Everybody is watching the presidential debates right now. But i was surprised when i heard that the debate rules have been changed this year. The debates used to be moderated by the League of Women Voters. Now the Republican and Democratic parties have made a 32- page agreement on new debate rules.
Some of the rules:
Specific temperature in the room (so that Kerry will be prone to sweat)
Specific TV Camera angles (to make them look good)
Candidates cannot move from the podium
No props
Candidates have to be 10ft. apart
Candidate has 2 min. to answer the question, then the opponent has 90 sec. to respond.
all of the questions are pre- approved and reviewed.
even when there is the "town hall" style debate where citizens ask the candidates questions- the citizens have to ask the pre- approved questions. if they divert from the question, bush/ kerry cannot answer it. and the citizens cannot ask follow- up questions.
This makes me upset because now the presidential debates have turned into little mini- speeches that are memorized and pre-thought out. i know that this is a high-stakes election, but i think the presidential parties have gone too far. i want to know how bush/kerry thinks on their feet- these debates can have a huge effect on the outcome of the election- just look at lincoln vs. douglas!
I think that this shows the lack of confidence the presidential parties have in their candidates. If they were confident- they would rely on them to answer the questions on the spot.
What is YOUR opinion? Do you think that we should have these rules? or are they unecessary?
There are 32 PAGES of these rules. i have been trying to find a copy online- but to no avail- if someone does, please post it.
I completely agree with you. Its not much of a debate if everything is "preapproved" and thought out ahead of time. All that the debates will show then is how good of a speech writer each side has... Not how good a candidate can think on his feet, which to me seems like a good attribute to possess if you are looking to run this country.
Posted by: Mike Ayers at October 5, 2004 08:03 PM