Debate Rules: Did * and the Moderator bend them?

[Supersedeas]

If I understood correctly:

The Mod announced that a 1 minute post-rebuttal follow-up could be made at the Moderator's discretion with 30 seconds for each participant.

Thus: Question/Response/Rebuttal/1 minute follow-up (30 sec discretionary for each)

* interrupt the Mod several times last night and each time without question * was given 30 sec to follow-up.

First, where was the discretion?

Second, Kerry was denied the opportunity on several occasions to follow-up *'s 30 sec follow-up.

At one point, * even asked for a second follow-up to which Kerry muttered, "sure, why don't we just change the debate rules right now."

Did anyone else catch that?

[Nevernose]

1. Oh yeah

Gee, is it any wonder why the talking heads aren't talking about this?

[11 Bravo]

9. Is that the Kinkster with the Big Dog and Will Smith?

n/t

[Nevernose]

14. It's like the set-up to a joke, isn't it?

Okay: Kinky Friedman, Will Smith, and Bill CLinton walk into a bar...

[GR]

2. I Noticed Kerry Didn't Get His 30 Seconds At Least 2 Times Maybe 3

I think Kerry could have gotten the time, maybe, if he'd asked for it.

[beaconess]

16. He didn't need it

What was funny was watching Bush demand extra time and then having absolutely nothing at all to say.

[lefthandedskyhook]

3. Yes, Kerry handled it well

Bush gained nothing by it.

[Supersedeas]

6. True, but with so much emphasis on "The Rules" I thought some commentator

would have addressed it.

[ladjf]

7. Bush is so ineffective that the more face time he has on TV

the better it is for us, especially when he looks and sounds as bad as he did last night.

[skygazer]

4. Yes

And I loved that line of Kerry's. Kerry looked relaxed and amused through Chimpy's ranting. Chimpy, on the other hand, looked like a deer in the headlights.

And I kept suspecting that was vodka he was chugging so furiously...

[w13rd0]

5. Yeah, Bush interrupted...

...insisting on "his 30 seconds", then sat dumbstruck and dumbassed for 15 of them...

[Jack Rabbit]

8. We observed that, too

Frankly, I don't care, except that there were a couple of points where I would have like to have heard Kerry's follow up after Bush had some misstatements.

In the end, Kerry won the debate hands down and every fair-minded person is saying that this morning.

[floridaguy]

10. Someone has to address this today

Bush bullies press and everyone around, even when the rules gave the discretion to the moderator.

I want an apology, or at least a lame explanation.

[Phillycat]

11. I caught it but

actually I took it a different way. When Kerry said that, I thought he was literally (no sarcasm) saying, "Sure, let's do it that way, doesn't matter to me." Like, "Bring it on. However you want to do this, I'm going to win." Kerry was using his ability to adapt quickly to change and stay on task, on topic, and on target, while Bush responded to every twist with sweating, blinking, and silence.

[Supersedeas]

17. I agree, with the emphasis on 32 pages of Rule to protect the boy-prince

Kerry was courageous enough to confront a minor deviation--but the "let me finish" President would have had a raging hissy fit if Kerry had stopped the progress of the debate to request a deviation.

I was hoping that I wasn't the only one who noticed these things.

Hopefully, some National commentator will at least mention it.

[gratuitous]

12. Didn't watch the show

But I knew that Bush would totally ignore the carefully negotiated rules of engagement. Doesn't surprise me in the least that the moderator didn't enforce the rules -- rules are never written with George W. Bush in mind.

Glad to hear that Kerry handled it with grace and aplomb, and still dismantled the little pischer.

[TNOE]

13. Freeps Wanting to Go After Jim Leher now

Such sore losers.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1232516/posts

To: kddid
Is it true that the questions were framed to keep Bush on the defensive and ignore Kerry's many positions?
It was obvious how Lehrer was going to handle debate with the very first question directed at Kerry - "what 'collosal mistakes' has Bush made in the War on Terror?"


15 posted on 10/01/2004 7:05:47 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: kddid
Let's go after him... take him out like Rather.



16 posted on 10/01/2004 7:05:55 AM PDT by Porterville (Men have learned to shoot without missing ...and I have learned to fly without perching on a twig)
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To: kddid
Bush and Rove agreed to the format and the moderators. I thought that maybe Rove had a double-secret jujitsu strategery to manipulate these obviously biased moderators to advantage. I don't think so anymore.



17 posted on 10/01/2004 7:06:33 AM PDT by guitfiddlist (The Left is smart enough to know the truth, but low enough not to care.)
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To: Miss Marple
You summed it up PERFECTLY.



18 posted on 10/01/2004 7:07:03 AM PDT by cjshapi
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To: Porterville
Yep.... I flipped over to CBS right after he debate for about 10 minutes because I was curious. It seemed to me that CBS was trying to be VERY VERY careful. Trying to be certain that they did not seem partisan. It was kinda funny really.



19 posted on 10/01/2004 7:07:05 AM PDT by kjam22 (What you win them by, is what you win them to)
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To: kddid
Yes, the questions were awful. I was on the phone with my sister when Bush was asked if he thought all the American lives lost in Iraq were worth it. We both gasped. What a horrible way to ask the question. If I remember correctly, Bush said something about how honorable the soldiers were, etc...but the question was almost phrased in a "Do you still beat your wife?" way. He couldn't really say yes or no.
Some of the questions were directly from Kerry. No, Kerry didn't get to ask them, but he might as well have.

[beaconess]

15. Yes, but Bush was so pathetic, they almost had to give him some help

And it still didn't do him any good.