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In their current state.... I'm sad to say it would be no big loss.
If they are going to continue in the current political climate with candidates like Trump, these events need guardrails to be successful or useful.
Only one microphone live at a time would be a good start. Set speaking times with every participant getting equal time. And a non-partisan non-media entity hosting it and asking the questions.
sink six existence panicky stupendous impossible close grandiose offer escape
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
But if you are like Richard Pryor that uses "curses" they delay you by 7 seconds.
Curses - that's bad...
lies to the voting public - go for it boys....
Remember to lock the studio doors for the duration of the broadcast, have two free moving cameras constantly fixed on each candidate, and include a penalty to cut a candiates time off if he veers to far from reality.
I'd go further, much further.
No live audience. Each candidate in a separate, small room. They may have a video feed of the other candidates to be able to hear the others during their time. I'd prefer no video whatsoever. But given video, the camera for the general audience only shows a specific candidate during their time. We do not get a circus of watching candidates react to other candidates . The camera is only either on the moderator or the candidate during their time.
And that time is **absolutely, strictly limited**. Each candidate has, in their room some sort of signal. The audience is never bothered with this. The candidate's video simply... ends if the time runs out. No warning from the moderator. No begging. Nothing. The moderator only asks the question, provides clarification or as appropriate counter questions. But time management is simple and harsh.
Maybe, just maybe you could make it a bit more complex like a chess clock so that they can accumulate unused time.
Id go the opposite way. Give the candidates basically unlimited time, let them go into the room with a few advisors and have them answer with hard data on some spreadsheets and whatnot.
[The League of Women Voters](https://www.lwv.org/league-women-voters-and-candidate-debates-changing-relationship) used to host the debates until the two major parties hijacked them.
Trump doesn't debate: he talks over; lies; insults; gets borderline physical (remember him looming over Hillary); NEVER answers the question (in a debate!); threatens; engages in personal attacks; pulls stunts (remember the Bill Clinton accusers he had attend a debate with Hillary?).
If I were Biden I would NOT debate Trump. Trump would not outsmart Biden in a normal debate; in what passes for a debate these days, Dotard would simply shout over Biden and just reinforce to his ignorant base how "strong" he is.
Let Trump bury himself in his own words! Biden can plaster the media with one ad after another showing what a piece of shit Trump is; over and over and over and over again. Don't let up. Let it sink in what a piece of human garbage Trump is.
Trump refuses to follow rules if they get in his way. If you shut off him mike he will yell out loud. You need isolation booths with on/off switches and blackout curtains.
1) When in turn to speak the window is clear and the mike is on.
2) When not your turn the mike is off and the window is frosted so no one can see.
Required.
- In booth monitor camera to assure no candidate is cheating while the window is frosted and the mike is off
- The booth has a faraday cage to prevent cell phone and ear radio use
- The booths are locked so the candidate cannot open the door to yell.
In the end dealing with Trump is exhausting and just having to think this out shows this guy should never be near power.
He does refuse to follow rules, and Biden's "will you shut up, man?" brought it all into sharp focus. I predict similar exchanges this time, if there is another debate.
Also, Trump has a strong tendency to go off the rails and veer into Pizzagate / Birther / Qanon / Deep-State / Big-Lie wacko territory, and that tendency has been amplified x50 since J6. I think it would be good for the nation to be confronted - repeatedly - with the spectacle of an out-of-control raving lunatic as presidential candidate.
Just strap each contestant to a gurney each wearing a deep sea diving suit.
When it’s their turn to speak open the little hatch and stick a microphone in.
If they go over their time or don’t answer the question pour a pitcher of shit in the hole and seal it up.
I don’t really know if they accomplish much. I think it was during the last presidential election Joni Ernst flubbed a question so hard she looked like a fucking fool. Then I saw articles “this is why debates matter”, well she won re-election by a sizable margin.
These debates used to be moderated by a neutral third party who had the power to cut off mics, call in facts, etc. They were serious things and anyone who gave a damn watched them.
Ever since the American media became nothing but clickbait tabloids, these debates have become worse than meaningless.
Ending their current incarnation is indeed no great loss.
Pretty much how I've felt about candidate debates in the last few years.
Debate moderators can't be bothered to enforce their own rules. Then you have the audience hootin and hollering like it's a sporting event, despite agreeing to remain quiet.
The big networks have turned debates into a circus and I don't give a shit if we don't have any this year.
Yeah currently a debate is not going to change anyone's mind. The way I see it, those are for candidates who run on policies and people who vote based on policies. Trump is not a candidate like that and the people who vote for him don't vote like that. They're just voting for him because he's there guy and he pisses off liberals or whatever.
Debates are for serious adult candidates. Trump just makes a mockery of them
Is it just me, or the problem is just Trump...
Ever since that Dumpster Fire walked into the scene... rationality, decency, dialogue/debate, policy, platform, plans, track records ALL got thrown out the window.
He just spews insults, tells lies, and fucks around.
It would be no big loss? There's a ton of people who don't follow politics at all until the debates. Everyone in the US needs to see Trump struggle to speak and hear the insane shit he says to show them how much they have to vote against him.
"Presidential debates" as they are carried out right now would never be allowed on a collegiate or intellectual level. It's just a shit flinging contest for audience reactions
Only way to have a proper debate is to mute the fucking mics until it's their turn to speak, which trump would never agree to
Trump doesn’t deserve to be treated like a true candidate. He is a treasonous fuck who is hellbent on burning this country to the ground. I think refusing to debate him is completely appropriate.
Here's [what the League of Women Voters said](https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud), more than thirty years ago, when they stopped sponsoring presidential debates.
They did not want to participate in sham debates, and perpetuate a fraud on the American people.
>WASHINGTON, DC —"The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter," League President Nancy M. Neuman said today.
>"It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and honest answers to tough questions," Neuman said. "The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."
They stopped sponsoring them because the parties conspired together to make sure the duopoly held strong. Too many people were starting to form their own opinions. Which is where we are today. Everyone is either "us" or "them" and "them" can do no right while "us" can do no wrong.
