McCain versus Obama, Twitter-style

Although watching the US Presidential Election debates live is often entertaining as well as frustrating (when will politicians ever answer direct questions?), one thing that’s been even more entertaining is the comments made on social media site Twitter.

Allowing instantaneous feedback on answers given to questions, Twitter’s comment box often proves far more liberating and insightful than the main event. Which got me thinking – wouldn’t it be more interesting if the real debates were limited to the 140 characters of the Twitter conversation box?

Senators McCain and Obama, how will you deal with the Iraq situation? The American public is growing disenchanted with the continued deployment of troops there, with no end in sight. Your strategy?

JM: Well, my friends, first I’d like to say that Senator Obama doesn’t know what it’s like to be in a warzone. My days as a pilot in Vietnam wer

BO: We have to get everyone around the table and talk. We need to show the US is their friend and we need to show it now and work from there.

The financial crisis is hitting everyone. What are your solutions to getting the country out of the mire and back on track?

JM: Well, my friends, it’s simple economics. My hero Ronald Reagan – or was it Truman – once said that to be a country that can offer more than

BO: We have to stop giving tax breaks to the CEO’s and bring the big spenders back into line. Stop the shopping to forget mentality.

The environment is a big problem – how will you deal with the problems we are causing our planet?

JM: Can I just go back to my point about Senator Obama not having any war zone experience? You see, my friends, when a man that doesn’t have an

BO: We need to look at incentives to get the brains of our country looking at alternative fuel sources and work with other countries on this.

How would you deal with the healthcare issue? Is it not a right to offer healthcare free, or at the very least affordable for all?

JM: You know, my good friend John Wayne once told me that being a cowboy wasn’t easy. Let me tell you, my friends, that as a maverick I know o

BO: Of course it’s a right. We’ll offer help to companies offering proper medical care to employees and go after unethical insurance companies.

Finally, if you win the election, what will be your first mandate for the American people?

JM: You know, the election is a marathon, not a race. And you know what else, my friends? When Senator Obama’s lack of war experience comes to

BO: I would make it my Government’s duty to make America the country it once was, and can be again. A country to be proud of. Thank you.

Okay, so it will never happen – but is the truncated version any different from the full-on one each week?

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