My Tuesday column is loaded with zingers.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m thoroughly excited about the first presidential debate tomorrow night. I can sense it coming down Main Street: something harrowing will in fact occur on that stage and given what we know about the candidates and the expectations leading up to the event, there’s a solid chance Mitt Romney will say a few things that will be ridiculous or embarrassing or both.
It’s difficult to know in advance whether a potential Romney moment of awkwardness will hurt his chances at this point, but it certainly won’t help. Meanwhile, after reviewing the videos of the general election debates four years ago as well as the “Question Time” debates in 2010, I’m reasonably certain that the president will emerge unscathed and, perhaps, solidify his lead in the polls.
But what’s heightened the anticipation for this debate is the news that Romney, the unfunniest man in politics, has spent the last five or six or seven weeks rehearsing jokes and jabs — “zingers” — in preparation for the debate. On top of that, the overall stakes for Romney to deliver an historic performance couldn’t be greater given how much the Republican Party and the conservative base has pointed to the debates as the last opportunity for Romney to reverse his fortunes and win the election. Even the most poised, confident, experienced political Jedi on the level of, say, Bill Clinton would have an extraordinarily difficult time meeting those expectations, and yet the Romney campaign believes these scripted “zingers” will do the trick. Continue reading here.
