Rather surprising....the Republican leadership finally said that the method by which Presidential debates have been run....is so corrupted....that there's no reason to continue the debates. Yeah, they left.
Some people want to suggest that the Lincoln-Douglas debate was the original situation....but this was simply a one-time episode....where two very capable guys met and had a even-handed debate situation. It ought to be noted....there was NO moderator. The two agreed on the format.....had a talking time limit, and it was rather simple.
For about a hundred years....we progressed without debates.
This attempt in 1956 to get Eisenhower and Stevenson to debate? Never went anywhere.
The four debates in 1960? They basically worked against Nixon in a big way.
After that debate.....sixteen years would pass before the next round of debates would occur. Ford-Carter would be the next attempt.....with Carter getting a lot of position off the debates.
What will happen in 2024? No debates....pure and simple.
Personally, I'd like to have debates but I think they can only be done under two conditions:
1. Set up a moderator-on-candidate (one on one, both seated at some table) situation....where the candidate can pick his interview moderator himself.
2. Allow a face-to-face debate....but set up a list of known questions ahead of time, which both must answer.
What'll happen in 2028? I think the new networks will be desperate enough to agree to various conditions, and some marginal debate between candidates will occur.
Lets be honest about this....some of our past candidates were a big 'zero' on debate skills (both parties have had characters like that). I'm not sure debates really solve much on assessing people.
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