I just gotta say - those amounts of money just horrify me. I can’t help thinking how else it could have been spent - how many school lunches for kids, how much pre-natal care for poor mothers-to-be, you get the idea.
On-screen, real-time fact checking. It wouldn't even be that hard. Whenever it's Trump’s turn to speak, you just program "Lie" to repeat every three seconds.
Josh Shapiro is an amazing governor. I'm glad she didn't pick him. He's going to be the candidate someday and I think he'll be fine in 4 years or 8 years. I think it will work out much better with the team we've got. I know that decision will be picked apart if she loses but I'm confident it was the right choice.
I think he wouldn’t have been the right pick for this cycle or for Harris. I agree with all the good things people say, but he’s a totally different personality - more professor or scholarly. I think Walz’s vibe is perfect.
It seems to me that the real post-debate story all week has been Ohio, Ohio, Ohio and, rather specifically, Springfield. Trump, perhaps following the whims of his new companion, seems determined to do major damage to the people of Springfield, Ohio. We all know there is no limit to the depths to which Trump will sink but, by golly, the attacks on Springfield and their Haitian population have set some new lows. And, for certain, ALL of the people of Springfield are paying a frightful price for this gross dishonesty.
Completely agree Rick. It makes me a little crazy listening to candidates NOT answer questions. I've been known to yell at my tv "Just answer the (add colorful language of your choice here) question!
Improving the debate (I have seen this done in Sweden and it works very well):
Let each candidate introduce themselves during 2-3 minutes
Introduce a subject with a summary of basic facts that two experts make some comments on.
Let the debate start on that subject.
Introduce a new subject with a summary and experts
Let the debate start on that subject
And on and on until time is up and the candidates finish off with their own statements
The advantage with this approach is that it forces the candidates to talk about their position on each subject while making it much more difficult for them to lie about facts. It also makes the debates more focused on the important issues or problems within each subject.
No, it's not all about PA, although that state is very important. Other swing states could make up for a PA loss. If , for example, Harris won GA and NC, PA would not be pivotal. Note that there are no Sen races and no Gov race in GA to drive GOP turn-out, In NC, the Rs have an absolute loon running for Governor. If you haven't read about Mark Robinson, do so. He's quite the noxious character. They are , btw, people who Bush and Romney- or people like Kelly or Mattis- could influence by speaking up.
Chris - how do we not know that Shapiro didn’t want the VP slot? I read several places that he was hesitant to be second in command. And of course they can’t talk about that if that’s the case. It’s hard to blame Harris for not picking him because we don’t know what happened behind closed doors and what they aren’t saying.
Vickie—I suggested the same thing to a friend of mine who was disappointed that Mark Kelly wasn’t Harris’ VP pick. This arranged marriage has to work for both people.
Oh how I wish going forward we’d have an election model that was only 6 weeks long like other countries. Crazy stupid amounts of money being used on political ads that I suspect is wasted due to over saturation.
I'm biased because I grew up in the UK and now live in Canada. Our campaigns are 6 weeks long - that's it. There are also strict limits on campaign contributions. We don't have primaries, as the leader of the party that wins is the one that becomes Prime Minister. We don't have mid-terms either. I would go stark, staring mad if I had to listen to any of our politicians campaign for 2 years.
If “Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans,” how does Thom Tillis describe what comes out of Trump’s mouth? I mean. seriously? How does he say that with a straight face?
Truly unfortunately Tillis cannot call out Trump for his egregious, often disgusting lies (e.g., Democrats say that infanticide is OK) because if he did, he would suffer the same fate as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. He would become persona non grata in the Republican/Trump cult party.
Debate change- If a question was asked and not actually answered, the moderator gets to a) say the question wasn’t answered b) ask it again with 1 minute for a response and c) deduct that 1 minute from the future time of the non-responsive party
Each candidate must answer the question put forth by the moderators. If they don't, they should be told by moderator "you didn't answer the question". Let viewers know who has given an answer and who hasn't
Harris is going to win PA with or without Shapiro. Shapiro is very popular Governor in PA. People don't vote for the VP. They vote for the top of the Ticket. Paul Ryan lost his district to Obama in Wisconsin in 2012 when he was the VP pick to Mitt Romney.
There is no politically logical reason why Shapiro won’t do everything in his power to ensure that Harris will win; there is no political upside for him not to be all in for Harris-Walz. Walz connects with the midwesterner vibe, and has a remarkable range of life experiences.
Shapiro may have a great political future, and ensuring a dem win will only enhance his political gravitas; but there are lots of good future candidates on the dem bench too.
ABC showed the virtue of NO Audience and I make that the number one demand. ABC also showed what self-possessed moderators determined to expose the candidates values, foibles, etc can do. Necessary follow-up questions, insisting on an answer or if none then pointing that out. Lmited but essential fact checking as in those 3 internet fantasies plus election denial checks. All done in muted but firm tones. ABC is a good model for any future debates.
Now the "debate" is obviously not a debate but more like an oral quiz. I doubt if American candidates would agree to a real debate, so this ABC job appears the best of the real choices we have.
I just gotta say - those amounts of money just horrify me. I can’t help thinking how else it could have been spent - how many school lunches for kids, how much pre-natal care for poor mothers-to-be, you get the idea.
Me too, even though I understand why they do it.
I know, me too, but I just had to say it.
