Hell Yes: Obama Lands A Podium Debate

For months I've been railing against the decision by the Commission on Presidential Debates to hold table-only debates this fall. Here was my justification:

Sorry, but this isn't the Late Show with David Letterman. This isn't the View. Give us a goddamn real debate with podiums. I don't want to see John McCain and Barack Obama sitting next to each other at a table, patting each other on the back, talking about how much they agree.

I want a real old school debate. I want sparks flying. It was bad enough that Dick Cheney got to sit down at his lame debates; please don't do it with the presidential candidates too.

So it was with great relief today that I learned the campaigns have come to a compromise...and the first debate will be at podiums.

This isn't going to be news anywhere else, I believe there is a certain scandal going on regarding how many houses McCain actually owns, but I think this is fairly important news.

Obama is much taller than John McCain, so the height advantage will work in his favor both at this debate and during the town hall debate. Maybe McCain will stand on a phone book, or wear some sort of cowboy boots with a 4-inch lift, but his short arms still make him look like a Munchkin no matter what he does to compensate.

Second, a podium makes a candidate look presidential. Obama needs that image of him standing across from McCain, looking commanding and in control. You can't really "own" a table, but you can own a stage when you are at podiums.

I do wish that the third debate was also at podiums, but the McCain campaign probably objected strenuously to it. It's a compromise. But I'm glad Obama got at least one podium debate in the mix.