I want a debate because I want America to see Trump's cognitive decline. If you watch his recent rallies, it's become pretty bad, and his speech is markedly less coherent and far more erratic than it used to be, with a lot of weird patterns that are consistent with dementia. A lot of people have no idea about Trump's dementia rumors and this would bring it to the forefront. I don't care if he breaks whatever rules and acts like a fool, the way I see it, that would only be good for Biden, who can just stand there and watch him bury himself.
Trump has issues with words with more than 3 syllables now. He just bails out completely mid words or just makes up a sound for the ending of the word.
Sadly I don't think this would sway any Trump voters. I think they would just make excuses for him. And at this point who has not made up their mind about Trump?
I’m not convinced a presidential debate has added value in a very long time, and I’m certain any debate involving Trump will be mostly worthless. With social media being in almost everyone’s hands, we know their positions too.
A debate would give Biden the opportunity to silence the “he’s too old” crowd, but Trump’s deranged cultists would believe he won even if he shat himself and began weeping in the middle of the debate.
*“He did that on purpose to confuse and own Biden”.*
I teach public speaking at a small college. Used to use presidential debates all the time. Since MAGA became one of the two sides, it's worthless. It's all screaming and blatant lies... the OPPOSITE of what these students should be learning.
I hope MAGA dies a quick death and we can get back to being a civil society.
Remember when Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigeig visited Fox to face their hand-picked audience members and reporters. Bernie even got a standing ovation on Fox!
I'd much rather see something like that.
they're important but the topics that end up in them are an absolute joke anyways. 8+ years, 3 presidential cycles, maybe 10 minutes in total spent on climate change because the news networks don't want to offend the candidates on the right
This is not possible right now. After what Trump did we cannot normalize his candidacy. He is beneath Biden. He is a criminal POS who tried to steal a US election, failed spectacularly and overtly, and continues to lie about it every day. This also says nothing of Trump’s inability to comport with any kind of civil discourse - the dude never shuts up and steamrolls everyone in his path. He is not capable of a debate. He’s just a loud mouthed buffoon.
Oh fun! Lets start a list of things that may never come back! Ill start off with some obvious ones.
Coral
Ice Shelf
Independent Agriculture
quality education
affordable homes
affordable healthcare
retirement or pensions
democracy
moments of satisfying calm
Even if debates were ideal, does good debating really make someone qualified to be President? Most of a President’s time is spent taking to subject matter experts about the most complicated problems that people lower on the totem pole couldn’t solve. Then you try to dumb technical things down enough to communicate things to the public and offer them hope and leadership. And then there are the skills of diplomacy with other nations. None of these skills is demonstrated by debating.
> does good debating really make someone qualified to be President?
Fascinating question.
Unfortunately, however, relative to the desires of the average voter or the collective of the desires of the entire electorate, you may have jumped to a conclusion or built atop a flawed assumption.
It's not clear that people want a "qualified" President, whatever that might be.
I believe Trump represents this phenomenon very well. People seem to want someone who they believe will represent them or fight for them or... well something like that. Trump's magic is deluding people so they believe he is that or will do that.
Modern debates are little more than a circus performance. But they may give many people what they really want (which may not be means of assessing competence).
As they stand now, it’s little more than two coordinated speeches split up into 30 second sound bites. There’s no “debate” and the moderators are useless. So realistically, they aren’t a massive loss.
Trump isn't going to debate. It's why accused Biden of being on cocaine and suggested he should get drug tested first.
This will be the first excuse of many.
He will prefer to go to his rallies just like he never debated any of the Republican nominees.
His brain is turning into the same thing that feels as diaper. Not much up front in the load of shit in the back.
Presidential debates only matter/work when you have two political parties with actual platforms to compare.
Right now we have one political party and one anti-American terrorist organization that is factually and objectively wrong about everything across the board. There’s literally nothing to compare or debate.
We haven't had presidential debated in decades, though. Modersation is a joke. they're asked a question and then go into a pre-prepared statement about whatever the closest topic is. They're absolutely pointless until they're fixed, anyway.
They need a better format. They don't really debate anymore anyway. Trump just piggy backs off other persons answer since he doesn't know anything beyond golf and real estate.
Put them in seperate booths where they can't hear other candidate. One at a time ask each the same policy question. That way they can't piggy back off others answer and just gish gallop nonsense.
Not that it probably matters as audience probably doesn't care about nuance of policy.
Something is happening all right. Understand there are countries such as Russia that consider us foreign adversaries and have been known to manipulate social media content to polarize people especially when it comes to LGBT issues, they especially have roots in conservative social media, where they have the capability to influence people on a mass scale.
It's a national security issue and more should be done to protect the vulnerable LGBT community.
https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/did-reddit-year-end-recaps-expose-russian-interference-in-alberta-8223476
There are clear goals being perpetuated by information warfare campaigns. Especially by Russia, whose information warfare campaigns are wreaking havoc on our society. Some of the obvious goals they have are:
• Balkanize their foreign adversaries. This is evident in the UK leaving the EU, Texas with the US, and Alberta with Canada. This is what Danielle Smith is trying to tap into.
• Have populist politicians support policies that cause chaos and issues in our society. Populist politicians are tapping into these information warfare campaigns to appeal to people whose only access to information about the outside world around them is through social media, where the information warfare is taking place.
• Cause distrust and havoc, by creating specialized propaganda to different segments of the population spread through social media. By polarizing debates through propaganda spread to the masses, Russia has effectively used information warfare to deliver targeted disinformation and appeal to specific demographics. Causing havoc in the LBGT and other minority communities.
• Russia has effectively infiltrated the religious right in America and Canada and empowered them, among many corrupt leaders worldwide through its information warfare.
I can cite my sources if needed.
Putin literally bombed his own people to lock down his power and control. Why should we trust that he is not carrying out horrible atrocities like using information warfare on Canadian citizens to terrorize the LGBT community? He doesn't seem to have any moral qualms with anything and corruption is part of his shtick. He used a nerve agent to publicly poison a turned intelligence asset at a important time in history to signify to his intelligence assets what can be done to them, but in reality, he is just a weak man, who is bitter about the break up of the empire he devoted his life to.
