posted
...that they are neither presidential nor debates. They're a crock of crap. For a while, the debates where sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Now, I wasn't really too conscious of them when this was going on, but from what I've read about them, they were more incisive and informative than the current debates. Apparently, at some point during the 90s, the two major parties were unwilling to participate in debates run by the rules set by the League of Women Voters, and demanded a much less stringent, realistic format. The League refused to sponsor "debates" under the rules suggested by the parties, saying that they were unwilling to participate in defrauding the American populace by labelling what were essentially barely constrained commercials (and remember back when the political conventions were actually meaningful ... well, I don't, but I'm someone here must) as legitimate debates.
But that was ok, because the rules were then set and agreed upon by a bipartisan commission, which is pretty much equivilent to giving Coke and Pepsi the latitude to decide what information should be conveyed to people about all forms of beverages. The debates have stopped even paying lip service to the idea that they are done in service for the voters and have become tools of the two main parties political campaigns.
The list of rules for the debates were set up specifically to try and minimize the opportunities of the two candidates to be forced to say anything of substance or to look bad. Some of what people have considered telling about the debates - e.g. the reactions of the candidates when their opposition was talking - was broadcast by people breaking the rules of the debate. I think we...well, maybe not me, but at least I do...deserve better than this.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote: Some of what people have considered telling about the debates - e.g. the reactions of the candidates when their opposition was talking - was broadcast by people breaking the rules of the debate
So was the split-screen some networks used in the 1st debate against the rules?
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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