The Media Has Corrupted Political Debate
What options are there for not just Presidential debates but for all political debates?
In the Trump / Biden debate, moderators Jake Trapper and Dana Bash were relatively unbiased. However, the Trump / Harris debate with moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir quickly joined Harris on the debate stage. The debate was now a Trump / Harris, Davis, and Muir debate. Davis / Muir’s actions have closed the chapter of political debate in America that began with the Lincoln-Douglas in 1858.
Lincoln-Douglas US Senate Campaign
From the History Channel website, “ Lincoln and Douglas met in seven debates between August and October 1858, located in different congressional districts around the state. In all, they traveled over 4,000 miles during the Senate campaign. While Lincoln traveled by railroad, carriage or boat, Douglas rode in a private train fitted with a cannon that fired a shot every time he arrived in a new location.
Each debate followed the same structure: an hour-long opening statement by one candidate, an hour and a half-long response by the other candidate and a half-hour rebuttal by the first candidate. Despite their length and often tedious format, the debates became a huge spectacle, attracting crowds of up to 20,000 people. Thanks to the many reporters and stenographers who attended, and new technologies such as the telegraph and the railroad, the candidates’ arguments drew national attention, and would fundamentally alter the national debate over slavery and the rights of Black Americans.”
Not only did the seven debates provide the voters of Illinios with an opportunity to learn and understand what the candidates stood for, but they also presented to the American people the challenges facing the young nation. Abraham Lincoln stated, "A house divided against itself cannot stand..this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.”
The First Televised Debate
The Kennedy-Nixon Debate of 1960 was the first televised political debate, and how the candidates looked became as important as what they said. In that first debate, Nixon appeared tired (it was five o’clock), sweating (the studio was too warm), and did not stand out (his grey suit blended with the stage background), while Kennedy looked young and energetic.
Despite the fourth debate solely focusing on foreign policy, it did not uncover Kennedy’s foreign policy weaknesses or prepare the American people for the coming turmoil, which included the Bay of Pigs (the failed overthrow of Cuba’s Fidel Castro), The Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.
The Obama-Romney Debate
There were three Obama-Romney debates during the 2014 presidential campaign. It was noted that Romney won the first debate. It was during the second debate that Moderator Candy Crowley interjected herself into the debate when she corrected Romney's statement that Obama had called the attack on the Benghazi consulate an act of terror. A quick fact check after the debate determined Romney was correct, but the damage was done by then.
The Trump-Harris Debate
Days after the debate, Linsey Davis defended her interjection as righting wrongs from the Biden-Trump debate. She stated that Trump lied in the first debate, and Biden did not correct those lies; therefore, she would fix those lies in the debate she was moderating. Like Candy Crowley in the Obama-Romney debate, their corrections were lies, and unlike Crowley, she knew beforehand what she intended to do and kept it a secret.
A Possible Future of Political Debate Format
There are no more political debates. In New Mexico, neither the voters nor the media nor the candidates are clamoring for a Heinrich-Dominici debate. This could be the norm.
There would be no more moderators, only timekeepers. The debates on specific public policy would follow a Lincoln-Douglas format. Each debate would have a thirty-minute opening statement by one candidate, a forty-five-minute response by the other candidate, and a fifteen-minute rebuttal by the first candidate.
Next week's article will answer the question, “If Kamala Harris scored D+ on the previous media interviews, how could she score an A- on the Presidential Debate?
Tune into “To The Point with Mick Rich every Saturday at noon on KKOB 96.3 FM and 770 AM.
f