The Debates a Sham?

[PoliticalBiker]

No... how could this be?

The debates are a sham. They are contrived and sterilized to the point of near ineffectiveness.
I've known this for years and years. The two major parties control what can an cannot be asked, who can or cannot be in the audience, who (what party) can be part of the debate, what the topics can be and even what questions can be asked.

They have also worked very hard to keep the details of these ridiculous contracts OUT of the public view, lest we see how restrictive, petty and limited they are in public benefit they are being. Both parties are responsible and guilty of this.

The political parties need to wake the hell up and understand we are smarter than they are.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/16/secret_debate_contract_reveals_obama_and

[gateley]

1. That's the only exposure a LOT of Americans get to the candidates. Unfortunately, since they

haven't been paying close attention, they'll respond to the messenger rather than to the message. The best bullshitter wins.

[PoliticalBiker]

2. How True....

unfortunately

You would think that with all that is going on in this country and the massive hard times so many are experiencing, more people would pay attention and do a little homework. Who they vote for and why is so important yet so many are oblivious to it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. the Debates are 90 minute long live commercials...

Tightly scripted and orchestrated to sell an image.

Very few people know or care about that.

And the best response to people being smarter then political parties is a quote from Men in Black...

A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Everything they've ever "known" has been proven to be wrong. A thousand years ago everybody knew as a fact, that the earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on it. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

To the vast majority of people, they are debates. People don't know that they have been crafted by Bernays' ideas to sell carefully crafted public images. The individual that sells his crafted image to the most people is the winner.

Some individuals understand what is going on, but people as a whole do not.

[jonthebru]

4. Come up with a better way to do it.

[PoliticalBiker]

5. How about college debate rules?

Anything goes within topic, timed response, NO foreknowledge of questions, moderator is god - when they say stop.... stop
Image be damned, answer on topic - ask apples, get apples... not oranges and strawberries to avoid emabarassment of apples.

[former9thward]

7. What about the rules of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates?

The first speaker spoke for one hour, then the opponent spoke for an hour and a half, then the first speaker got another half hour, etc.
The speakers where allowed to ask the opponent any question they wanted. Unfortunately we don't have the attention span people had in 1858. BTW tonight there will be NO "undecided" people there. It is just attention getters who want to be on tv and claiming to be undecided.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. I gave you a rec

And the endless lists of what President Obama should or should not say that are popping up on DU - and what we would like to hear him say - are lessons in futility. For just this reason . . .

[HopeHoops]

8. Is this a blonde joke?