David Ortez

Most of you will just want to know … who won last night? Well, I will start off with just that and then explain how I arrived at that reason. The answer is not that black and white.

In all honesty I believe Gene Locke and Annise Parker performed well tonight. Perhaps, Locke had a home field advantage … at times asserting himself with a confidence that did not seem to radiate from the other candidates.

Parker must be the default front-runner because Peter Brown and Roy Morales went after her aggressively.   She held her ground and sold the audience in her ability to manage the city. Parker was able to transcend racial boundaries and connect with the audience as well.

Was it any surprise that Barack Obama won the third and final debate? He had to commit the worst and most heinous offense to lose this one but of course he did not do such thing.

This time I multi-tasked and watched the debate in Spanish and English. Again, John McCain seemed awkward in Spanish as he kept badgering the point of “Joe the Plumber” which did not cross language barriers and threw some non-English speaking voters into a loop.

I had to explain that it was just a way to refer to average Americans without saying, “average American” and of course they felt that the approach was silly. My mom asked, “Why did he just not say “average regular middle class Americans?” Which to … I could not give an adequate reply.

Democrat Rick Noriega will debate incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn on Thursday, October 9, 2008. The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area Education Fund and Houston PBS have sponsored the debate and it will air across Texas via your local PBS station.

Libertarian Yvonne Schick will also participte in the event. The debate will air at 8 pm CST and if you are in the Houston area, you are more than welcomed to attend the Houston Debate Watch Party at 3200 Kirby Drive Suite 200.

This should be an intresting debate in an intresting race that is shaping up in Texas. John Cornyn does lead Rick Noriega in polls but that could all change when they face off.

I watched the debate in Spanish this time around to see what the perspective is like for Spanish speaking voters. I was turned onto the idea after my father mentioned to me that he did not understand the “folksy” statements that Sarah Palin was using since it was hard for the translator to relay the idea.

As I watched the Presidential Debate on Telemundo, I arrived to the same conclusion that some of John McCain’s statements came off as awkward. This in turn becomes a loss for McCain since he was not able to connect to those needed voters.

Independent voters that were watching the debate along with Telemundo overwhelmingly felt that Obama did better and that he would be the better choice for President.

The debate was setup as a town-hall style debate and it should have benefitted John McCain more than Barack Obama. Yet, once again . . . Barack Obama was able to hold his ground and reassure voters that he was apt to lead.

The more I think about the more logical and rational it seems to me why Republicans have sabotaged the bailout bill they claimed we needed to pass as soon as possible.They do not want Sarah Palin to have to debate with Joe Biden and risk shedding the illusion that she is "qualified" to be the next Vice President.

Think about it . . . it makes sense. If last week John McCain attempted to suspend his campaign and the debate because the nation was in an Economic crisis, why would they not attempt a similar approach this week with the VP debate?

It is no secret that John McCain thinks that Sarah Palin is not ready to hold her own with the press let alone a debate. She has only given 3 interviews and held 1 four question-and-answer session.

If last week the economy may have collapsed if the bailout plan was not drafted what will it do now that it not pass?

Watching the debate and twittering my opinions was exciting last night. As a political junkie I enjoyed every aspect of the debate.  The big question though now is who won the debate? Barack Obama won the debate and here is why.

The first debate was on Foreign Policy. It is a given that this is John McCain’s strongest suit. Barack Obama should not have held his own if John McCain were to win.

John McCain’s goal last night was to prove to the American people that Barack Obama was not qualified nor ready to lead our nation come January.

Barack Obama’s goal on the other hand was to hold his own and not allow John McCain’s claim of “inexperience” resonate with the American people.

Yesterday, I reported that NBC retracted their invitation made out to Kucinich to participate in tomorrows debate. Today a Nevada judge has ordered NBC to allow Kucinich to participate or face repurcussions. Senior Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson claimed, "it a matter of fairness and said Nevada voters will benefit by hearing from more than just top contenders." This is refreshing since this exactly what I have been advocating the whole time. NBC has filed an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court. There is no reason to deny an elligible candidate to participate in our democratic process. We, the people decide who should win, not the media.