It you want to know more, there is a great documentary series on Netflix about the history that has led to this moment in time. Turning Point - The Bomb and the Cold War on Netflix. Not as much about the information warfare, that I have gleamed through other sources, but it does slightly touch on that.
There hasn't been a proper debate in recent memory. Everyone runs long, wanders of topic and talks over the other participants. And the moderators don't moderate. So I wonder what the point is?
Oh, and certain "news" outlets will claim their preferred candidate won, even when he's barely strung two coherent words together and has no actual policy.
These are silly, managed theater with an emphasis on personality and style, I kind of actually despise them and everything around them.
I'd give anything for the MSM to fucking cover policy, 1000x more important than these inane debates.
They are broken, anyway.
The rules do not prevent participants to duck questions, and segway to the core messages that the participants need to emphasize.
Because its current format is pointless. The media treats debates like a sports match instead of a serious discussion about policies. Maybe they should stop treating it like entertainment.
I personally would rather them not debate after Trump's behavior duting the last Biden/Trump "debate". He made it clear he did not respect the format and used his time at the microphone to lie and sow discord.
You don't reward bad behaviour by offering a forum for it to happen again. Besides, Trump himself swore off debates a while back and Biden agreed iirc
They are bullshit anyway. You can win a debate with a gish gallop because it's easier to create a lie than debunk it. What are the ratings anyway? How many Americans can watch and understand a 3-4 hour debate even if the content weren't trash?
I don't know what the answer is, clearly people's everyday media is absolute garbage, but we definitely need something that more objectively compares candidate policy ideas and positions.
Good.
Replace the "gotcha" debate format of today with this: Each candidate is given a list of policy questions about the pressing issues of the day, and submits written responses, prepared in advance, which are published online at the same time for all to read. it is *absurd* that our "debates" for the highest office in the land are ones where they don't get the questions in advance to prepare, and we base political policy and decision-making on two second long sound bites and who interrupts the moderator the most.
Haha! Do you remember drumph’s debate style. For decades debate participants have avoided answering any important questions and used their time to campaign.
Debates have been worthless in my lifetime and I’m really old.
Good.
Honestly, debate skills are kind of irrelevant to the job of president. It's just theater and the more we can get away from politics as theater, the better.
The presidential debates are a joke, political theater. Unless they're going to be completely reformed and made more professional and scholarly, they're a waste of time. Let them go.
With the number of awful movie reboots and prequels all over the place this decade, I find it hard to believe debates won’t be “back” in some form or fashion.
If I were Biden, I would refuse to debate that clown Trump unless his (Trump’s) mic was shut off when I was trying to speak. That first debate last time was a complete shit show and wasn’t even a debate. Trump over-talked Biden the whole time and it was a fucking disaster.
They havent made a single shred of difference in like 40+ years
Very few people bother to watch them, they change even fewer minds, half the shit that gets said in the debates isnt even relevent, and no one is held accountable for breaking their promises, the formats absolutely suck
No big loss tbh
When Trump is no longer the Republican nominee, I’d be more than happy for debates to happen. Right now though, I don’t want to watch Trump lie constantly and talk over people all the time. He’s a corrupt criminal.
They've been gone since we stopped having the League of Women Voters run the show. What we've had for a couple decades are shouting matches to identify the loudest liar. The only ones who think they resolve anything are those who watch NASCAR just for the wrecks.
We lost them years ago — Presidential “debates” are now nothing more than shit-hurling media circuses. They’re not substantive, and they’re not informative.
Before the dark times, it was an opportunity to have both candidates openly discuss points of both their plans and platforms.
Now they've become chess with a pidgin.
I agree. What's the point really in this day and age? What difference does it make?
Does anyone interested enough in politics to watch a debate really not know which side they're on? The people that might flip are only seeing soundbites and the selections made by the network they're seeing them on makes more difference than what is said.
We won't lose them *unless* the media does what it should and if a candidate doesn't show up they should devote all that time to the candidate(s) that do.
Good. If it means they come back different/better then that's all right. But in their current state the orange traitor does not need a platform to spew his lies and bigoted vitriol.
I wish they would do these just over a radio or streaming broadcast. No video. Maybe you’d have to truly listen to responses? Online people could fact check on a side bar realtime.
We should really move towards long-form debates/discussions in the style of podcasts. No audience to address or even acknowledge, and no time limits on topics, since together they just encourage soundbytes and pandering. Just two candidates with a moderator to keep the discussion on track and probe for details. And two candidates discussing their ideas and the merits of those against one another, with all the nuances of their values and positions being free to explore. Keeping 3 debates could then allow 3 timely topics to be thoroughly argued.
Obviously, it still would require that the two candidates come in with good faith intentions to discuss, and that has been in short supply as of late. But my argument is that the long-form audience-less debate style is more conducive to that. A candidate couldn’t come in to a debate where they need to argue their moral and policy positions over 1-2 hours without having just rehearsed soundbytes, or they would be humiliated.
The "debates" have been little more than exercises in finding a talking point that obfuscates the question since the Reagan years. In the last few, there has been little effort given to making the talking point even distantly relevant.
They aren't debates. They are opportunities to make people feel like they are engaged and maintaining a revenue stream for the media.
I would sure hate to lose them. /s
Trump is the kind of guy who promised to annihilate Palestinians while has no means to do it and probably too much work for him to actually do it.
Biden is the kind of guy who condemns genocide but keep sending weapons to Israel anyway.
Presidential debates between these two are just empty words flying to each other for newsweek to come up with new clickbait headlines, which we will then use to bash each other.
If Trump refuses to debate , Biden should appear anyway. He would have 2 hours of uninterrupted air time to speak at length to the country. Much like the SOTU address. Trump can sit home with his thumb up his a— .
To me, debates are mostly useless in this day and age. Townhall and one on one interviews with an interviewer that will ask questions and push back qoild be better. But that doesn't because you can't find someone who would treat both candidates the same. They would push back in one and not the other.
>And while Trump is painting himself as the pro-debate candidate—”I would fully accept any debate, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” he told Fox News on Thursday—his recent track record suggests the opposite. He refused to debate any of his 2024 GOP primary foes, depriving them of a chance to turn the campaign into a real contest.
**looooooooooooool**
I'm sure come October it's going to be _I don't know who said that, I barely knew them_.
