Opinion : Are the debates worth listening to? It's debatable.

I am a political junkie. If there's something going on politically, I'm there for it. Until Wednesday night's "presidential" debate. When I think of the word presidential, I think of something with class. (I am pausing right here to let all the smart remarks pass through without saying them.)

The debate was so awful that I shut it off for a while. Mostly because it sounded like all the kids were arguing and I couldn't send them to their rooms. I don't think anything was accomplished and the moderators in the room lost control of the situation from the beginning.

I can't say that any of the candidates had anything to say worthwhile. There was Nikki Haley's attempt to make herself look smart by insulting Vivek Ramaswamy. Her 15 minutes of fame by saying that she feels dumber every time she listens to Ramaswamy talk was at best, well dumb. On the one hand, it made her look so unpolished and a bit tough, but because it was said in her smooth polished way, it didn't feel like it carried any weight. It sounded like a lame attempt at an insult, from the church secretary.

Then there was Chris Christy. Now I'll be honest, how in the world he made it on the stage is beyond me. But he's not the only one I thought that about. At the same time, I would have rather heard from Larry Elder. At least with Elder, he sounds more intelligent.

Christy said that he would follow Trump around to harass him basically. And I'm thinking, "Don't you have a schedule of your own?" Apparently not. I had to laugh when he tried to pull a Trump by giving the former president the name of Donald Duck for ducking out of the debates. Oooo tough guy! They say the best compliment is imitation so I guess, follow him around and copy his "style" whatever works for you, I guess.

I found myself getting irritated as some of the candidates spoke. Mike Pence for one. I can't quite put my finger on it. There are some politicians whose speech patterns just irritate me. With President Obama, it was the constant use of the word, "ah." That just made me want to scream. With Joni Ernst it's the monotone pattern that makes me want to poke her in the ribs just to see if there's a different tone in there somewhere. I think Pence is more like that. Monotone. His pretty lame joke in a monotone voice fell flatter than, his voice. Pick a tone and say, "I've slept with a teacher for 38 years..." and wait for the laugh. Wait a really long time. He's not funny. At all. I can't even imagine the guy loosening up.

I missed Ron DeSantis speaking, he does the weird monotone thing too when he talks that makes me want to say, "Do you talk to the wife and kids in this manner?" Then again in a press conference, he doesn't talk that way. So probably with him, it's nerves. I'll cut him some slack.

But overall, there weren't any winners, on the debate stage. I hate to say it, but I think President Trump won the debate without saying a word. Without showing up. And there was nothing these people could do to stop it. None of the candidates on the stage walked in and owned the place. None of them had the "I'm in charge" feel to them. They all sounded to me like a bunch of kids on the playground.

To be honest, I think Nikki Haley is at a disadvantage in the middle of all the boys. She hasn't found her inner "mom voice" yet. Women, have to have a balance of strength and not be annoying about it. At the same time, she doesn't seem like the type that would intimidate any of my kids, so I don't think she'd do well in intimidating Putin.

I'm not sure what feels so off about all of the candidates this year. I'm not sure if they are trying to decide who they need to attack because Trump isn't there to dog pile on, or if they are all so discombobulated that they haven't yet found a message.

I do know one thing. When Trump walks onto a stage he commands the stage. None of the rest of these people do. I've known other people like that. There is a mix of being polite, yet stern, but a bit of standoffishness and a lot of not acting like two-year-olds. As I say that, Trump's name-calling falls into that two-year-old category...but for some reason it works for him. See Chris Christy copying it.

I don't even know how many more debates we have, but seriously, I don't even want to try to listen anymore. They are painful.

I'd rather listen to another two-hour discussion between Bill Mahr and James Carville. At least those two are interesting and give you something to think about. But this bunch of candidates, ugh.

Here's to the 2024 election!