It’s so sad that politics take precedence over people.😢
On-screen, real-time fact checking. It wouldn't even be that hard. Whenever it's Trump’s turn to speak, you just program "Lie" to repeat every three seconds.
🤣🤣
Josh Shapiro is an amazing governor. I'm glad she didn't pick him. He's going to be the candidate someday and I think he'll be fine in 4 years or 8 years. I think it will work out much better with the team we've got. I know that decision will be picked apart if she loses but I'm confident it was the right choice.
I think he wouldn’t have been the right pick for this cycle or for Harris. I agree with all the good things people say, but he’s a totally different personality - more professor or scholarly. I think Walz’s vibe is perfect.
Agreed, and Walz isn’t aspiring to be a co-president.
Regarding debates, I vote for:
1- A panel of fact checkers immediately posting their results on screen.
2- Cutting candidates’ mics off two seconds after their time ends.
3- No audience.
4- One male and one female moderator who have reputations for being impartial.
It seems to me that the real post-debate story all week has been Ohio, Ohio, Ohio and, rather specifically, Springfield. Trump, perhaps following the whims of his new companion, seems determined to do major damage to the people of Springfield, Ohio. We all know there is no limit to the depths to which Trump will sink but, by golly, the attacks on Springfield and their Haitian population have set some new lows. And, for certain, ALL of the people of Springfield are paying a frightful price for this gross dishonesty.
When they don't answer the question, say, "You didn't answer the question"!
Completely agree Rick. It makes me a little crazy listening to candidates NOT answer questions. I've been known to yell at my tv "Just answer the (add colorful language of your choice here) question!
I agree… some way to get them to answer the question asked
Making debates better: keep a running tally of time spoken by each candidate and equalize them at the end.
Improving the debate (I have seen this done in Sweden and it works very well):
Let each candidate introduce themselves during 2-3 minutes
Introduce a subject with a summary of basic facts that two experts make some comments on.
Let the debate start on that subject.
Introduce a new subject with a summary and experts
Let the debate start on that subject
And on and on until time is up and the candidates finish off with their own statements
The advantage with this approach is that it forces the candidates to talk about their position on each subject while making it much more difficult for them to lie about facts. It also makes the debates more focused on the important issues or problems within each subject.
No, it's not all about PA, although that state is very important. Other swing states could make up for a PA loss. If , for example, Harris won GA and NC, PA would not be pivotal. Note that there are no Sen races and no Gov race in GA to drive GOP turn-out, In NC, the Rs have an absolute loon running for Governor. If you haven't read about Mark Robinson, do so. He's quite the noxious character. They are , btw, people who Bush and Romney- or people like Kelly or Mattis- could influence by speaking up.
Chris - how do we not know that Shapiro didn’t want the VP slot? I read several places that he was hesitant to be second in command. And of course they can’t talk about that if that’s the case. It’s hard to blame Harris for not picking him because we don’t know what happened behind closed doors and what they aren’t saying.
Vickie—I suggested the same thing to a friend of mine who was disappointed that Mark Kelly wasn’t Harris’ VP pick. This arranged marriage has to work for both people.
Oh how I wish going forward we’d have an election model that was only 6 weeks long like other countries. Crazy stupid amounts of money being used on political ads that I suspect is wasted due to over saturation.
I'm biased because I grew up in the UK and now live in Canada. Our campaigns are 6 weeks long - that's it. There are also strict limits on campaign contributions. We don't have primaries, as the leader of the party that wins is the one that becomes Prime Minister. We don't have mid-terms either. I would go stark, staring mad if I had to listen to any of our politicians campaign for 2 years.
If “Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans,” how does Thom Tillis describe what comes out of Trump’s mouth? I mean. seriously? How does he say that with a straight face?
Truly unfortunately Tillis cannot call out Trump for his egregious, often disgusting lies (e.g., Democrats say that infanticide is OK) because if he did, he would suffer the same fate as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. He would become persona non grata in the Republican/Trump cult party.
Debate change- If a question was asked and not actually answered, the moderator gets to a) say the question wasn’t answered b) ask it again with 1 minute for a response and c) deduct that 1 minute from the future time of the non-responsive party
Each candidate must answer the question put forth by the moderators. If they don't, they should be told by moderator "you didn't answer the question". Let viewers know who has given an answer and who hasn't
Harris is going to win PA with or without Shapiro. Shapiro is very popular Governor in PA. People don't vote for the VP. They vote for the top of the Ticket. Paul Ryan lost his district to Obama in Wisconsin in 2012 when he was the VP pick to Mitt Romney.
Harris WILL WIN PA and the in November.
There is no politically logical reason why Shapiro won’t do everything in his power to ensure that Harris will win; there is no political upside for him not to be all in for Harris-Walz. Walz connects with the midwesterner vibe, and has a remarkable range of life experiences.
Shapiro may have a great political future, and ensuring a dem win will only enhance his political gravitas; but there are lots of good future candidates on the dem bench too.
💯
💯!
ABC showed the virtue of NO Audience and I make that the number one demand. ABC also showed what self-possessed moderators determined to expose the candidates values, foibles, etc can do. Necessary follow-up questions, insisting on an answer or if none then pointing that out. Lmited but essential fact checking as in those 3 internet fantasies plus election denial checks. All done in muted but firm tones. ABC is a good model for any future debates.
Now the "debate" is obviously not a debate but more like an oral quiz. I doubt if American candidates would agree to a real debate, so this ABC job appears the best of the real choices we have.