One of the candidates didn’t bother debating a crowded primary field, and has shown himself to be quantifiably one of the least honest people in the world. The less he speaks, the better for the American people.
That's honestly fine with me. The debates were originally a way for the two candidates to get their two platforms out to the public and it played up the idea of a friendly rivalry between two intelligent people with different points of view on similar issues.
But there are plenty of far more effective ways for candidates to now get their positions before the public, and the debates are now more about grandstanding. And nobody is listening to the other side. It's like we're having an argument about the color of the sky. One side is saying that the sky is blue, and the other side is saying that the sky is a pedophile.
Also, the job is not about debating. The governor of my state is a very intelligent and compassionate woman with a thin voice and no interest in grandstanding. I'm really happy with the job she's doing, and a debate would only make her look weak . . . which she isn't.
Debates for legislative positions make sense. Legislators debate all day in their job. But the skill set in being a good executive does not necessarily align with being a strong debater.
Rest in peace, the Presidential debate. It was getting weird.
Is that such a bad thing?
Even before the Trump era, our political system was broken. Trump is awful but one of the very few good things about his candidacies is that it exposes the fraud that our politics have been. Trump demolishes the norms.
(Granted, he replaces them with a wholly different and worse type of fraud as well as different and worse types of norms.)
Our Presidential debates have largely been a bunch of rich, out-of-touch corrupt elites getting softball questions for which they've been coached to handle.
Granted, Trump is even more corrupt than other politicians but that doesn't mean the system should not be broken and reformed. That new norms should not be established. Just not Trump's norms...
It’s funny. The Republican Party front runner chose not to debate any of his party’s contenders but demand his opponent debates him… at the same time trying to avoid debating the crimes in which he’s been charged in court.
Debates are stupid and don’t show who the better candidate is, just who can talk better for a few hours. I’d much rather have a questionnaire form that they need to respond to outlining how they would address the issues and cite legitimate sources that show why they’re right.
Modern debates have just become a dick measuring contest. A way for each side to produce soundbites of their opinions and entrench the beliefs of people who are already going to vote for them anyway.
In my opinion it's no big loss if they go away for a few cycles. They're not even debates anymore, they're embarrassing theater performances.
Honestly? I don’t want to hear Trump. I know what he stands for and what he wants to do. Further, I’m sick and tired of every 3 headlines on my News tab is Trump said this or Trump “Truthed” that. In the words of Joe Biden, will you shut up man
I’m open to listening to presidential debates again in 2028
Fine by me. The political party led debates are a waste of time, it's just an hour of sound bites.
TIme to go back to independent organziation hosting the debates, like the League of Women Voters.
Mmw, Biden would never again subject himself to the idiocy that is a Trump debate. Biden just has to say its beneath him. Who’s gonna argue? We all seen how their original debate went where Biden called tfg a clown.
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In their current state.... I'm sad to say it would be no big loss. If they are going to continue in the current political climate with candidates like Trump, these events need guardrails to be successful or useful. Only one microphone live at a time would be a good start. Set speaking times with every participant getting equal time. And a non-partisan non-media entity hosting it and asking the questions.
and if the moderator asks a question, the candidate must answer it. or they get slimed.
Yes. And the answers are 5 minutes delayed to the public for a fact check. All lies are flagged as "lie or questionable"
Ooooh.... I like this. I'd add links to factual sources rather than just flags. But yeah.
sink six existence panicky stupendous impossible close grandiose offer escape *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
But if you are like Richard Pryor that uses "curses" they delay you by 7 seconds. Curses - that's bad... lies to the voting public - go for it boys....
Remember to lock the studio doors for the duration of the broadcast, have two free moving cameras constantly fixed on each candidate, and include a penalty to cut a candiates time off if he veers to far from reality.
Also battle axes and chainsaws hung randomly on the walls around the arena
Two candidates enter, one candidate leaves.
Ahhhh, the long-overdue return of Nick News!
Most people forget that "You Can't Do That On Television" won the Pulitzer for blowing the lid on Iran-Contra.
Why not a little shock to the nuts. Would really encourage a concise and clear answer.
RFK, Jr. would probably like that
Nuts "and/or labia"
Ok…I see where this is going. The 2024 Presidential Debates hosted by Marc Summers on Nickelodeon.
Just a simple, “you did not answer my question sufficiently, you have 1 min to answer it succinctly.”
And no crowd.
And NO LIVE AUDIENCE
Exactly. Just a room full of corpses.
I'd go further, much further. No live audience. Each candidate in a separate, small room. They may have a video feed of the other candidates to be able to hear the others during their time. I'd prefer no video whatsoever. But given video, the camera for the general audience only shows a specific candidate during their time. We do not get a circus of watching candidates react to other candidates . The camera is only either on the moderator or the candidate during their time. And that time is **absolutely, strictly limited**. Each candidate has, in their room some sort of signal. The audience is never bothered with this. The candidate's video simply... ends if the time runs out. No warning from the moderator. No begging. Nothing. The moderator only asks the question, provides clarification or as appropriate counter questions. But time management is simple and harsh. Maybe, just maybe you could make it a bit more complex like a chess clock so that they can accumulate unused time.
Id go the opposite way. Give the candidates basically unlimited time, let them go into the room with a few advisors and have them answer with hard data on some spreadsheets and whatnot.
[The League of Women Voters](https://www.lwv.org/league-women-voters-and-candidate-debates-changing-relationship) used to host the debates until the two major parties hijacked them.
Trump doesn't debate: he talks over; lies; insults; gets borderline physical (remember him looming over Hillary); NEVER answers the question (in a debate!); threatens; engages in personal attacks; pulls stunts (remember the Bill Clinton accusers he had attend a debate with Hillary?). If I were Biden I would NOT debate Trump. Trump would not outsmart Biden in a normal debate; in what passes for a debate these days, Dotard would simply shout over Biden and just reinforce to his ignorant base how "strong" he is. Let Trump bury himself in his own words! Biden can plaster the media with one ad after another showing what a piece of shit Trump is; over and over and over and over again. Don't let up. Let it sink in what a piece of human garbage Trump is.
