I keep hearing the TV broadcasters ask "Who will win the debate?". I know it is all part of the political gossip fix. It's like asking who will win the superbowl. The answer is easy, wait until the game is played, watch it and then see the winner for yourself instead of speculating beforehand.

But the differences between the debate tomorrow and the superbowl is the notion that there is necessarily a winner. Is the winner based on "speech and debate" rules, or is the winner the one most likely to keep their base, or is the winner the one most likely to gain independents, or is the winner the one who makes the loser look the worst?

See, my point is that if you want to play politics, you can speculate, cheer when your candidate lays a good one, laugh at the absurdity of the candidate you don't like, and continue to add to the problem like everyone else.

Or you can think critically.

You can say, Cluck the idea of a winner, all I care about is who has true premises, valid lines of reasoning, and a logically more reliable conclusion.

In other words, who is better at applying proper argumentation and understand that for the sake of our well being, it is less important who appears better and it is more important who reasons better.

DAMN YOU TWO-PARTY SYSTEM!

Sarah Palin!

So long as the majority of Americans treat politics like a sports team, we won't get anywhere fast.