President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney will trade blows on Wednesday at the first presidential debate, and Patch plans to make a great local gathering out of the occasion by hosting both a viewing party in Stony Brook and a live blog throughout the entire Northern Suffolk and East End region.
On Wednesday starting at 8:30 p.m., Patch will host a live viewing party at The Bench in Stony Brook, and we already expect to pack the place with a mix of locals, students and area leaders. There's still room at the venue. There will be food, giveaways and, most importantly, the opportunity to have smart conversations about the election with engaged locals.
Here's the invite. We'd love to see you RSVP if you haven't already.
But for locals not in the area we will be hosting a live blog on our sites in northern Suffolk County and the East End, overseeing the only conversation on Long Island that gives locals from Commack to Montauk a chance to share their thoughts on the candidates' answers on the issues.
Our live blog will be featured on the homepages of Patch sites in Commack, Kings Park, Hauppauge, Smithtown, Three Village, Port Jefferson, Miller Place-Rocky Point, North Fork, Riverhead, Westhampton-Hampton Bays, Southampton and East Hampton, and anyone can join the conversation.
We'll kick it off a few minutes before the debate starts at 9 p.m.
It's going to be an awesome party. Can't wait to have you join us.
Whatever voters think of the two candidates, whatever Democrat-heavy samples the pollsters use, there is one basic fact that cannot be fudged: people are unhappy with the state of the country. They believe it is heading in the wrong direction, and want to see a change. Retaining the same man who has governed for the last four years--two without effective opposition--is not a way to change things, and voters are beginning to see that. Obama is not running on the promise to change his policies--only to accelerate them, to give Americans more of what he gave them in his first two years. And in case people are having difficulty remembering what that was, eager Democrats--anticipating victory--are reminding them: “immigration reform,” “climate change,” “healthcare,” and--yes--”jobs,” which for Democrats means more stimulus and more public-sector bailouts for cronies.
Voters are evidently not sold--yet--on the idea that Romney is willing and able to bring about the change that they desire. The fact that he is wealthy and from Wall Street--or, more precisely, the fact that Obama and the media have demonized wealth and Wall Street for the past year and more--makes it harder to Romney to make the case. His choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate helps, as do many of his reformist policies. The next five weeks present Romney with the opportunity to make the case to voters who are now, thanks to the overhyped “inevitability” narrative, asking which of the two candidates is more likely to change course. Obama will bring back all of his policies, and few of his best staff to execute them. Romney will bring fresh ideas and fresh faces, including some that the Republican establishment may not like, to his White House.
Americans are now listening--not just tuning into the race, but thinking about the post-election reality of a second Obama term, and weighing Romney carefully against that rather unattractive option. The Obama campaign and the media hoped to crush the spirit of the GOP base. But conservatives have absorbed the blow, and remain united. Now the race has been reset--and Romney has the opportunity to make his move
Obama sayes let me do it for you,I will pick up the tab
...then real life gets in the way.