We are soooo in trouble.

Watching the debate in Chattanooga right now and I am very disappointed in both candidates. Neither one knows how to state their platform/views/convictions without pointing out what their opponent has screwed up or lied about.

Corker makes excuses about his delay in firing illegal aliens working for one of his companies. Ford blames "the other guys" for the national debt when he’s been in Washington 10 years. blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. I’d abstain from voting if I thought it would give either one of these bozos a clue that they suck.

… and there’s another thing I dislike about Ford. All this religious crap he spews. He just talked about "the good Lord". I don’t believe all his religious posturing. It comes across far too disingenous; its nothing more pandering to the Bible Belt. And I very much dislike his commercial that he was "forced to go to church" and that he thinks that’s really great. To me, if an adult is saying they were "forced" to go to church, it says they really don’t see that as a blessing, privilege or in any way a good thing.

I could say I was forced to go to church. Technically it is true. But my heart says it wasn’t a "forced" thing. My heart says it was a God thing. A blessing and privilege. In a country where I, even as a child, have the freedom to choose where I worship, when I worship and how I worship.

That commercial of Harold Ford’s says to me that to Ford the church is nothing more than an institution that should be manditory for children to attend, not a community they have the blessing to be involved in. Its like church is the same as brushing one’s teeth. Do we really want a senator serving in our nation’s capital that sees his religion as manditory for all children?

What is wrong with Tennessee? Where are the candidates like Fred Thompson? Candidates with a least a modicum of integrity and political savvy. Not to mention intelligence.

I’m feeling strangely nostalgic for Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. And I really dislike both these women’s politics. But at least they’re intelligent and well-spoken. Even Governor Arnold is better than these two jokes.

And, yes, I voted for him. And would vote for him again were I still living in LA. He doesn’t always do what he says he will — what politician actually does??? — but his basic platform is one I can get behind: fiscally conservative and socially liberal. It’s a strange blend, I realize. One which creates a distinct tension between keeping a tight rein on spending and the need to provide help for the most needy and those in crisis in the state and community. Its a tension I wish more politicians believed in.

Say what you will about California and its crazy politics, but they have better senators than we do right now.

The debate is over now. And I didn’t learn a single thing about these candidates. The only thing I learned is that I desperately do not want to vote for either one of them.

UPDATE 10/11: Volunteer Voters has a great summary of the debate last night. Read it here.