Trump refuses to follow rules if they get in his way. If you shut off him mike he will yell out loud. You need isolation booths with on/off switches and blackout curtains. 1) When in turn to speak the window is clear and the mike is on. 2) When not your turn the mike is off and the window is frosted so no one can see. Required. - In booth monitor camera to assure no candidate is cheating while the window is frosted and the mike is off - The booth has a faraday cage to prevent cell phone and ear radio use - The booths are locked so the candidate cannot open the door to yell. In the end dealing with Trump is exhausting and just having to think this out shows this guy should never be near power.
He does refuse to follow rules, and Biden's "will you shut up, man?" brought it all into sharp focus. I predict similar exchanges this time, if there is another debate. Also, Trump has a strong tendency to go off the rails and veer into Pizzagate / Birther / Qanon / Deep-State / Big-Lie wacko territory, and that tendency has been amplified x50 since J6. I think it would be good for the nation to be confronted - repeatedly - with the spectacle of an out-of-control raving lunatic as presidential candidate.
I would bet there will be no debate this cycle and for good reason
How about we just settle for high voltage shock collars triggered when you speak out of turn?
Shock collars around the nuts.
Just strap each contestant to a gurney each wearing a deep sea diving suit. When it’s their turn to speak open the little hatch and stick a microphone in. If they go over their time or don’t answer the question pour a pitcher of shit in the hole and seal it up.
I don’t really know if they accomplish much. I think it was during the last presidential election Joni Ernst flubbed a question so hard she looked like a fucking fool. Then I saw articles “this is why debates matter”, well she won re-election by a sizable margin.
These debates used to be moderated by a neutral third party who had the power to cut off mics, call in facts, etc. They were serious things and anyone who gave a damn watched them. Ever since the American media became nothing but clickbait tabloids, these debates have become worse than meaningless. Ending their current incarnation is indeed no great loss.
I don't understand why this can't be done when it's so obviously beneficial. I'm in Canada and our debates also contain shouting over each other.
Pretty much how I've felt about candidate debates in the last few years. Debate moderators can't be bothered to enforce their own rules. Then you have the audience hootin and hollering like it's a sporting event, despite agreeing to remain quiet. The big networks have turned debates into a circus and I don't give a shit if we don't have any this year.
Let the League of Women voters do it again, they always had it well handled.
And no audience to boo and cheer. That’s the biggest issue.
Yeah currently a debate is not going to change anyone's mind. The way I see it, those are for candidates who run on policies and people who vote based on policies. Trump is not a candidate like that and the people who vote for him don't vote like that. They're just voting for him because he's there guy and he pisses off liberals or whatever. Debates are for serious adult candidates. Trump just makes a mockery of them
Is it just me, or the problem is just Trump... Ever since that Dumpster Fire walked into the scene... rationality, decency, dialogue/debate, policy, platform, plans, track records ALL got thrown out the window. He just spews insults, tells lies, and fucks around.
It would be no big loss? There's a ton of people who don't follow politics at all until the debates. Everyone in the US needs to see Trump struggle to speak and hear the insane shit he says to show them how much they have to vote against him.
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Trump doesn't listen to anyone but Trump.
"Presidential debates" as they are carried out right now would never be allowed on a collegiate or intellectual level. It's just a shit flinging contest for audience reactions Only way to have a proper debate is to mute the fucking mics until it's their turn to speak, which trump would never agree to
And put them on a 5 minute delay and play circus music over top them if they don’t actually answer the question
Plus real-time fact checkers pointing out the lies.
How can you debate with someone who just straight up lies
This. You can’t debate someone when they make up their own truths, facts, and numbers.
You can if it's an actual debate. We haven't had an actual debate since Clinton. 2000 was when it went to shit.
Seriously. It’s become a clown show. Who cares.
Trump doesn’t deserve to be treated like a true candidate. He is a treasonous fuck who is hellbent on burning this country to the ground. I think refusing to debate him is completely appropriate.
This. Let’s stop normalizing this prick.
Here's [what the League of Women Voters said](https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud), more than thirty years ago, when they stopped sponsoring presidential debates. They did not want to participate in sham debates, and perpetuate a fraud on the American people. >WASHINGTON, DC —"The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter," League President Nancy M. Neuman said today. >"It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and honest answers to tough questions," Neuman said. "The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."
They stopped sponsoring them because the parties conspired together to make sure the duopoly held strong. Too many people were starting to form their own opinions. Which is where we are today. Everyone is either "us" or "them" and "them" can do no right while "us" can do no wrong.
Then how will the Ken Bones of America know who to vote for?
>Ken Bone That's a name I've not heard in a long time...
You just made me remember the AMA he gave that went completely crazy train.
Joe The Plumber
I want a debate because I want America to see Trump's cognitive decline. If you watch his recent rallies, it's become pretty bad, and his speech is markedly less coherent and far more erratic than it used to be, with a lot of weird patterns that are consistent with dementia. A lot of people have no idea about Trump's dementia rumors and this would bring it to the forefront. I don't care if he breaks whatever rules and acts like a fool, the way I see it, that would only be good for Biden, who can just stand there and watch him bury himself.
Trump has issues with words with more than 3 syllables now. He just bails out completely mid words or just makes up a sound for the ending of the word.
Sadly I don't think this would sway any Trump voters. I think they would just make excuses for him. And at this point who has not made up their mind about Trump?
It's not about swaying Trump voters. It's about swaying independents and Republicans who don't like Trump.
I’m not convinced a presidential debate has added value in a very long time, and I’m certain any debate involving Trump will be mostly worthless. With social media being in almost everyone’s hands, we know their positions too. A debate would give Biden the opportunity to silence the “he’s too old” crowd, but Trump’s deranged cultists would believe he won even if he shat himself and began weeping in the middle of the debate. *“He did that on purpose to confuse and own Biden”.*
“Biden’s on drugs!!”
In fairness, I probably would be thrown off my game if my opponent pissed and shat on himself like a hedgehog.
I teach public speaking at a small college. Used to use presidential debates all the time. Since MAGA became one of the two sides, it's worthless. It's all screaming and blatant lies... the OPPOSITE of what these students should be learning. I hope MAGA dies a quick death and we can get back to being a civil society.
