1. It’s Tuesday, October 13, 2015.

2. It’s a good thing I don’t have to speak these words for them to appear. After last night at Citi Field, it’s going to take a good three days to get my voice back – hopefully, in time for the Mets and their opponent in the National League Championship Series.

3. Because the Republican presidential campaign seems like such a freak show, the Democrats have been overshadowed. About all we know is that a House committee formed, it appears, for the sole purpose of taking down Hillary Clinton, has done some of what it set out to do.

I probably won’t watch, as Met consumed as I am. But here’s what I’m hoping for:

— I’d like to see Hillary Clinton show that she’s the leader of the party, contrasting herself with the other Democrats on the stage but doing so with the poise of someone in control. She has to show that she’s a president-in-waiting, with the temperament and strength to listen to other viewpoints in the party.

— I’d like to see Bernie Sanders make Clinton address the issues that have been his hallmark, particularly income inequality. He has some strong points, and getting the front-runner to acknowledge them will go a long way in bringing the party together to defeat whatever comes out of the other side.

— I don’t know what I expect from Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb. I guess I hope they don’t go for broke and try to embarrass the other two. If they have points, make them – and then it’s incumbent on Clinton to either address them or explain why they’re unimportant.

If you’re not the least bit interested in Mets-Dodgers, by all means watch the debate.