MONDALE/COLEMAN DEBATE TRANSCRIPT Here it

MONDALE/COLEMAN DEBATE TRANSCRIPT

Here it is. Lincoln and Douglas don’t have to lose any sleep.

Coleman starts out by ragging on Mondale’s age (in the “it’s not about” format, which ought to fool everybody like a ten-dollar toupee) and spends the rest of the debate talking about how he’d “change the tone.”

Mondale has a mild case of Bush/Quayle Syndrome:

So one of the key questions in this fateful election – and by the way, I think this election is fateful, maybe the most in recent – in history.

Coleman tries to attack Mondale for serving on corporate boards; Mondale parries adequately.

Mondale seems to have a different copy of the Constitution from mine: his mentions abortion.

Coleman keeps saying that he believes in getting things done until Mondale notes that it matters WHAT gets done.

Low point is Coleman’s bringing up the deaths of his children as part of the abortion discussion.

Not an inspiring performance by either side, at least to read it. But I’d guess that anyone just checking in to figure out if Mondale is still all there would have been satisfied. If he was ahead this morning, he’s probably still ahead.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com