# RNC wants friendly moderators for GOP primary debates. Think 2012 debates badly damaged candidates **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 17, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492 "2013-08-17T15:06:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/21 "2013-08-18T15:44:11Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I hate the idea that primaries are only for “the base.” The results are of considerable importance for the whole country; everyone should pay attention. > > Since coming of age, I have always voted, but have never registered an affiliation with any party. I have lived in states with open primary voting, where in any given election cycle I have the choice of voting in any primary I like (but only one party’s at a time). So that’s what I do; I vote in whichever primary has the action (basically, the side without the incumbent or anointed successor), for the available candidate I sincerely think would be the best general-election candidate–even if I am already inclined to the other side. I think it is in the best interests of the country to have the best possible candidates from both parties in every contest. > > And I do pay attention to debates. So, given your approach and your desire to have the best possible candidates from both parties, do you think the Republicans will be helped or hurt by a primary debate strategy in which they limit the venue, the media coverage, and the moderators to being extremely Republican-friendly? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/22 "2013-08-18T16:40:49Z")
I truly believe our politicos are worse than American politicos; but challenging, or even raising, the question of evolution would be met with gaping mouths on all sides. Including all christian denominations. The GOP are God’s Special Little People. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/23 "2013-08-18T17:14:28Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > The GOP are God’s Special Little People. God’s Own Party? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/24 "2013-08-18T17:41:37Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > And, of course, they still think their real problem is messaging and not the actual message. This. I welcome the prospect of the GOP holding their primary debates in their own little alternaverse. In the long run, hopefully they will stop stepping out of there into our world and we can address the real problems this actual nation faces here on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/25 "2013-08-18T17:56:27Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > They already do. The special commission you mention is firmly in the pocket of the Republicans and the Democrats - that’s the whole reason why the Greens candidate was _arrested_ for trying to enter last year. And if I showed up at the debates demanding not only to be let in without a ticket, but to be given a spot on the stage alongside the two actual candidates, and refused to leave when told to do so, I’d be arrested too. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/26 "2013-08-18T18:21:53Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > So, given your approach and your desire to have the best possible candidates from both parties, do you think the Republicans will be helped or hurt by a primary debate strategy in which they limit the venue, the media coverage, and the moderators to being extremely Republican-friendly? Hurt. It may “energize the base,” but it will remove Republican primaries even farther from the territory they need to be in to win. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/27 "2013-08-18T18:26:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I really hope they do this, maybe they can get Glenn Beck involved somehow. He’s always good for a laugh. If [this blogger](http://www.miamiherald.com/community/v-blog/index.html?goto=http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2013/08/five_reasons_allen_west_is_definitely_runni.php) is right, and Allen West will be taking part in the Republican primary debates, there will be no deficit of laughs regardless of who the moderators are. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/28 "2013-08-18T18:42:18Z")
If your idea of funny is Freddy Krueger telling “knock-knock” jokes… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/29 "2013-08-18T18:43:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > to be given a spot on the stage alongside the two **actual** candidates Daaaamn…I personally think most third party votes are wasted votes, myself, but that’s just mean… ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/30 "2013-08-18T19:18:29Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I thought those debates shed way more light on the base than the candidates. The crowd cheered for executions and uninsured people dying. And then they booed a gay soldier. Maybe they should hand out duct tape. Yup. This. This right here folks. Quoting it for you all in case you missed it, or forgot about it. Right-wing base are incredibly awful people. Republican politicians, You need to shut them up. McCain tried a bit with the old woman who said Obama was an Arab or whatever. Nobody else has even made a token gesture since then, on the right. They eat it up. They love the booing of gays, and the cheering of death. I agree, duct tape and/or lobotomies for every right-wing base member. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/31 "2013-08-18T19:32:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And if I showed up at the debates demanding not only to be let in without a ticket, but to be given a spot on the stage alongside the two actual candidates, and refused to leave when told to do so, I’d be arrested too. The Commission on Presidential Debates is controlled by a mere six people who provide 93% of the organisation’s funding. Do you really believe it should be left up to them to decide who is and who is not eligible to run for President? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/32 "2013-08-18T19:39:39Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > The Commission on Presidential Debates is controlled by a mere six people who provide 93% of the organisation’s funding. Do you really believe it should be left up to them to decide who is and who is not eligible to run for President? They decide who gets to debate, not who runs. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/33 "2013-08-18T19:54:16Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > The Commission on Presidential Debates is controlled by a mere six people who provide 93% of the organisation’s funding. Do you really believe it should be left up to them to decide who is and who is not eligible to run for President? I would like to know how you reached the conclusion that the Commission on Presidential Debates decides who is and who is not eligible to run for President. