'The Red Car Didn't Even Slow Down, Officer.'

Todd Sharek
November 1, 2002

Watching a political debate is like witnessing a car accident. Cops dispatched to the scene of an accident will tell you what usually happens: ten witnesses, ten versions of the accident. When I sent out my witness statement on the fifth and final debate "O'Brien Brings 'A-Game' to Fifth, Final Debate" to my readers of NewtonGOP.com, I knew I'd catch some crap. After all, my distribution list is 95% Republican.

When conflicting "witness statements" began filling my inbox, I figured it was par for the course. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't an avalanche by any means. For every "You have your head up your ass, Todd" there was a contrasting "Don't quote me, but that's how I saw it too" affirmation.

Then a non-Republican wrote me.

Unrelated to the debate, I sent an e-mail to one of my brothers. All three of my brothers know I have a Republican web site but I have a sneaking suspicion they think I'm cuckoo. Having recently had my first article freelanced here at MassNews.com, I now felt validated. I e-mailed the good news to my closest (but most apolitical) brother.

"I've been published on MassNews.com," I wrote. "Here's the link."

His response was unexpected:

"Good luck, but do you really think O'Brien won the debate last night? A-Game? She was awful. I would bet she lost all the undecided votes. Some of the ones in her camp who were on the fence are now running for the hills. After that performance, she will definitely lose the race. She is a petty person and clearly someone I would be embarrassed to have as Governor. I'm not a big fan of Mitt's but at least he's Governor material. She's just a fat bitch!!"

No, this brother is not some blue-collar lunkhead who drinks beer and curses at his television. This is my urbane, corporate, politically correct brother.

Being the political veteran that I am, I explained to my politically naïve brother that I not only watched the debate as he did but I replayed it, question-by-question, from my microcassette recorder as I wrote my story. I told him that my scorecard had Romney winning perhaps one question. Most importantly, I wrote, "She was all over him!" Therefore, she won the debate. Case closed.

Again, Mr. Apolitical wrote back:

"It's not about winning the debate because of answering the questions "properly". O'Brien never answered a question and she won the debate? She has to be the pettiest candidate of all time. Most people (yes, most) don't give a sh** about politics. They just want to vote for someone who is a decent person who might do the right thing. I agree Romney has not politicked well but O'Brien loses the race because she showed in last night's debate she is a LOSER."

My brother is unenrolled.

Todd Sharek is editor of NewtonGOP.com.

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