{"id":1317405,"date":"2019-12-25T21:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T04:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/funt-column-democrats-debates-arent-helping-much\/"},"modified":"2019-12-25T21:40:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T04:40:00","slug":"funt-column-democrats-debates-arent-helping-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/funt-column-democrats-debates-arent-helping-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Funt column: Democrats\u2019 debates aren\u2019t helping much"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Maybe it\u2019s campaign fatigue or the time of year, but TV ratings for the Democrats\u2019 last two debates fell precipitously and the prospects for improvement in the Dec. 19 event are dim. Part of the problem is process. As Republicans learned in 2016, crowded debate stages and uneven moderating are frustrating to viewers \u2013 and candidates.<\/p>\n

So far this year, nearly 15 hours of debating among Democratic contenders has been largely unsatisfying. It\u2019s a difficult, imperfect process, but it can be better. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Use fewer moderators. While much is said about the crowd of candidates on stage, little is discussed regarding the number of moderators, which has proved to be a major problem. The first DNC debate back in June had five; last month\u2019s had four, as will the upcoming event in Los Angeles, which makes absolutely no journalistic sense. One or two moderators is ideal, but networks insist on squeezing more into each event simply to showcase their talent.<\/p>\n

An analysis of the transcripts shows that bouncing from one questioner to the next invariably means an abrupt change of topic, denying some candidates the opportunity to speak about the most important issues. For instance, when climate change came up last month only five of the 10 candidates were called upon; the topic of paid family leave was discussed by only four. Sen. Cory Booker chided moderators for leaving him out of a discussion about African American voters, noting, \u201cI\u2019ve been one since I was 18.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming event will have seven candidates and four moderators. That\u2019s more like a press conference than a debate.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Allow an undercard. The DNC wisely sought to avoid the mess Republicans created in 2016 when 17 candidates took part in a single debate. But Democrats rejected the GOP\u2019s solution which split the field into upper and lower tiers based on polling, with the lower-ranking candidates having their own separate debate. Although derided by some as a \u201ckiddie table,\u201d the arrangement gave marginal candidates, such as business executive Carly Fiorina, a chance to be heard and climb to the top group.<\/p>\n

A debate among second-tier Democrats would be useful. Voters might be interested to hear what recent entrants former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have to say \u2013 and they shouldn\u2019t have to travel to Iowa or New Hampshire to hear them say it. If low ratings are the problem, so what? Run the secondary debate online if necessary, but at least allow it.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Vary the format. I\u2019d like to see Democrats try a debate in which candidates come on stage one at a time, in an order determined by random draw, with the others waiting backstage in a sound-proof area. Each candidate is given the same three pointed questions concerning, say, tax policy, health care and climate. This approach allows everyone to address the main topics, without benefit of hearing what the others said. The questions should be framed to avoid stock answers. For example, rather than asking, \u201cWhat should be done about climate change?\u201d the question could be, \u201cDo you favor a tax on carbon, and if so how would you distribute the revenue?\u201d<\/p>\n

Once all candidates are on stage, the second segment could be a more free-wheeling discussion in which each candidate is asked about things the others said.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Dive deeper. Back in August the DNC voted against having any debates devoted to a single issue, a big mistake. If such an approach is too radical for Chairman Tom Perez and his committee, then why not try a debate with each half hour devoted to a major topic. That would allow some depth, force candidates to stay on point, and prevent moderators from drifting into meaningless questions.<\/p>\n

In last month\u2019s debate, businessman Andrew Yang was asked: \u201cIf elected, what would you say in a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin?\u201d Really? Yang got less time than any other candidate and then he\u2019s given that? His quick quip: \u201cI\u2019d say I\u2019m sorry I beat your guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Try fact-checking. It\u2019s too late to cut the number of moderators for this debate, but how about giving two of them new assignments? Start out with two moderators asking questions and the other two backstage doing fact-checks. For the final half hour these two journalists would come on stage to confront each candidate with their inaccurate or misleading statements.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ban Hand-Raising. Granted, raising one\u2019s hand is more polite than raising one\u2019s voice out of turn, but it\u2019s a distraction and candidates should be cautioned against doing it. In the last debate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was called on to speak five times before three of her competitors had uttered a single word.<\/p>\n

Until the general election when debates will be one-on-one, the process will never be perfect. But changes are needed at this stage to help, as pundits like to say, move the needle. On Dec. 19 I\u2019d like each candidate take a crack at this question: What, specifically, should the DNC resolve to do in the New Year to make debates more informative and compelling?<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe it\u2019s campaign fatigue or the time of year, but TV ratings for the Democrats\u2019 last two debates fell precipitously and the prospects for improvement in the Dec. 19 event are dim. Part of the problem is process. As Republicans learned in 2016, crowded debate stages and uneven moderating are frustrating to viewers \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 07:38:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}