Predictions

With all the hype surrounding the first presidential debate tomorrow night (which I won't even watch if I can find a way to get to Nutley practice tomorrow) I can safely predict the winner without even thinking about what the two candidates will actually say:

The winner will be the guy you liked coming in.

FOX news will tout Mitt Romney's masterful grasp of the issues. MSNBC will pillory him as ineffectual and obtuse. Chris Mathews will practically come talking about how eloquent Mr. Obama was, Lawrence O'Donnell will sound like every great sports caster making the greatest call of his live ("Down goes Frazier! Do you believe in miracles? Look at Mills! Look at mills! Look at mills!") Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow will smirk and go into excruciating details about the issues nobody really understands or cares about. Rush Limbaugh will bloviate, Bill O'Reily will pontificate, Ann Coulter will just insult everybody, and both Glen Beck and Keith Olberman will weep, because they are weepers. The only people likely to offer a cogent analysis are Jon Stewart and, God Help us, Joe Scarborough (this all acknowledges that nobody watches CNN anyway).

Because it's not about facts and it's certainly not about policies. For these people it is all about ideology, values, and spin.