May the best man (?) win

With less than a month to go before the presidential election, and feeling less than enthusiastic about the choice of major party candidates that awaits us, I felt it my civic duty to give Bush and Kerry another chance and watch the debates with an open mind. Unfortunately, each time I attempted to watch the debates, my cynicism and disgust overpowered my channel-changing finger.

Thanks to my iPod and the iTunes Music Store, I have a second chance to experience the debates. As a public service slash marketing gimmick, Audible.com has been providing free downloadable audio recordings of the debates. Armed with my Pod and the Griffin iTrip, I have been working my way through these recordings during my morning and evening commutes; these candidates are much more tolerable in small doses.

2004 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates
(links should open inside the iTunes application)

[Update: Third presidential debate added.]

2004 First Presidential Debate: Bush Vs. Kerry (9/30/04)
2004 Second Presidential Debate: Bush Vs. Kerry (10/8/04)
2004 Third Presidential Debate: Bush Vs. Kerry (10/13/04)
2004 Vice Presidential Debate: Cheney Vs. Edwards (10/5/04)

New Jersey’s late placement in the primary schedule left its proud residents (among others) disenfranchised during the last two presidential primaries. It is hard not to be just a tad bit angered by this; however, I will save my frustration with the primary system for a future post and instead dive off my soapbox into a pit of insanity. As a service to my readers, I decided to scour the net and compile a list of alternative presidential candidates for the 2004 election. Candidate quality and/or site quality diminishes as one moves down the list. Party affiliation is listed where known.

• Barbie Millicent Roberts, Party of Girls
• Potus, Hamster Party
• Daffy Duck
• Mike the Headless Chicken
• Cthulhu, Elder Party
• Tony Blair, Labour Party
• Wesley Clark
• Wesley Crusher
• Nobody, Birthday Party
• Nobody (again), n/a
• Chris P. Carrot, Vegetarian Party
• Dave Barry
• Gay Penguin
• Mark Twain, Independent
• Joycelen Elders
• Satan
• Ralph Nader, Independent
• Kompressor
• Duck
• Kibo, Internet Party
• John Cusack, withdrawn