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/34 "2013-08-18T19:59:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I would like to know how you reached the conclusion that the Commission on Presidential Debates decides who is and who is not eligible to run for President. That would be the part where **Smapti** seems to believe that anyone they don’t let in isn’t an “actual” candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/35 "2013-08-18T20:20:27Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > That would be the part where **Smapti** seems to believe that anyone they don’t let in isn’t an “actual” candidate. Does the word “realistic” work better for you? Look, if the Greens, or the Libertarians, or the Communists, or the Prohibitionists would like their candidate to be represented at the debates, there’s a simple solution: gain enough mass support so that their candidates have a realistic shot at winning. In the last election, the voters who voted for anyone not a Democrat or Republican amounted to a whopping 1.74% of the electorate. If those parties want to be taken seriously, they need to become a bit more popular than that. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/36 "2013-08-18T22:55:29Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Does the word “realistic” work better for you? > > Look, if the Greens, or the Libertarians, or the Communists, or the Prohibitionists would like their candidate to be represented at the debates, there’s a simple solution: gain enough mass support so that their candidates have a realistic shot at winning. In the last election, the voters who voted for anyone not a Democrat or Republican amounted to a whopping 1.74% of the electorate. If those parties want to be taken seriously, they need to become a bit more popular than that. Not that I think the Greens would win in any circumstance but there’s a circularity to your argument - if they don’t get to stand next to their opponents at a debate and talk about their platforms, they’re much less likely to attract any voters. I have on occasion given my signature for the Socialists to get onto the local ballot when I lived in the US, not because I would ever vote for them (for starters, their platform was downright delusional) but because I thought people should have the option to vote for them if they wanted to. Because yay democracy! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/37 "2013-08-18T23:10:26Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Not that I think the Greens would win in any circumstance but there’s a circularity to your argument - if they don’t get to stand next to their opponents at a debate and talk about their platforms, they’re much less likely to attract any voters. They start at the bottom. Organize locally, run local candidates, get their positions out at a local level. They start by successfully running candidates at the local level, and that success allows them to gradually set their sights higher, to the state, federal, and presidential levels. They don’t start at the top. If they don’t have a large piece of the population that supports them, if they don’t have legislators in place, they won’t accomplish their goals even if somehow a miracle got their Presidential candidate into office. > [@](#): > > I have on occasion given my signature for the Socialists to get onto the local ballot when I lived in the US, not because I would ever vote for them (for starters, their platform was downright delusional) but because I thought people should have the option to vote for them if they wanted to. Because yay democracy! That’s fine if that’s what you want to do. My feeling is that if they can’t get enough signatures to even get on the ballot–oh well, too bad, too sad. But that’s an example of the party attempting to start a mass appeal, and to build a party structure and constituency from the bottom up. In my lifetime, the only third party that even appeared to have a chance to do that was the Reform Party, until it turned out to be simply a vehicle for Ross Perot’s ego. The other strong presidential contender, Wallace, was simply running on his name, and his American Independent Party was nothing before him, and nothing after him. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/38 "2013-08-18T23:25:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > If those parties want to be taken seriously, they need to become a bit more popular than that. But they’ve got, like, **100 Million** on-line signatures!!! On preview, you nailed it in your last post. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/39 "2013-08-19T01:17:19Z")
I hope that this will backfire on them but I have to give grudging kudos to a good move. There’s no question that the long debate season in 2012 hurt the candidates. Democrats got months of free attack material from each candidate either trying to out-crazy the other, or like Romney, trying to appeal to the base and the moderates and failing. Anything that lessens that gauntlet is good for the GOP. And while I think the other non-Fox media (lets face it, they’re setting them up to be the only channel that will host the GOP primaries) will cover plenty of gaffes when it happens, without a non-partisan moderator, the GOP is essentially getting months of free air to spout their talking points. Nothing will be challenged, so Fox will simply get to replay that which is favorable to the GOP to try to drown out the dissent. ---
**Author:** ![NotDeadYet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotDeadYet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotDeadYet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492/40 "2013-08-19T01:42:34Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I hope that this will backfire on them but I have to give grudging kudos to a good move. There’s no question that the long debate season in 2012 hurt the candidates. Democrats got months of free attack material from each candidate either trying to out-crazy the other, or like Romney, trying to appeal to the base and the moderates and failing. Anything that lessens that gauntlet is good for the GOP. > > And while I think the other non-Fox media (lets face it, they’re setting them up to be the only channel that will host the GOP primaries) will cover plenty of gaffes when it happens, without a non-partisan moderator, the GOP is essentially getting months of free air to spout their talking points. Nothing will be challenged, so Fox will simply get to replay that which is favorable to the GOP to try to drown out the dissent. And if Fox is the only source of news about Republicans it’s like preaching to the choir. It won’t get the eventual nominee any traction with moderates who don’t watch Fox or listen to right wing talk radio. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rnc-wants-friendly-moderators-for-gop-primary-debates-think-2012-debates-badly-damaged-candidates/666492.md?page=3)