Jerusalem member Efrat (a.k.a. Alicia) Benn, who has become famous as the gal in the Obama sunrise "Yes We Span" bridge photo near the Old City wearing a "No DC Taxation without Representation" t-shirt participated in a debate last Sunday (26.10.08) at Jerusalem's Off The Wall Empire Comedy Club.  Billed as an informal (i.e., mildly disorganized)  event, Efrat noted that the presidential debate lasted about an hour and the Jerusalem mayoral debate just 20 min. 

While the turnout was  modest -- "just 10 people; I knew half of them", it was lively.  The moderator, host of the comedy club, started out with serious questions sprinkled with jokes and ended with such humorous questions as who would you prefer as a guest at your Sabbath dinner table, and  who would you rather date? It seemed that everyone in the audience who would be voting already had.  It also felt like a pro-McCain crowd, but overall politically mild.

The panel consisted of four members: Efrat; a Jerusalem resident who used to work as a lawyer for the RNC; a right wing odd ball "who would embarrass any thinking Republican with his drivel"; and an Obama supporter who jumped out of the audience in order to even out the panel. 

While the Obama supporter clearly had not prepared for the debate and while he was not nearly as wacky as the right wing guy, he supplied almost as many jokes as substantive responses.  However, he did offer a clear explanation of the process of uranium enrichment and building nuclear weapons.

As per the feedback from a friend in the audience, Efrat reported that it was felt that the RNC lawyer and she had  maintained  poise, offered thoughtful, substantive replies and made their respective candidates look good.  "The moderator said that he learned about the candidates due to our performance."

Efrat added that she doesn't feel that anyone "won" the debate.  But given the support McCain has in Jerusalem and this audience in particular, "I'm not sure how many were prepared to be persuaded.  Rather, I believe that I succeeded in presenting Obama as worthy of office and more palatable/acceptable to those who voted McCain." 

In our opinion, excellent results!