Thanks to everyone who turned out to watch the presidential debate last night at the Back Stage—and sorry to everyone who was turned away when the space reached capacity. The people who couldn't watch the debate were really the lucky ones in the end, though.

The debate, moderated by a 100-year-old mop, was rather insufferable. It was supposed to deal with "domestic policy," but apparently the only domestic policies worth discussing are taxes, taxes, healthcare, and taxes.

The debates are pure political circus and are not helpful for actually determining who to vote for—but they are helpful to see what's on the national agenda for discussion. And somehow Obama's campaign has allowed the entire conversation to be dominated by taxes, rather than the areas where Obama's done arguably solid work, like supporting access to birth control, repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and helping young immigrants.

Check out a winner buzzword bingo card from last night. What words were mentioned in the debate?

Photo_213.jpg

Job creation, common sense, middle class, God, bipartisan, "the American people", debt, "common sense", and Bill Clinton.

Not mentioned? Women, birth control, media, or same-sex. Also, anything about the environment (except for, uh, "clean coal"), anything about transportation, or any of the major national social issues that actually determine why I vote Democrat instead of Republican.