: Ready to rumble…
Presidential debates are politically useful; these televised events help citizens make political decisions.
Part of the reason for this is that debates expose candidates to a communications environment that is not completely under their control. They can make mistakes. They can shine. But what they cannot do is hide from those moments, fleeting though they may be, in which their control evaporates.
It’s time to settle on schedules and formats.
To be sure, presidential debates are not debates at all, which is too bad. No competent campaign manager would allow a candidate near such a thing; it’s just asking for trouble. But no competent campaign manager can avoid the “debates.” They have become a staple of American presidential politics, and the people expect to see them.
Advice to voters: Do not read or watch any “expectations” coverage of the debates. Such things are filled with unchecked spin and attempts to reinforce master narratives. This is he-said/she-said bait. Demand better coverage.
Advice to candidates: Script an effective moment to go “off script.” Make it a moment to introduce a new slogan or sound bite for the balance of the campaign or to focus on your opponent’s greatest weakness. Use Reagan’s put-down of Mondale as your guide–the one in which he said he wouldn’t exploit his opponent’s “youth and inexperience” for political purposes. Pure brilliance.
In the October 2004 issue of the Atlantic, there is a small article about the debate issue. yourDictionary.com did a study of presidential debates factoring such things as grammar, word choice, etc, and found that in the 2000 presidential debates, GWB spoke at a sixth grade level, and Al Gore spoke at a high-seventh grade level. For comparison, the Lincoln-Douglas debates were carried on at a 12th grade level. Interestingly, when they monitored the “town meeting” type debates, Gore/Bush logged their lowest scores of the campaign, but the audience’s questions were at the 9th level on average. Contrary to what Howell Raines says, it appears we don’t mind having a president who is dumber than we are. Or something.
Rebecca… I wouldn’t read too much into such language studies. L and D were “debating” during a much different time under much different circumstances. For an interesting look at those debates compared to today’s, I’d suggest The Good Citizen by Michael Schudson.
Hey…where you been?
(Off topic a little)
I’ve “activated”. I promoting a pro-Kerry website for Tempe, Arizona — one of the cities chosen for a debate. My “Action Item” is to encourage Republicans to contact Bush-Cheney 2004 and ask them to formally agree to the debates.
http://tempe.net
Hey, JSteele, I’m a one issue voter – I will vote for the candidate who can show me he will kill the bad guys before they will kill us. What is Kerry’s position on this? I’m a crazed newshound, but I’m not sure what Kerry’s position is. Help me out here. I love what you are doing, though. Go J!
Rebecca II: Very good question. As I’m soliciting essays from people, I encourage them to specifically state why they are voting FOR Kerry — the initial response is virtually unanimous: “I’ll have to figure that out”. Most of the people (who say they are defiantly voting for Kerry) usually talk about why they are not voting for Bush. I need to do the same for my positions.
The best I can give you right now is reasons to vote against Pres. Bush:
I don’t have a specific “For” reason regarding the fight against terrorists (that I can quickly relate), but my impression is that the Bush Administration hasn’t proved they have any plan other than “stay the course”. I’m not sure what the “course” is. Kerry’s plan is to “change course”, and I agree, I’m not clear on the specifics of his course either.
While I
Err… above it should read “definitely”, not “defiantly”. Freudian slip with the spell-checker!
pres. bush is short sighted.pres. jimmy carter had a hell of alot of wise responses to a great many things. the press and ourselves not trying very well have got the america is the worlds police station. out of proportion.care makesv much other goodnesses come about.