I am totally unfamiliar with them, but real time fact checking is extremely difficult. See this regarding last time:
Why CNN’s debate moderators didn’t fact-check the candidates
If Aaron Sorkin is to be believed, TV interviewers have a room full of research geniuses connected to the bud in their ear.
I occasionally watch Pardon The Interruption on ESPN, where Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon discuss and debate hot sports topics of the day. At the end of the telecast, there’s always an ‘errors and omissions’ segment in which previous errors are acknowledged and corrected.
It’s not quite real-time fact-checking, but this show demonstrates that it can be done.
One strange rule: The candidates cannot ask each other questions - but does that include, say, asking for a clarification in an allowed rebuttal? Each question has a 2-minute answer period, a 2-minute rebuttal by the opponent, and a 1-minute response to the rebuttal.
If you’ve ever watched the nightly news on ABC you’ve surely seen David Muir since he’s the anchor and has been for the last 10 years. It has been the highest rated evening news program on broadcast television for a number of years.
The meaning of the word “debate” has truly been lost here.
Trump’s lies are so predictable, though, that it seems like it should be trivial to be ready with a list of canned fact-checks for the ones he tells over and over again. “Migrants took 107% of the black jobs, tariffs are paid by Jyna, I was Michigan Man of the Year, they want to abort babies after they’re born, there were no wars when I was president”, so on.
I remember taking part in structured debates in high school, and I recall the questions being given by a judge or judges and not asking each other. We’d address each others’ points (via rebuttals and such) but didn’t ask each other questions.
Which is good because it kept it from falling into a never-ending back and forth, the kind you often see here on the boards.
There are in fact multiple definitions of debates. One is where people argue back and forth directly but a structured debate as they are having on television, which is a different kind of debate, does not involve back and forth arguing. So they are absolutely not losing the meaning of “debate” since there is no one meaning.
Sounds very much like a Parliamentary debate. The Government and the Opposition never directly address each other; instead, everything goes through the Speaker. Including questions, even implied ones: “Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know why the member from East Mugwump is promoting this policy.”
That’s how I would hope the Trump-Harris debate will be: the candidates answer the moderators’ questions, speaking to the moderators only, and not to each other. I think Harris can manage that, but I’m not so sure about Trump. Still, it would be nice to hear, “Mr. Muir, my opponent just said XYZ, and I’d like to know what that policy is intended to accomplish” from both of them.
Yeah, we were in high school (9th grade) so you definitely need some structure to keep things from escalating or falling apart. Kids that age have trouble keeping civil and are prone to passion over reason. I was no exception.
Those are the same reasons why it’s good in a debate that Trump is participating in.
Biden was so bad last time, the news focused (perhaps for good reason) on Biden’s performance, and Trump escaped scrutiny.
Now, we can expect Harris to give a much more coherent and professional presentation. So there is pressure on Trump to show a similar polish.
And judging by his recent answers, he runs a real risk of being exposed as the cranky old man that he is.
I mean, yes, his loyalist sycophants will swoon when he says nonsense about how “we will have the best” of everything when he is elected, but I think it will be seen in sharp contrast to actual policy proposals, or accurate facts and figures, which Harris will bring to bear.
Meaning, Trump could definitely lose support. It may not be likely, but it is possible.
Other people about to debate Trump have felt much the same.
If Trump gives an answer like he did when asked today about the chance of childcare, it just might become a “holy shit this man is completely insane” moment.
I just discovered that Harris has stationed herself in a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh to prepare for the debate. The Omni.
No information if she will be doing any appearances.
Interesting choice of a city.
I live about an hour from Pittsburgh and glad I don’t have to mess with any of the inevitable traffic issues with a high profile person in town.
I’m glad you cited it here, because that’s exactly what I thought.
Fair enough, but I guess what I was getting at is my frustration at the fact that the format as currently constituted absolutely does not require the candidates to coherently articulate their policy views, which is what the debate is supposed to be about. Basically the moderator asks the candidate a question, and the candidate gets two minutes to open their mouth and make sounds. Not only does it no longer matter whether the response is factual, judging from the last “debate” it doesn’t even matter if it has any relation to the question at all, or whether it’s even coherent.
If there are no standards, then the only thing that matters is sounding loud and self-confident, which is the specialty of a certain orange blowhard. I certainly hope that this debate is better moderated than the useless one on CNN. I don’t blame CNN for making Biden look bad, because he was. But I do blame them for letting Trump get away without answering direct questions and for letting his multitude of obvious lies go unchallenged.
Trump’s life is made up of these moments-Does it seem to matter? Give him enough rope and he’ll have someone else make a crappy hammock. He will have straw hats made from that last straw. For him, a step too far is just the beginning of yet another journey into madness. Y’all have got to quit depending on him to take himself out of the picture, get off your asses and do it yourself.
Harris can challenge his lies during rebuttal, which is how a structured debate is supposed to work.
I was in the “holy shit, he’s done himself in” camp for a long time. I now see that he is untouchable. No matter how much incoherent and hateful stuff he spews, no matter how many women he gropes/rapes, no matter how many businesses he bankrupts, no matter how many laws he breaks and is convicted for, he is Teflon Don. He will never face any real consequences even if he shoots someone on 5th Ave. I think he could get caught in bed with a male, right after having his female adultress abort their conception, and still face no consequences from his loyalists. He is the dictionary definition of “Failing Upward” (even though he started at the top).
Every time Trump does or says something despicable, all it does is show The Common Clay how far they can go. He is blazing a trail of the formerly unspeakable for others to follow.