After listening to the responses from the debate it seems that Americans are very dissatisfied with what they see. The undecided and swing voters are not coming away with any information to help them to one side or the other. The voters are doing a better job arguing the issues than the actual candidates. Politicians have moved away from their traditional standards to use the rulebooks of entertainers. What you have when you mix the two? A circus.
The reviews are in after the second presidential debate and the reception is lukewarm at best. Why are these debates scoring such low points from the focus groups? Americans want to see politicians not entertainers. We want to see two opponents defend their platform, not friends.
Long gone are the days when politicians commanded respect. You knew the debate was going to bore you to new gray hairs, but you would come away with a better understanding of where each candidate stood. Today's new fangled style is to shock and wow the audience. To win by any means necessary, using words like “stuff” and “malarkey” to make a point. This seems more like a debate between comedians, or maybe even talk show hosts. Political representatives are supposed to present a smart, polished and respectable demeanor. Your supposed to respect your candidate not want to hang out with them at happy hour. If I want to hear jokes, I’ll tune into Comedy Central. Laughing while the other debater is speaking and using comical references towards one's opponent doesn’t leave me feeling like the candidate is more competent. It makes me feel like he would make a good clown. When “Malarkey” is one of the top focus points of the entire debate we have a clear indicator of how much trouble we are really in.
I would love to see a debate without a moderator. The person with the best argument and best able to talk the other candidate off the stage wins. Period. Or, instead of a moderator we can use a B/Srator who cuts the crap when a participant starts spewing too many lies to cover up that fact that they don't have a clear stance on the issue. I will say that I was pleased at the aggressive attack from each opponent to call foul even though it meant talking over each other and looking like bullies in the process. At this pace the next debate may leave the circus arena and elevate to death match status. The last man standing becomes the leader of the free world.
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