Oh no, what’s that funny feeling I’m getting in my head region? It’s so foreign. I’ve never felt it before. Oh shit, it’s……compassion.
Yep, the Snarky Boy is feeling compassion for the yahoos over at Green Mountain Daily who hyped their online debate with the Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, Matt (all) Dunne and John Patrick Henry David Tom Tracy. What a fucking disaster. Ouch.
I thought it was just going to start bad, but then it actually got worse through the entire awkward hour that it lingered on my library screen. The rules were ridiculous. The technology was clumsy. The planning was atrocious. The candidates were bored. The questions were sleepy. And, worse, the answers were bland.
Debate? What debate?
The best line of the debate went to John Tracy, without a doubt. When asked about wind and Dubie, he let loose with this line: “I noticed recently that Brian broke with the Gov. on wind, notice I did not say broke wind….”
That’ll earn him a Snarky vote. If, that is, Snarky bothers to vote on this toss up.
But, for the most part, the debate was a big technical mistake. It began late with Odum even coming into the chat room to say, “I think we’re all getting the hang of this system folks – stand by.”
Hey Odum, ever hear of a rehearsal? Practice makes perfect, you know.
And then technical difficulties and/or poor planning just kept plaguing the otherwise bland affair. Questions like this one from Dunne, “Hey Odem [sic], not clear on question or who goes first,” were more interesting than the actual questions and answers anyway.
It was also quite comical to imagine the panicked typing going on by Dunne and Tracy as they were allotted a mere 90 seconds to respond to questions that were seemingly searching for a book’s worth of information. But Odum realized about half way into the debate that the 90-second rule was ridiculous, adding 30 seconds to the limit.
“Even I think that’s a little ridiculous,” Odum typed.
Well, again, that could have easily been ironed out with some better planning and a rehearsal with the technology.
Poor Odum. That was embarrassing. And the poor guy even tried to get the two candidates to lighten up a bit by using some slang in his questions.
“Matt,” Odum inquired of Dunne, “my property taxes are kicking my
butt. Any thoughts?”
If I were Dunne, I would have offered this response: Kick ‘em back.
And then when he asked Tracy the same question, he ended it with, “throw me a bone, here?”
A bone wouldn’t have helped, Odum. You needed a lifeline.
Sorry about that, Odum. Get well soon.
