MEG WHITE writes:
After living out of a suitcase for two weeks, my northern "vacation" came to a close this Saturday.
I spent Christmas and New Year's in Minnesota with family and friends who wanted to hear all about grad school and the caucuses. I returned to Chicago for a couple of hours of class before heading out to Iowa.
After the holidays and the caucuses, it felt good to be on the El, surrounded by strangers I didn't have to talk to. I made no effort to watch the presidential debates in New Hampshire. Not only do I not have T.V. reception, but I was just too burned out on campaign talk to handle it.
I listened to them on public radio Sunday night, however.
Kucinich had filed a complaint with the FCC against ABC News for excluding him (as well as Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter) from the New Hampshire debates Saturday. I agreed with the sentiment completely. Kucinich differs on issues that the four included Democratic candidates seem to largely agree upon.
Without these issues being raised, will I have to listen to a slew of questions about "experience" and "change"? Why should we exclude voices from the Democratic debate, especially based on the results from one relatively homogeneous state like Iowa?
But I have to admit, I really enjoyed this last debate. With fewer candidates (Senators Biden and Dodd dropped out after a poor showing in Iowa), moderator Charlie Gibson didn't have to rely on buzzers or timers to keep order. So, it was more fluid conversation than stump speeches.
And Gibson's last question was a tiny piece of interviewing genius, in my humble opinion. He asked the candidates what statement, in any previous debate, they would take back if they could? Now that's a question about experience and change worth asking.
Meg White is a graduate student in journalism from Minneapolis.
