Worst Debate Ever?

Well, Politico's John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei think so and write, "With the country at one of its most interesting—not to mention terrifying—moments in a generation, John McCain and Barack Obama met in Nashville for what was surely one of the dullest and was definitely the least satisfying presidential debate in memory...The problem is the commission that has been invested with pseudo-constitutional status to run the debates but in fact weakly defers to candidates and clings to antiquated formats." Ouch! They also outline why the debate sucked so much. Last night's debate was a town hall-format, but next week's debate at Hofstra will be traditional--2 minute answers with 5 minutes for follow up discussion and 2 minute closings. And the topic is the economy and domestic policy.

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By Jen Chung in News on October 8, 2008 3:20 PM

Comments [rss]

Felix Hoenikker

14

That's what Jon Stewart does, and well.

NannyState

Send "Trophy Tom" Brokaw back to his Montana trout stream and let McCain and "That One" tear each other up. This Democrat vs. Republican thing will end violently anyway so Let's Get It On!

nigganiggachoochoo

Barack Bottom!

nycnewsjunkie

Enough with the "that one" comment...

During much of the first debate, Sen. Obama addressed Sen. McCain as "John" while Sen. McCain addressed Sen. Obama as "SENATOR Barack Obama/ Obama. Not once did McCain say Barack. Talk about political etiquette and respectfulness.

Just look at the first 15 minutes:

"because, you know, 10 days ago, JOHN said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound."

"Well, the -- JOHN, 10 days ago, you said that the

fundamentals of the economy are sound"

"the policies of President Bush that JOHN

McCain wants to -- wants to follow."

"But let's go back to the original point. JOHN, nobody is denying that $18 billion is important."

"Now, JOHN mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country"

"JOHN, you want to give oil companies another $4 billion"

http://www.olemiss.edu/debate/debate_news/details.php?id=58

Anyone else notice "that", did the media report "that"?

Wza

I say make it like a wrestling match...theme music and all.

midnightbreakfast

Good idea, Spiritof76.

babyhitler

It was McCain's to win and Obama's to lose. Obama didn't want to rock the boat cause he's leading in the polls so he could play it safe. McCain had a chance but he basically just spoke to his constituents. We need another VP debate to spice things up.

SeasTooFarToReach

I agree. It was pretty much the same thing as the last one. Same misleading accusations that were made, rebutted...

2 minutes is not enough to make a clear position on any issue. You can learn more if you go to their site!

I thought this was interesting: a small blog post criticizing when McCain called Obama "that one". I thought it was really disrespectful on his behalf, and it's not the first time I feel some bad attitude towards Obama.

REALITY CHECK

Why does a debate have to be entertaining? These are serious times. What do you want, dancing girls and fireworks?

Felix Hoenikker

It's hard to discuss issues with an attention and intelligence challenged populace.

Wink-wink, you betcha!

Spirit of 76

It would be easy to fix the debates. Stop showing them live. Show them the next night after all the fact-checking has been done and add captions correcting every misstatement, lie, exaggeration, etc. that each candidate makes. They may have second thoughts about talking so much if they knew that voters/viewers would see every deception revealed during the debate broadcast, when interest is at its highest, rather than days later when people don't care much anymore. You wouldn't even need a moderator in that kind of debate. Just let them go at each other. The risk of saying something wrong and having it pointed out on-screen should keep them from breaking out the mud.

FranklinBluth

A lot of people complain, but what are they going to do about it?

hoodlum

I agree. These "debates" are a joke. It doesn't seem like they are actually debating anything. They are just spouting buzzwords and phrases for 2 hours.

optimist

well, as this debate makes clear, no matter who wins, we lose.

gimme

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/mccain%20bush%20hug%20twn.jpg

ewwww

matty

i thought it was as substantive debate

JacqueMehoff

big deal like there's an oscar for best debate.

stop being so elitist. we should stop televising debates and have them in theatres like Lincoln.

drewo

Give them each a mic, and have them address and question each other directly. No audience, no questions from a moderator -- just a moderator on hand to keep it within basic rules.

Atomische

McCain is either starting to show an onset of dementia (memory loss and trouble thinking clearly) or else his behavior was a calculated move to make conservatives nostalgic for Reagan.

Outter Burrougher

JenChungsBra: the first one was supposed to be solely on foreign policy. Unfortunately, the economy made that 90 degree downward turn and the commission realized that people might actually need to hear what the candidates had to say in regard to the economy at that time. The second debate was a mix of issues because it is the debate where voters were able to submit their questions. The third debate is slated to be solely on domestic policy issues.

What you "proposed" is essentially how it was set up, but then the world had to go and change on us.