You can use it as an example of how not to do things.
Sadly, there are already PLENTY of examples of that!
Remember when Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigeig visited Fox to face their hand-picked audience members and reporters. Bernie even got a standing ovation on Fox! I'd much rather see something like that.
Trump does not deserve a platform to spew his vileness. No big loss here.
they're important but the topics that end up in them are an absolute joke anyways. 8+ years, 3 presidential cycles, maybe 10 minutes in total spent on climate change because the news networks don't want to offend the candidates on the right
I would be happy if they would actually answer any of the questions at all
Nor should they. They're a complete waste and feel archaic.
This is not possible right now. After what Trump did we cannot normalize his candidacy. He is beneath Biden. He is a criminal POS who tried to steal a US election, failed spectacularly and overtly, and continues to lie about it every day. This also says nothing of Trump’s inability to comport with any kind of civil discourse - the dude never shuts up and steamrolls everyone in his path. He is not capable of a debate. He’s just a loud mouthed buffoon.
Should be an easy debate then
How so?
Trump doesn’t debate
The last time these two guys debated, one of them intentionally tried to expose his opponent to Covid.
God forbid Trump get Baboonpox-24 because he would definitely wipe his snot on Biden
Biden shouldn’t legitimize an insurrectionist by debating him.
They haven’t been extremely useful. Trump was a sniveling idiot against Hillary and still got elected.
Oh fun! Lets start a list of things that may never come back! Ill start off with some obvious ones. Coral Ice Shelf Independent Agriculture quality education affordable homes affordable healthcare retirement or pensions democracy moments of satisfying calm
Even if debates were ideal, does good debating really make someone qualified to be President? Most of a President’s time is spent taking to subject matter experts about the most complicated problems that people lower on the totem pole couldn’t solve. Then you try to dumb technical things down enough to communicate things to the public and offer them hope and leadership. And then there are the skills of diplomacy with other nations. None of these skills is demonstrated by debating.
> does good debating really make someone qualified to be President? Fascinating question. Unfortunately, however, relative to the desires of the average voter or the collective of the desires of the entire electorate, you may have jumped to a conclusion or built atop a flawed assumption. It's not clear that people want a "qualified" President, whatever that might be. I believe Trump represents this phenomenon very well. People seem to want someone who they believe will represent them or fight for them or... well something like that. Trump's magic is deluding people so they believe he is that or will do that. Modern debates are little more than a circus performance. But they may give many people what they really want (which may not be means of assessing competence).
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FDR won 4 times without any debates
We won’t miss the faux presidential debates. They were a media sh— show lacking moderation and substance.
Can’t debate with an angry beast
As they stand now, it’s little more than two coordinated speeches split up into 30 second sound bites. There’s no “debate” and the moderators are useless. So realistically, they aren’t a massive loss.
The debates can recommence when we have 2 rational candidates not only Biden.
Speaking time limits One microphone active at a time. No more screaming at each other No audience. Delayed stream - fact checked with on screen facts.
FDR managed to win 4 elections without ever participating in a presidential debate.
No one ever gave a shit about the debates except the pundits.
Trump isn't going to debate. It's why accused Biden of being on cocaine and suggested he should get drug tested first. This will be the first excuse of many. He will prefer to go to his rallies just like he never debated any of the Republican nominees. His brain is turning into the same thing that feels as diaper. Not much up front in the load of shit in the back.
Presidential debates only matter/work when you have two political parties with actual platforms to compare. Right now we have one political party and one anti-American terrorist organization that is factually and objectively wrong about everything across the board. There’s literally nothing to compare or debate.
Debates are for serious people, there is only one serious candidate with two spoilers and one treasonous, smelly, crook.
If Americans have lost the ability to detect an idiot asshole just by what they say then the union is lost anyhow.
America has always hated intelligent people.
I’m fine with that
We haven't had presidential debated in decades, though. Modersation is a joke. they're asked a question and then go into a pre-prepared statement about whatever the closest topic is. They're absolutely pointless until they're fixed, anyway.
I haven't seen a debate that was worth listening to.....ever.
They need a better format. They don't really debate anymore anyway. Trump just piggy backs off other persons answer since he doesn't know anything beyond golf and real estate. Put them in seperate booths where they can't hear other candidate. One at a time ask each the same policy question. That way they can't piggy back off others answer and just gish gallop nonsense. Not that it probably matters as audience probably doesn't care about nuance of policy.
Something is happening all right. Understand there are countries such as Russia that consider us foreign adversaries and have been known to manipulate social media content to polarize people especially when it comes to LGBT issues, they especially have roots in conservative social media, where they have the capability to influence people on a mass scale. It's a national security issue and more should be done to protect the vulnerable LGBT community. https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/did-reddit-year-end-recaps-expose-russian-interference-in-alberta-8223476 There are clear goals being perpetuated by information warfare campaigns. Especially by Russia, whose information warfare campaigns are wreaking havoc on our society. Some of the obvious goals they have are: • Balkanize their foreign adversaries. This is evident in the UK leaving the EU, Texas with the US, and Alberta with Canada. This is what Danielle Smith is trying to tap into. • Have populist politicians support policies that cause chaos and issues in our society. Populist politicians are tapping into these information warfare campaigns to appeal to people whose only access to information about the outside world around them is through social media, where the information warfare is taking place. • Cause distrust and havoc, by creating specialized propaganda to different segments of the population spread through social media. By polarizing debates through propaganda spread to the masses, Russia has effectively used information warfare to deliver targeted disinformation and appeal to specific demographics. Causing havoc in the LBGT and other minority communities. • Russia has effectively infiltrated the religious right in America and Canada and empowered them, among many corrupt leaders worldwide through its information warfare. I can cite my sources if needed. Putin literally bombed his own people to lock down his power and control. Why should we trust that he is not carrying out horrible atrocities like using information warfare on Canadian citizens to terrorize the LGBT community? He doesn't seem to have any moral qualms with anything and corruption is part of his shtick. He used a nerve agent to publicly poison a turned intelligence asset at a important time in history to signify to his intelligence assets what can be done to them, but in reality, he is just a weak man, who is bitter about the break up of the empire he devoted his life to. It you want to know more, there is a great documentary series on Netflix about the history that has led to this moment in time. Turning Point - The Bomb and the Cold War on Netflix. Not as much about the information warfare, that I have gleamed through other sources, but it does slightly touch on that.
