Presidential Debates: More Circus-Like Than A Debate
Tonight, Presidential hopefuls will be sharpening their debating skills as they face off at the Milwaukee Theater for the fourth Republican Primary Debate. In the past, Presidential debates have decided how our country shapes out for the next several years. There have been famous debates, which hold the bar up high — Lincoln v. Douglas or JFK v. Nixon — and some debates that have been as sad as coal in a stocking on Christmas Day — like the third GOP Debate hosted last month on CNBC.
These debates do serve relative importance; they’re more than just the provider of the next SNL cold-open. One of these candidates tonight has a shot at leading our country for four years. So, the debate should be more professional than some in the recent past. The Presidential debates are flawed, and they need to be fixed. Immediately.
First of all, the Republican Party has too many candidates! So many candidates that the Republican hopefuls aren’t debating during the debate; instead, they’re using it as a platform.
Candidates like John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, or Bobby Jindal — nine out of ten new voters for the 2016 Election don’t know who these people are or what they represent. So why should they debate? They just say things like “America” or “Greatness” and they get applause, helping their image.
If they were to actually debate, new voters would then know what Bobby Jindal thinks about global warming, or what John Kasich’s stand is on foreign policy. But they just ramble on and act like everything is going to be okay, in fear they will lose supporters. Perfect plan right? Right. That plan will work. There have been people who made their way to the White House in the past promising a golden goose.
The problem is there are too many candidates singing the same song. They don’t answer any questions. If I wanted to sit around and listen to candidates promote themselves without facts and throw mud at candidates like Trump or Carson, I’d watch their commercials for three hours on a loop.
Now, I know it sounds like I’m disrespecting the GOP, so therefore let me give you an example from the Democratic Debate. Jim Webb constantly complained he wasn’t getting enough time. Why did he want more time instead of answering the questions he was given?
Because he knew two things — one was that he doesn’t know how to answer their questions, and two is that nobody knows who he is! So he wanted more time to say something that will get people wondering what Jim Webb stands for. But all he did was just look like an unqualified leader as he pleaded for more time.
So, then how can the debates be fixed? Well for starters there must be a neutral moderator. If it is the Republican debate, have a person not affiliated with the Republican Party moderate. A debate is only as good as its’ moderator, and they’re not that well done if the moderator simply nods the candidates to whatever they say.
Another way to save the Debates is to make all candidates take an oath or swear on the Bible. If candidates are going to say that God told them to run for President, how about making the candidates swear to God on everything they say? I’m pretty sure that will filter out the lies from both the Republicans and Democrats.
Also, the candidates should be held responsible for what they say. If they don’t answer the question, they must be stopped and the moderator will repeat the question, and if they tell a lie then it is the moderator’s job to call them out on their fiction.
These changes will not save everything about the Democratic and Republican Debates. Only one thing will. If we the people tune in — even for just ten maybe fifteen minutes — and voice what we the people believes need to be changed about the debates.
Debate starts at 9 P.M. on Fox Business News Channel or stream live on FoxBusiness.com
Joe Corcoran is from Gilbertsville, Pa. Joe is a Junior at BASH and this is his third year with BASH Cub. He plays on the school tennis team and outside...