Things that were not discussed in tonight's debate

  • The financial crisis
  • The collapse of housing values in the US and around the world
  • Health care
  • Energy
  • Immigration
  • Education
  • Trade
  • Pakistan
  • Afghanistan
  • Iran
  • China
  • Torture
  • Global warming
  • The world food crisis
  • The declining value of the US Dollar

Things that were:

  • Whether Obama thinks people in small towns are "bitter"
  • Whether Obama should have walked out of his preacher's church
  • Whether Obama supports Weather Underground, a terrorist group who were last operational over 30 years ago
  • Whether Obama isn't patriotic because he doesn't wear a flag-pin in his lapel
  • How Obama intends to modify affirmative action so rich black kids don't get special treatment
  • Whether the candidates support gun control
  • How the candidates plan to get out of Iraq
  • Whether the candidates will raise taxes, and how exactly

In all, nearly substance-free and pretty nakedly pro-Hillary. ABC's debates are terrible even by the very low standard of American political debates.