This Decided Nothing

11:37am
Here's a quick recap on today's Mondale-Coleman debate.

Mondale actually did better than I expected. He spoke clearly and convincingly and usually had a good grasp of the facts. His most interesting remarks were his assertion that Colin Powell shares his views on unilateral US action against Iraq and his statement that "the Constitution is on my side" on abortion. He did struggle a bit when asked about how he would bring technology to rural Minnesota which might serve to magnify the age issue.

Coleman was Coleman. Love or hate him you have to admit he's a smooth politician. He had his talking points and hammered em' home at every opportunity. "Setting a new tone in Washington" in order to achieve results was his overriding message. He mentioned the President a number of times usually describing how he would work with him to get things done but also pointing out a couple of differences he had with him as well. When the topic of welfare reform came up he not so subtly played the age card when he referred to Mondale's support for the original welfare programs as "an old idea."

Neither candidate made a serious gaffe nor was there a "gotcha" moment for either side. If you had to pick a winner I guess it would be Mondale because expectations of him were low to begin with and he didn't come off as a befuddled, past his prime, old man as he did at last week's press conference. On the issues I would definitely give it to Coleman although I'm hardly an objective observer. He did a much better job of answering the question at hand and usually backed up his arguments with more substance than Mondale did.

It was a very civil debate and unlike the Gore-Bush 2000 matchups where Gore's boorish manners cost him votes I don't think either candidate will be hurt by their behavior. Coleman was very respectful throughout and Mondale's slightly condescending tone (calling Coleman "Norman" a few times) wasn't egregious enough for most people to notice.

The real question is does this debate have any impact on tomorrow's vote? I think not. Unless you are a political nut like me and have a Walkman at your work place, many Minnesota voters missed today's debate. It will be replayed on the radio tonight and broadcast at 10:00pm but I don't think it will have a wide audience. For those who do catch it those who were going to vote for Mondale still likely will and those who were going to vote for Coleman will vote for him as well. The winner will be determined by the yet undecided and God only knows which way they will go.