I wanted to go to the Lockport mayoral debates, but I had to do Express stuff at the arena. So I missed that debate, which I really wanted to see. When I got home from the arena around 9 p.m, I figured I would turn on the CNN Democratic debate to see how badly Bernie was whooping Hillary. I did not realize that it was another nearly three hour marathon that gets really boring after hour two. Someone needs to tell CNN that these are debates and not telethons.

So I start watching the debate and instantly two things stood out. Firstly, there is this Martin O’Malley guy from Maryland who was looking very strong when I started watching the debate. He made good points, he was articulate and he didn’t say anything that made me stop and question my sanity. Unfortunately, the O’Malley factor wore off as the hour went on and I was left with Jim Webb crying about air time and Lincoln Chafee looking like his vodka buzz was just wearing off.

Secondly, I noticed that the Democrats wanted to talk about issues! They wanted to talk about issues that were important 10 and 15 years ago, but they wanted to talk about issues! It was nice to hear presidential candidates talking about immigration and other issues in a context that was almost contemporary. It is better than listening to grown adults argue about how much air time Donald Trump is getting.

I followed a little bit of Trump’s tweets about the debate and they were predictable. The Democratic debate could have been the greatest political event in American history and he still would have made comments akin to a sixth grader talking about a movie his parents made him watch one Sunday afternoon. Trump is a blowhard and a bully. If he gets elected president, then everyone gets what they deserve.

The biggest difference I found between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats want to get their positions on the issues heard, and the Republicans are content to look like a circus. At both of the Republican debates, I could hear the Benny Hill music running in the background as they talked about themselves, each other and everything except issues. The Democrats were dwelling so much on the past that I had to look at my calendar to make sure it was 2015.

But, much to my surprise, I heard voices piercing through the tent canvas of the Republican debates that intrigued me. When Scott Walker bowed out of the race, I was not surprised. But when it was announced that a couple of the larger GOP financial backers were throwing their money behind Marco Rubio, I was not surprised by that either. I felt that Rubio did well during both Republican debates and I was not surprised to see his campaign get a boost after the debates ended.

So who will get a boost after this debate is over? I would imagine that Martin O’Malley will start getting more attention and Jim Webb may start his own Jerry Springer-esque talk show. Webb did not look happy all night long as Sanders, Clinton and O’Malley commanded most of the attention. Meanwhile, Lincoln Chafee just stood there smiling and…well…smiling.

In the end, Bernie Sanders took a beating, but not from any of the candidates on the stage. I don’t feel that Hillary or anyone else beat Sanders in that debate. Bernie just looks old, he acts old and his ideas seem inconsistent to me. There were positions he had taken a few months ago on issues that looked like they changed to me (most notably his constant flopping around on the gun issues). He danced around some of the more difficult questions that Hillary attacked head-on, and he stammered a lot on many of his answers.

Sad to say, I think that the end result of this debate will be that Hillary will wind up with the Democratic nomination. If Trump is the best the GOP can do, then Hillary will be our first female president.

Is another President Clinton such a bad thing? Hillary never struck me as being as smart as Bubba. She always seemed shifty to me, and she always appeared to have ulterior motives. I will say this; I will take Hillary over Trump any day of the week.

This election will be another case of the lesser of two evils. But the gap between one evil and the other in this case is so wide, that the choice for me would be obvious.

Man, it seems like forever since I cast a vote for a president that I actually believed in. I wonder how many other people feel that way?

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident and amateur political idiot. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

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