Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1976 and 1996 General Election Debates 25 Apr 20204 Mar 2021 So, this must seem strange, to group two non-consecutive cycles of debates together into a single post. The reason I'm doing so is simple: these are by far the two…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon Debates (2/2) 25 Apr 20204 Mar 2021 My thoughts on the other 3 Kennedy-Nixon Debates from 1960, the first General Election Debates in US history. None of these are anywhere near as fascinating as the first. The…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon Debates (1/2) 25 Apr 2020 A lot has been made about the differences in appearance between the two men in this debate. There's the famous anecdote about how radio listeners liked Nixon more while TV…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 21st Century Vice Presidential Debates (2/2) 25 Apr 2020 Biden v Ryan 2012 Paul Ryan was supposed to be the young, fresh "exciting!" candidate to balance out Romney's milquetoast, past-his-prime factor. It didn't quite work, and in my opinion…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 21st Century Vice Presidential Debates (1/2) 25 Apr 2020 I'll begin with some general observations and thoughts before we dive into the specific debates. The VP is usually considered the "attack dog" of the ticket since they can say…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 20th Century Vice Presidential Debates (2/2) 25 Apr 2020 Bentsen v Quayle 1988 This is where the single most famous moment of any US debate occurred, “Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy” where Lloyd Bentsen put Dan Quayle in his…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 20th Century Vice Presidential Debates (1/2) 25 Apr 2020 These won't be as in-depth as my write ups for the Presidential or primary debates. There's just not as much to talk about, and the VP debates have never had…
Political Reactions Primary Debates: The Best Progressive Candidates I Discovered 25 Apr 2020 So, my main purpose for watching all the primary debates since 1980 (the first year I could find any online) was to see if there were any obscure old progressive…
Political Reactions The Primary Debates: Summary & Conclusion 15 Apr 2020 So, Ive finished watching at least one early primary debate from every cycle since 1980 (I couldn't find anything earlier online). I did this both in an attempt to discover…
Political Reactions My Take on the 2020 Democratic Primary 15 Apr 2020 I just didn't care. I really didn't. I got excited for the last cycle because Bernie was the first candidate in my lifetime to say all the things I had…
Political Reactions My Memories of the 2016 Republican Primary 15 Apr 2020 I watched most of the GOP primary debates this cycle as they happened or soon after. Because of that, and how recent it's been, I don't feel the need to…
Political Reactions My Memories of the 2016 Democratic Primary 15 Apr 2020 This was far less chaotic or interesting than the Republicans from the same year, and also less contemptuous than the previous Democratic primary from 2008. I'm not gonna analyze a…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2012 Republican Primary Debate 15 Apr 2020 This cycle was when I had become apathetic and embittered to politics again after the previous 2 elections of increased awareness and excitement. By this time, we knew about NSA…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2008 Democratic Primary Debate 15 Apr 2020 This was the first election where I was old enough to fully understand the issues, where I really first in love with a candidate (Obama, obviously) and wasn't just cheering…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2008 Republican Primary Debate 15 Apr 2020 The Republicans were pretty much doomed to failure this cycle following Bush and the Great Recession. On some level I'm sure even they knew that. I think McCain from 2000…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2004 Democratic Primary Debate 15 Apr 2020 This is the first election where I was vaguely aware of the issues going on because I had to do a project for social studies class. We were tasked with…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2000 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 I've been dreading this one. If there are two political “groups” I can't stand, it's the Bush and Clinton entourages. I literally cringe watching Hillary or Bush II speak—they have…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 2000 Democratic Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 I'm really surprised the field this cycle was so narrow. Literally it's just two candidates, Gore and Bradley. I thought the 2016 primary was small with only 3 serious contenders,…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1996 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 I like Bob Dole, and think he's a decent man. But if his older 1996 incarnation is the best you've got, you're in trouble. Especially against a charismatic person like…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1992 Democratic Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 In this debate, which I'm only guessing is from Iowa, we have all the candidates again except Agran, but with a new guy, Douglas Wilder. Let's see if he's worth…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1992 Democratic Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 Realistically, I don't think anyone could have ever beaten Bill Clinton in this primary—the guy was a determined, charismatic juggernaut. But I hate his "third way" policies and his political…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1988 Republican Primary Debate 6 Apr 2020 Obviously, I'm wondering if Bush really was the cream of the crop, or if a better alternative was passed over. It's clear after seeing the 1988 Democratic debates that Dukakis…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1988 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 The Iowa primary gave me a good idea of who everyone is this cycle, but the field of candidates was interesting enough to where I wanted to take a second…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1988 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 Continuing with my analysis of past primary seasons, this is the 1988 Democratic Primary debate from Iowa. For me, without a lovable underdog like McGovern in this race, or a…
Political Reactions My Reaction to Another 1984 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 This is the only other 1984 Primary debate which includes McGovern and can be found online. There are a few others with just Mondale, Hart and Jackson…but I'm not sure…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1984 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 This one is interesting to me because it features George McGovern himself, in his unsuccessful 1984 primary bid. (I'd also love to watch the primary debates from 1972 for the…
Political Reactions My Reaction to a 1980 Republican Primary Debate (Bush v Reagan) 5 Apr 2020 As bizarre as it may seem today, there were apparently no Republican primary debates held between the 1948 and 1980 cycles. I've done a lot of research on the topic…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1972 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 This is the 1972 McGovern vs Humphrey debate from Face the Nation. This is chronologically the first of 3 debates I could find from the '72 cycle, after searching for…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1968 Democratic Primary Debate 5 Apr 2020 This debate took place before the California Primary between Eugene McCarthy and Robert F Kennedy. I scoured the internet on and off for months to find footage of this, since…
Political Reactions My Reaction to the 1956 & 1960 Democratic Primary Debates 5 Apr 2020 While the Kennedy v Nixon debate was the first televised debate of a general election, this primary debate came 4 years earlier. It was considered pretty dull, even at the…
the Carbon Freeze 