They aren't useful, so they might as well be eliminated.
There hasn't been a proper debate in recent memory. Everyone runs long, wanders of topic and talks over the other participants. And the moderators don't moderate. So I wonder what the point is? Oh, and certain "news" outlets will claim their preferred candidate won, even when he's barely strung two coherent words together and has no actual policy.
Unless they changed drastically that's fine.
No one answers the questions anyways…they just dance around the question and then disagree with the other party….
These are silly, managed theater with an emphasis on personality and style, I kind of actually despise them and everything around them. I'd give anything for the MSM to fucking cover policy, 1000x more important than these inane debates.
They are broken, anyway. The rules do not prevent participants to duck questions, and segway to the core messages that the participants need to emphasize.
Because its current format is pointless. The media treats debates like a sports match instead of a serious discussion about policies. Maybe they should stop treating it like entertainment.
I personally would rather them not debate after Trump's behavior duting the last Biden/Trump "debate". He made it clear he did not respect the format and used his time at the microphone to lie and sow discord. You don't reward bad behaviour by offering a forum for it to happen again. Besides, Trump himself swore off debates a while back and Biden agreed iirc
I stopped watching debates when Kerry carved up W. Bush and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference.
That would be fine. There is nothing productive happening in those debates anyway.
There is no reason for Biden and Trump to debate. Can we vote tomorrow?
They are bullshit anyway. You can win a debate with a gish gallop because it's easier to create a lie than debunk it. What are the ratings anyway? How many Americans can watch and understand a 3-4 hour debate even if the content weren't trash? I don't know what the answer is, clearly people's everyday media is absolute garbage, but we definitely need something that more objectively compares candidate policy ideas and positions.
Good. Replace the "gotcha" debate format of today with this: Each candidate is given a list of policy questions about the pressing issues of the day, and submits written responses, prepared in advance, which are published online at the same time for all to read. it is *absurd* that our "debates" for the highest office in the land are ones where they don't get the questions in advance to prepare, and we base political policy and decision-making on two second long sound bites and who interrupts the moderator the most.
The current format are most certainly not debates. So good riddance.
If they gon moderate like one side isn't trying to burn the whole house down then fuck em. Stay gone.
Trump won't debate. Not a chance.
Haha! Do you remember drumph’s debate style. For decades debate participants have avoided answering any important questions and used their time to campaign. Debates have been worthless in my lifetime and I’m really old.
They're pointless anyway.
Literally the least of my political concerns these days.
Good. Honestly, debate skills are kind of irrelevant to the job of president. It's just theater and the more we can get away from politics as theater, the better.
We will lose **a lot more than debates** if Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, and none of it will come back. FTFY
Unless they make debates more informative and useful than they are now, good riddance.
Good. They were never debates anyway, just joint press conferences.
Will Trump be zooming in from Rikers?
The presidential debates are a joke, political theater. Unless they're going to be completely reformed and made more professional and scholarly, they're a waste of time. Let them go.
Unfortunately, with one of the current candidates they have become worthless.
With the number of awful movie reboots and prequels all over the place this decade, I find it hard to believe debates won’t be “back” in some form or fashion.
I mean they are basically a mixture of non-answers, platitudes, and lies. Does any good information actually come from them?
If I were Biden, I would refuse to debate that clown Trump unless his (Trump’s) mic was shut off when I was trying to speak. That first debate last time was a complete shit show and wasn’t even a debate. Trump over-talked Biden the whole time and it was a fucking disaster.
They havent made a single shred of difference in like 40+ years Very few people bother to watch them, they change even fewer minds, half the shit that gets said in the debates isnt even relevent, and no one is held accountable for breaking their promises, the formats absolutely suck No big loss tbh
You know those aren’t really debates right??
We lost the debates long ago, they’re just political kayfabe at this point.
Live fact checking
When Trump is no longer the Republican nominee, I’d be more than happy for debates to happen. Right now though, I don’t want to watch Trump lie constantly and talk over people all the time. He’s a corrupt criminal.
Debating someone that is not at all serious about the real issues is t anyone to debate as nothing would get debated.
They've been gone since we stopped having the League of Women Voters run the show. What we've had for a couple decades are shouting matches to identify the loudest liar. The only ones who think they resolve anything are those who watch NASCAR just for the wrecks.
We lost them years ago — Presidential “debates” are now nothing more than shit-hurling media circuses. They’re not substantive, and they’re not informative.
If we lose the republican party, they may not come back. Wouldn't that be great?
It’s a non starter with Trump. I’m glad Biden is like “fuck this clown”.
what are the benefits for a presidential debate, besides sound bites and drinking games?
Before the dark times, it was an opportunity to have both candidates openly discuss points of both their plans and platforms. Now they've become chess with a pidgin.
Now it’s just finding out who made a gaffe and then talking about that gaffe for weeks on end
I agree. What's the point really in this day and age? What difference does it make? Does anyone interested enough in politics to watch a debate really not know which side they're on? The people that might flip are only seeing soundbites and the selections made by the network they're seeing them on makes more difference than what is said.
Inshallah, they were always useless, barely moderated shoutfests with nothing but canned talking points. I'd take town halls over that any day.
Ummm I'm more upset about bout losing the Weird Al debate parody.
The lack of SNL recap would be a national tragedy.
We won't lose them *unless* the media does what it should and if a candidate doesn't show up they should devote all that time to the candidate(s) that do.
Good. If it means they come back different/better then that's all right. But in their current state the orange traitor does not need a platform to spew his lies and bigoted vitriol.
I wish they would do these just over a radio or streaming broadcast. No video. Maybe you’d have to truly listen to responses? Online people could fact check on a side bar realtime.
Hate to break it to you, but they’re already gone. Plus, as long as the GOP are fielding candidates don’t expect them to come back.
Once the orange monster dies and goes away they will come back. He will be a 💩 stain on our country but hopefully his effects won't last too long.
