I watched the Brown-Whitman debate on TV, and I had an eerie Nixon-Kennedy experience. On the tube, Whitman looked .... creepy. That fake, plastic smile and the strictly scripted talking points made her appear almost robotic. I kept thinking about the employee she allegedly abused and I wonder if she had that same scary expression on her face when she pushed around and fired people.

Calitics thinks Brown won the debate handily and that Whitman acted as if she were running for governor ot Texas. I thought Jerry went a little over the top when he ranted about how the state's pension funds would be in fine shape if everyone worked until his age (which just reminded the voters how old he is), but overall, he at least seemed real, interesting, and an actual human being. He also talked, at least somewhat, about fiscal reality. Whitman was channeling Schwarzenegger, who decided he could cut $5 billion out of the budget by eliminating the car tax and never worry about replacing the revenue. Her proposal for eliminating capital gains taxes makes even less sense; at least middle-class people got a break when the car tax was cut. All she would do is hlep the very rich.

Overall, I thought it was reality v. the robot. Reality generally wins that round.