Since I don’t own a TV, I get to miss the debates. Therefore I tend not to get as annoyed directly by them as some people. Instead, I end up getting annoyed based on YouTube clips, morning NPR wrap-ups and stills like the one on the right.

Clinton would probably not be the worst president, but good god do I viscerally dislike her. Her laugh, her demeanor, her fakeness all drive me up the wall. She’s like Bill without the charm.

The thing is, it’s quite likely that my assessments, based as they are on second-hand, edited material, are no less valid than those of people who actually sit through these things in their entirety. The debates are set up to be as vapid as possible—a venue for sound-byte grandstanding.¹ It’s a sad state of affairs.