Apologies if this diary has already been done--surely with this intelligent community it has already been said or thought many times--but as a general "lurker" I just wanted to throw an idea out there for public consumption that I will bet you my bottom dollar Obama already knows--the key to defeating the "Gish Gallop" is not primarily through rebuttals per se but through mockery.
I'm not going to do a rehash on the "Gallop" as it has been thoroughly covered by several diarists. In short, it means you're quite the lying bastard--and as the king of lying bastards, the Mittster has shown the "Gallop" to be a formidible debating tactic--that, along with his creepy, robotic staring.
Honestly though--and this is probably best left to a seperate entry--the "staredown" is very effective at displaying who's the alpha male to many if not most viewers. I mean, I don't know about you but I believe it would throw me off my game if that creepy asshole was staring a hole through me while I was attempting to gather my thoughts. So I'll give Rombot his props on this because he's even able to pull it off when he speaks and that's no easy feat.
So this is Obama's dilemma. In large part he lost the debate stylistically to Mitt's otherworldly staredowns. And since Obama is not likely to be able to match Rmoney in this respect (or speaking louder or faster), he will need to devise another way to prove who's really the alpha male. And being the master of jiu-jitsu that Obama is, he will do just that. He will win the next debate through guile and smarts...and mockery.
Forget trying to outstare Romney or rebutt each and every lie he spews--a Herculean task that is not achievable, Obama should attempt a form of "jury nullification" by discrediting Romney in general right off the bat. His tactic should be mockery. We should see a smiling, confident president. He should wait for the first big Romney lie--which will happen about 20 secs into the first Q & A--and when he gets his turn, Obama should try something like this:
“You know, I gotta say (smiling), my opponent changes his positions so often I sometimes I feel like I’m debating a shapeshifter. Yes, a Romney administration will certainly create jobs…for factcheckers. He keeps those guys up at night. They’re getting overtime trying to keep up with Governor Romney's positions (smiling). Personally, I believe in creating new green jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced—but if you want to create a new factchecking industry—(pointing and giggling)—I believe you have your candidate in Governor Romney.”
I believe that's how Obama should start the debate (or shortly therein) and he should get a dig in like that whenever the moment presents itself--like a particularly egregious Romney lie. Oh wait...that means Obama would be doing this in every response...well, you see what I mean. I trust Obama's instincts to use the right amount of mockery needed. I believe this tactic would have the added effect of goading Romney and throwing him off his game as he realizes he is being laughed at.
I'm curious--what do you guys think about this tactic? I'd love to hear some more mockery zingers if you feel compelled.