Did Abraham Lincoln have a 'machine' when he debated Douglas?

[IdesOfOctober]

I'm liking the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_douglas_debates">country lawyer more and more.

Oh, yeah, John Edwards, too!



Ides

[The Magistrate]

1. Actually, Sir, Yes, He Did

The man was an experienced an shrewd party politician: it is one of the elements of his character that commends him to me.

[IdesOfOctober]

3. I wonder what he'd say about the debate formats now.

[The Magistrate]

7. These Are Not Debates, Sir: They Are Joint Press Conferences

My preference would be for each candidate to have a period for remarks, order by lot, within each of several rounds, and not a pundit in sight....

[IdesOfOctober]

9. I could go for that, although I do like to see cross-examination.

What's your favorite fact about Lincoln's life?

[The Magistrate]

13. Too Many To Possibly Settle On Just One, Sir

But a favorite quote is one when a friend passed him in the street with his two sons in some squabbling disarray, and asked what was the matter: "The same thing that's wrong with the world. I've got three walnuts and they each want two."

[IdesOfOctober]

14. That's a new one. Thanks!

Somehow, I bet you can relate!

[The Magistrate]

15. Small Squabbling Boys, Sir, Are Indeed A Feature Of These, My Declining Years....

[IdesOfOctober]

20. I hope a few are ones you love.

And that they sit upon your knee and listen to your wisdom.

:hug:

[cynatnite]

2. A machine? What do you mean a machine? n/t

[IdesOfOctober]

4. A team of handlers.

[cynatnite]

5. I'm sure he had a few people advising him...

and probably cheering him on when he debated Douglas.

Thank you for the clarification.

[IdesOfOctober]

6. Sure!

I still get goosebumps thinking of him penning the Gettysburg Address.

[cynatnite]

8. I was a Lincoln/Douglas debater when I was in school...

They had just implemented them for competition that year. Our coach told us to read up on it before deciding on it. Took me ten minutes of reading to decide. I loved LD debates.

[IdesOfOctober]

10. Too bad there aren't even wax recordings of the originals.

[Ravy]

11. I thought you meant a teleprompter. Lincoln didn't have one of those... no, siree..

back in the day, we used to paint the words on horses and run 'em around in front of the candidates... we always painted the first horse pure white, so the candidates would know where the paragraphs started... and sometimes some of the stupider candidates would start their speech in the middle of a paragraph...it is where the term "dark horse" candidate came from, if I recall... yep...them were the days.

</geezer>

[IdesOfOctober]

12. Now I have to go look.

:spray:

How DID that term originate?

Nice work.

Ides

Edited to add: I'm back, and your version is better. I plan to spread that as an urban legend now, far and wide.

[DemReadingDU]

16. LOL

:rofl:

[IdesOfOctober]

21. Happy Birthday!

As your Zorastrian Nosepicker Missionaries carry the good news into parts unknown, they should spread this story, too. Two birds and all that.

Ides

[blondeatlast]

17. Oh, my...

:spray::rofl:

[LanternWaste]

18. Maybe not... but

Maybe not... but I'm sure he had a blog and his own webpage.

[NoPasaran]

19. Yes, and even though the steam-powered internet of the 1860s was very slow

It still looked better than Free Republic.

[IdesOfOctober]

22. Smelled better, too.