Re: 2012 U.S. Presidential Election
There's a debating term applicable to this particular situation - it's called "ten words". At the heart of this concept, the candidate offers a simple solution to a complex problem. When first heard, the solution gives people pause because they wonder why nobody considered it earlier. It has a way of shaping national discussion, so it's not necessarily a bad practice - it gets people talking. My problem with it is that the U.S. is a country way too big and way too complex for these "ten-word answers". We need the ten words that follow that answer, and the ten after that. Those words, unfortunately, get lost in the shadow of the first ten words.
Which is probably why the discussion, as played out in the posts above this one, is the one everybody should be having. I approve of this debate. It's something we ought to be talking about.
