A new way to handle primary debates

[Valin]

Hot Air:

Jazz Shaw

4/6/13

 

Over at Outside the Beltway, Doug Mataconis has a pretty good roundup of discussions currently underway as to what should be done about the GOP presidential primary debate process, if anything needs to be “done” at all. Much of this was spurred by the RNC autopsy last month, and it’s hard to argue that the ten thousand or so debates which took place left quite a bit to be desired at times. As usual, I have my own solution to propose, but first let’s look at two people in particular who are raising some interesting questions.

 

(Snip)

 

As I hinted at above, the problem isn’t the number of debates. The problem is that the debates suck. And the reason they suck is that the people organizing and moderating them are not putting on a public service to inform the voters. They’re staging a series of ambushes to make the Republicans look as extreme as possible and to goad them into the worst possible sound bites which they can then run ad nauseum for the next week. Given the recent trajectory of events, the first debate we see in 2015 will be sponsored by MSNBC, hosted by Chris Hayes, and feature the opening question, “Show of hands… which of you will do the least damage to the country if you somehow manage to steal this election?”

 

If you want to defeat this now entrenched paradigm, get out in front of it. Set up a schedule of early debates and have them hosted by people who aren’t instinctively looking to destroy the candidates. Offer events hosted by Hugh Hewitt, Jim Geraghty, Al Cardenas… hell, let’s have Ed Morrissey and Erick Erickson host a couple. And change the format entirely. Why do we need eight people at eight podiums fighting with each other in the first place? Take a page from Newt Gingrich’s playbook instead. Have two chairs, one for the host and one for a single candidate. Give each of them fifteen minutes. Ask them the same questions on general policy issues, mixed in with specific questions for each candidate on proposals they have made or areas where they haven’t provided a solid plan yet. You could fill up the same two hours and give the voters a clear, uninterrupted look at where each of them stands without turning it into either a softball love festival or a planned attack by hostile, liberal guard dogs. Toward the end of the process, after – hopefully – a number of long shots drop out, maybe have the final two or three together in their own chairs for a Lincoln – Douglas style discussion… no moderator questions required, just a ref watching the clock.

 

(Snip)

 

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A couple of quick points

A. The 1st thing that needs to be done is to stop lying. These were not debates, they were joint press conferences.

B. As noted in the article, who died and made George Stephanopoulos god!

C. Did anyone really believe that Michele Bachmann...Ron the nutter Paul had an ice cubes prayer in hell of winning the nomination? Because if you did (and before you seek psychological counseling) see me, I've got a bridge to sell you cheap. Point is lose those people (fine though they be) before who have no chance of winning.

 

 

The only one of these debates that was worth a tinkers damn (IMO) was