E.J. Dionne:Obama should debate Boehner and McConnell

[cal04]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/09/obama_should_debate_boehner_an.html

An election is about choices. But especially in midterm voting, which involves state-by-state and district-by-district contests, the differences are not always joined cleanly. So let's give the country a chance to understand what's at stake this year.

Between now and November, President Obama should debate both John Boehner, the House Republican leader, and Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader in the Senate. Their confrontations, televised and during prime time, would certainly get the attention of voters and make clear what the stakes in the election are.

Obama has already started a long-distance debate with Boehner, hitting him hard in speeches this week in Wisconsin and Ohio. Boehner, who has been critical of Obama for months, should welcome the chance to take his argument straight to the president himself. And since the Senate is in play, too, the voters should also get to see what McConnell has to offer. If the Republicans take both houses, Boehner and McConnell would become hugely important figures -- remember how powerful House Speaker Newt Gingrich was? The country should get to know more about them before deciding.




Gettin' Parliamentary
Josh Marshall
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/09/gettin_parliamentary.php?ref=fpblg
E.J. Dionne asks: Should Obama agree to face to face debate with John Boehner.
No Charts, no spray on tans, no teleprompters. Mano a mano.

[NightWatcher]

1. Bullshit! He should spank their asses and force legislation down their gullets

with the force of his majority and mandate...

We've been waiting twp years for him to do so.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. What about the Republican filibuster? Did you consider that before you posted,

less than three minutes after you read the OP?

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Would it be fun to watch?

Yep.

But unless one of those guys are running against him in November 2012? He doesn’t have to give them that much ‘importance’ by treating them as a Presidential contender.

Dionne’s request would be better if it was Pelosi or Reid. But the President? Yep – he’d would whoop their asses. But it would give them too much ‘importance’. And really? I don’t think either one of them is good enough to drink my dirty bath water, let alone have the time of day of a man that they have had in their sights before he even took office.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. I'd miss the friends of coal bowl to watch that...

They'd really be crying at the end of that day!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Brilliant idea! But I'd pitch it as a 'Leaders' Summit on Job Creation' and include

Pelosi, Reid, McConnell, and Boehner all at the same time.

IMO the White House should set a time and place for the Leaders' Summit as close to 10 days before Election Day as possible, and dare Boehner and McConnell not to show up on prime-time TV to discuss job creation.

Then the President can dominate the debate just as he did the Republican retreat Q&A session in Baltimore last Juanuary. He can take the Rs to task for stonewalling and filibustering jobs legislation that even the US Chamber of Commerce supports.

Democratic campaign committees then can use the footage in followup ads blanketing close districts and states every day until the election.

[yellowcanine]

6. Would make more sense for Pelosi and Reid to debate them.

This would also show the American People that Pelosi and Reid are not the ogres that the Republicans depict them to be. And also it would expose Boehner and McConnell for the frauds which they most definitely are. I am guessing that Boehner and McConnell would refuse to do this, however.

[depakid]

7. Always up for a debate!