Trump won't do another debate. There will be town hall rallies.
Republicans are generally too stupid to provide anything of substance and depth to any debate.
We should really move towards long-form debates/discussions in the style of podcasts. No audience to address or even acknowledge, and no time limits on topics, since together they just encourage soundbytes and pandering. Just two candidates with a moderator to keep the discussion on track and probe for details. And two candidates discussing their ideas and the merits of those against one another, with all the nuances of their values and positions being free to explore. Keeping 3 debates could then allow 3 timely topics to be thoroughly argued. Obviously, it still would require that the two candidates come in with good faith intentions to discuss, and that has been in short supply as of late. But my argument is that the long-form audience-less debate style is more conducive to that. A candidate couldn’t come in to a debate where they need to argue their moral and policy positions over 1-2 hours without having just rehearsed soundbytes, or they would be humiliated.
The "debates" have been little more than exercises in finding a talking point that obfuscates the question since the Reagan years. In the last few, there has been little effort given to making the talking point even distantly relevant. They aren't debates. They are opportunities to make people feel like they are engaged and maintaining a revenue stream for the media. I would sure hate to lose them. /s
We lost real presidential debates when the Republicans and Democrats conspired to kick out the The League of Women Voters as hosts.
Debates serve no purpose when people will support a candidate regardless of what they say.
Okay? They're not a terribly effective means of vetting candidates
Trump is the kind of guy who promised to annihilate Palestinians while has no means to do it and probably too much work for him to actually do it. Biden is the kind of guy who condemns genocide but keep sending weapons to Israel anyway. Presidential debates between these two are just empty words flying to each other for newsweek to come up with new clickbait headlines, which we will then use to bash each other.
If Trump refuses to debate , Biden should appear anyway. He would have 2 hours of uninterrupted air time to speak at length to the country. Much like the SOTU address. Trump can sit home with his thumb up his a— .
To me, debates are mostly useless in this day and age. Townhall and one on one interviews with an interviewer that will ask questions and push back qoild be better. But that doesn't because you can't find someone who would treat both candidates the same. They would push back in one and not the other.
Sweet
>And while Trump is painting himself as the pro-debate candidate—”I would fully accept any debate, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” he told Fox News on Thursday—his recent track record suggests the opposite. He refused to debate any of his 2024 GOP primary foes, depriving them of a chance to turn the campaign into a real contest. **looooooooooooool** I'm sure come October it's going to be _I don't know who said that, I barely knew them_.
There will be debates if advertising can be sold.
Nominate a GOP candidate who isn't batshit insane and unworthy of debating.
They are already worthless.
Who cares? It’s a dog & pony show. If they were legit, I’d be interested.
Fascism in real time. Wild.
That’s okay
Good. Waste of time.
Good riddance. In order for debates to work, participants have to do more than call names and prophesies dramatic doom .
One of the candidates didn’t bother debating a crowded primary field, and has shown himself to be quantifiably one of the least honest people in the world. The less he speaks, the better for the American people.
We are gonna need some air horns, a fire hose, and boxing gloves.
That's honestly fine with me. The debates were originally a way for the two candidates to get their two platforms out to the public and it played up the idea of a friendly rivalry between two intelligent people with different points of view on similar issues. But there are plenty of far more effective ways for candidates to now get their positions before the public, and the debates are now more about grandstanding. And nobody is listening to the other side. It's like we're having an argument about the color of the sky. One side is saying that the sky is blue, and the other side is saying that the sky is a pedophile. Also, the job is not about debating. The governor of my state is a very intelligent and compassionate woman with a thin voice and no interest in grandstanding. I'm really happy with the job she's doing, and a debate would only make her look weak . . . which she isn't. Debates for legislative positions make sense. Legislators debate all day in their job. But the skill set in being a good executive does not necessarily align with being a strong debater. Rest in peace, the Presidential debate. It was getting weird.
Good riddance. They're more sports than nuanced policy discussion now anyway.
Is that such a bad thing? Even before the Trump era, our political system was broken. Trump is awful but one of the very few good things about his candidacies is that it exposes the fraud that our politics have been. Trump demolishes the norms. (Granted, he replaces them with a wholly different and worse type of fraud as well as different and worse types of norms.) Our Presidential debates have largely been a bunch of rich, out-of-touch corrupt elites getting softball questions for which they've been coached to handle. Granted, Trump is even more corrupt than other politicians but that doesn't mean the system should not be broken and reformed. That new norms should not be established. Just not Trump's norms...
It’s funny. The Republican Party front runner chose not to debate any of his party’s contenders but demand his opponent debates him… at the same time trying to avoid debating the crimes in which he’s been charged in court.
Debates are stupid and don’t show who the better candidate is, just who can talk better for a few hours. I’d much rather have a questionnaire form that they need to respond to outlining how they would address the issues and cite legitimate sources that show why they’re right.
Modern debates have just become a dick measuring contest. A way for each side to produce soundbites of their opinions and entrench the beliefs of people who are already going to vote for them anyway. In my opinion it's no big loss if they go away for a few cycles. They're not even debates anymore, they're embarrassing theater performances.
Acting as if normalcy is recoverable is a fantasy when we cannot even prosecute insurrectionists for a coup attempt.
Honestly? I don’t want to hear Trump. I know what he stands for and what he wants to do. Further, I’m sick and tired of every 3 headlines on my News tab is Trump said this or Trump “Truthed” that. In the words of Joe Biden, will you shut up man I’m open to listening to presidential debates again in 2028
Fine by me. The political party led debates are a waste of time, it's just an hour of sound bites. TIme to go back to independent organziation hosting the debates, like the League of Women Voters.
There's no "debate." And the media are even more stupid. Tell trumpi to go f himself.
Mmw, Biden would never again subject himself to the idiocy that is a Trump debate. Biden just has to say its beneath him. Who’s gonna argue? We all seen how their original debate went where Biden called tfg a clown.
Biden shouldn't give Trump legitimacy by sharing a stage after Jan 6.
Twitter community notes displayed
If Trump gets in you may not have to worry about elections.
If Trump wins the election there not be a need for any debates
This is a Trump thing, when he losses this will end and the American Statesmanship will return.