Moderators are incompetent hacks with no political knowledge.
They should have a panel of the top general, most recent american economic Nobel laureate (or some equivalent), most recently retired surgeon general and attorneys general write the questions which are then presented by a moderator, then the author of each question responds to their answers and if required asks a single follow up question to each debator.
also give them the authority to mute a candidate’s mic for breaking rules, like talking over someone else when they don’t have the floor. perhaps you can have a separate umpire type character. record what’s going in the mic and release it 7 days later for transparency but don’t let it get messy
Its been at least 10 years since I’ve watched one. They dont even answer the questions that are asked.
Ten years… So that’s essentially two debates:
Clinton v. Trump, 2016 Biden v. Trump, 2020
One might be tempted to believe the problem is more with one bumbling fascist fool and the decay of American democracy than with the format as such.
If the debate were actually a debate, I would consider watching them.
The intelligence squared series is a great example of what a debate could be. I’m utterly disinterested in what talking heads have to say about who won or lost. I want an actual score at the end.
They’re not debates. They’re ridiculous slapfights that no one cares about.
The debates stopped being controlled by an independent 3rd party and started being controlled by the DNC and RNC.
Simple.
The last real debate was in 1984.
At what point do we start blaming the people for selecting them to run?
If our votes mattered…yes…I’d blame the people.
I doubt we’ll have em much longer, doesnt seem like not participating hurts any candidates chances.
