trymahjong Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Trying to explain elections in general and presidential elections specifically to my 10 year old grandkid is confounding. Last nights TV debate sort of put me on hot seat to cautiously explain the reality of what we watched with the build up I had done on what we’d probably be seeing from the 2 candidates. I had lowered the bar on what to expect, but watching that debate ( term loosely used in this context) gobsmacked me. I can’t imagine the Civic class discussion ( naw, it’s not called Civic class anymore lol) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Debates used to serve two purposes: Pumping up your followers, and swaying the undecided. As we seem to have fewer and fewer undecided people these days of weapons-grade tribalism, it's mostly about energizing one's base. Still, it's useful to see how a candidate acts on his feet. When I see a politician dodge a question, I have less esteem for that person. I don't know that I've ever fully switched sides from watching a debate, but I have seen candidates in a different light. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 The debates were also much more strict as to who gave them. Groups with public interest at heart and less financial incentive to be 'profitable'. There are numerous debates hosted by the League of Women Voters in the late 20th century which is a non-profit. the 2000 debates were hosted by "Commission on presidential debates", a subsidiary of League of Women Voters I believe. Around 2012, more for-profit debates started to arise in the primary campaigns and the absurdity of the debate increased. Infotainment ruled. All politicians lie and exaggerate, but I think we can agree that Trump brings it to a new level. The debates are bad-faith exercises for him that our press for 9 years has been unable to recognize or reconcile with. My personal opinion, at least since 2016 is that the debates have been pretty pointless for me.. An infotainment spectacle that reduces complex things to the lowest and simplest snip-bits. You can't possibly talk about tax policy or foreign affairs in 1 minute. Its taken me longer than 1 minute to type this paragraph. I enjoy the SNL Parodies of the debate more, with my personal favorite being the 2000 election Bush V Gore with Will Ferrell depicting Bush. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 Debate party this week. My sister is driving in for a few days. Anyone else plan on watching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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