though we were electing a Smackdown-Layer-In-Chief. If a fight it was, then Romney looked every bit the experienced, savvy vet who’s sharp after recent battles with tough opponents, while Obama looked like an old champ who’s gotten a bit soft around the edges and has a little rust from not being in the ring for awhile. To continue the analogy, Mitt repeatedly beat Barack to the punch, was quicker with the jabs, and easily slipped Obamas hooks, which looked awkward and off-balance. Even Obama’s surefire haymaker, “Arithmetic” caught only air as Mitt saw it coming a mile away. And ad nauseum, way behind on points, Obama weakly countered with facts and logic but that only served to confuse and anger most undecideds, who deducted points on their scorecards under “Artistic Impression”.
Not that there’s anything wrong with this approach – it’s perfect for the times. In this age of recycled art, survival TV, shorthanded tweets, and a general disdain for original thought, why should we expect any different from our leaders? If we think our politicians are mean-spirited and self-serving, maybe we should stop blaming them and realize that they’re giving us exactly what we ask for. No one wants to see two educated statesmen debating in a dignified manner anymore. We want a knockdown, dragout fight with enough zingers to impress Snooky & The Situation. And we want blood on the floor.
Lots of it. Oh, and we’d better see some dirty fighting too, dammit. We want elbows to the ribs, knees to the groin, and if you can sneak a foreign object into the ring, all the better. Show us how much you really want to be President, fer cryin’ out loud! And remember, if you’re not cheatin’, we’ll know you’re not really tryin’.
How did we get to this? Was it the Tea Party? The Swift-boaters? The Liberal Media? Have we already become an Idiocracy? This soon? That wasn’t supposed to happen for like, another hundred years. And yet, here we are. Mitt knows it – right down to the polished, politely patronizing nursing-home attendant look he gives whenever Obama starts talking. It’s the look yougive grandma when she starts rambling about how much her prom date resembled Eisenhower. And Mitt also knows we’re not really listening, so there’s no harm in changing his story if need be. It doesn’t really matter much what either guys says anyway, so long as they act like they’re saying the right thing.
And it’s that Act, more perhaps than any fact, that will determine who the next leader of the free world will be. After their last fight, you’ve got to think Mitt’s favored to win again tonight. And if he does, it probably makes the last debate a must-win for Barack. In fact, Mitt “won” the last debate so handily, that it’s almost hard to imagine what else Barack can do to turn things around. Well, if it’s all an act, perhaps Barack should take a cue from actors. More specifically, actors who fight.
As the reigning champ who needs to regain his mojo to beat a powerful challenger, it seems that clearly, Rocky III is the model POTUS needs to follow. As we all recall (and much better than we know a lot of way more important things, btw), Rocky lost his edge after being champ for awhile, went Hollywood and did the Muppet show, then got his butt soundly whupped by a hungrier, angrier Mr. T. Similarly, Barack looked like a lost fighter in the ring against Romney, and got his lunch handed to him.
Now, per formula, Rocky then bottomed out, fought with Adrian, searched for his soul, and headed for a training montage that made everything ok. But wait. Before Rocky could get to that montage, he had to get back what he’d lost – the Eye of the Tiger. That hunger, that look, that focus. That inner resolve…that nothing, no person, no occurrence, no nothing, could possibly stand in his way. More than any exercise or technique, it’s what Rocky needed to defeat Clubber. And it’s the same thing we all want to see in our President.
And hey, maybe it’s not so out of whack.
We know it’s the toughest job in the world, and especially in these times, you’d better be prepared to do battle – often. So maybe asking our candidates to show they’ve still got some fight in ‘em isn’t such a bad idea after all. Because the Eye of the Tiger isn’t just a look, and it isn’t just an attitude. It’s actually a by-product of hard work through struggle. It’s something that just naturally flows from within when you know you’ve done all you possibly can to prepare. And as much as our modern lives tend to imitate art, it’s not a look that one can easily feign for long. It either means everything to you, or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, we’ll know, and we really won’t care what your ideas are.
K. Steven Zimmerman is a lawyer with dynamite in both hands who knows that styles make fights.
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