# Who plans to watch one/all or avoid one/all of the debates?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [September 26, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963 "2016-09-26T19:43:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/21 "2016-09-26T23:38:28Z")
If I can find it on the radio I will listen. I don’t have a TV and my Internet is fairly slow. In 2012 I tried to find a Presidential debate on the radio but the only place that had coverage kept interrupting to insert their own interpretations – religious right, as it happened, but I’d rather have listened to a station that only interrupted once with a religious right message than a center-left station that always kept interrupting.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/22 "2016-09-26T23:44:26Z")
> [@Ludovic](#):
>
> If I can find it on the radio I will listen. I don’t have a TV and my Internet is fairly slow. In 2012 I tried to find a Presidential debate on the radio but the only place that had coverage kept interrupting to insert their own interpretations – religious right, as it happened, but I’d rather have listened to a station that only interrupted once with a religious right message than a center-left station that always kept interrupting.
I’m guessing it will be on your local NPR station if you have one.
[Support Public Radio: Donate To Your Local NPR Station : NPR](http://www.npr.org/stations/) (There’s a space to enter your zip code.)
There are places to listen [online](https://www.google.com/search?q=listen+to+debate+online&num=100&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:d&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3x9iVm67PAhUF6CYKHaceDugQpwUIFg&biw=1410&bih=944&dpr=0.9), too.
Don’t know what kind of commentary there might be.
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/23 "2016-09-26T23:50:13Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#):
>
> Although if my wife really wants to watch them I’ll sit with her to try to keep her from losing faith in all of humanity.
Credit where credit is due, it’s only the USA exceptionalism segment of humanity.
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### Author:  [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/24 "2016-09-26T23:55:07Z")
Curious, but not enough to watch them. Although, I may flip over every once in awhile for a minute or two to see what’s going on. I wouldn’t be able to stomach watching these two people for ninety minutes straight. No way in hell.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/25 "2016-09-26T23:57:24Z")
I enjoy political debates in general and certainly tonight’s should be entertaining. I would like to watch it but unfortunately have other plans tonight. If they rerun it late or if it’s up on YouTube quickly enough I’ll try to catch it.
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### Author:  [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/26 "2016-09-27T00:03:43Z")
All I miss now is buttered popcorn and Guinness. Water and biscuits should still suffice.
One TV in the dorm is set to C-SPAN (to keep the political debate neutral from a broadcast standpoint), so I should be ready for debate #1.
Only debate I won’t watch is the VP debate, all others are as good as a PPV boxing match on a sports bar- it’s free and it’s going to be a fun fight.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/27 "2016-09-27T00:04:41Z")
Skipping it. I’ll pick up the highlights later. It took me a little time to form a clear idea about why I decided to skip but I think it’s this: I’ve lost so much faith in the media’s ability to do its job this election that I’ve been losing interest in the horse race aspects and don’t want to sit through “OMG CLINTON-TRUMP THUNDERDOME APOCALYPSE!!!” from even a stoic C-SPAN style provider. I’m firmly for Clinton and will vote for her in November and could defend that decision all day long but I’ve grown tired and disgusted by the process.
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### Author:  [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/28 "2016-09-27T00:14:10Z")
I have never watched an entire debate. It makes me uncomfortable to watch people arguing and/or behaving badly. And they are never really “debates” anyway. So I will be online (probably here) reading about it.
But I also do not want to be counted as one of the 100,000,000 people the media and their advertisers are counting on. The reality tv-ness of it all just makes me sick. “Rumble in Hofsta”, “The First Battle”. Give me a fucking break. Were the debates ever “named” before this?
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### Author:  [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/29 "2016-09-27T00:17:39Z")
My final decision - I’m going to watch _[The War Room (1993)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgo-qwfCFYU)_ while following Morgenstern’s debate [del]echo chamber[/del] thread on my ipad with one hand and drinking irresponsibly stiff Beefeater & tonics with the other.
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### Author:  [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/30 "2016-09-27T00:26:42Z")
Won’t watch any, but will probably follow along in the SDMB thread.
Why? Nobody who’s made up their mind is going to change it. And anybody who hasn’t is going to be influenced more by the post-debate spin than anything actually said in the debate. What could Trump possibly do to turn away a voter that is still interested in voting for him? What could Hillary possibly do in an hour on TV tonight that 20 years in the public eye hasn’t? This election is already “post policy.” Why would I watch what amounts to a beauty contest?
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/31 "2016-09-27T00:38:37Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#):
>
> I enjoy political debates in general and certainly tonight’s should be entertaining. I would like to watch it **but unfortunately have other plans tonight**. If they rerun it late or if it’s up on YouTube quickly enough I’ll try to catch it.
My bold.
Hey, you can cut your toenails any time!
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/32 "2016-09-27T00:42:00Z")
Absolutely not watching any. Too cringeworthy.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/33 "2016-09-27T01:36:24Z")
I won’t watch. I already know what I think. I’ve already explained how I don’t think any debate would help me. It would just make me feel bad if Clinton seems to be doing poorly or Trump seems to be doing well–it wouldn’t actually change anything.
I may watch some clips after its over, if people say it’s a good one that won’t make me feel like crap.
I live in Arkansas. If it goes Clinton, then she already has a landslide victory. I’m impotent to actually change anything. And I don’t have any discretionary income. The most I can do is argue online, and we know how good that does.
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### Author:  [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/34 "2016-09-27T01:42:50Z")
I heard on the news people that are undecided about who vote will be watching it. I already I know there is no way in HELL I will vote for Trump, he couldn’t pay me enough money to vote for me. I am stuck with Hillary ! :smack:
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/35 "2016-09-27T03:11:41Z")
I stopped watching Presidential debates after Reagan/Carter. Too painful.
Also (from what I hear) pretty banal. So maybe that reason contradicts the other reason!
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/36 "2016-09-27T03:15:42Z")
I didn’t get home from work until it was well underway. I didn’t watch the rest of it. I’m more interested in how others will react than the actual debate. The only thing that would make me vote for Trump is if Clinton pulls off her human suit to expose the lizard underneath. And then only maybe.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/37 "2016-09-27T03:42:04Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> The only thing that would make me vote for Trump is \*\*if Clinton pulls off her human suit to expose the lizard underneath. \*\*
If Hillary were a lizard it would make me \*more \*likely to vote for her.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/38 "2016-09-27T07:30:25Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> The other day my wife asked me if I was going to watch. I said “Of course.” But when she said, “Why?”, I found a clear answer elusive.
The same reason you have to watch a train wreck and can’t look away. And a total train wreck it was for Trump.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/39 "2016-09-27T12:14:33Z")
I didn’t watch it, although I did record it if it turns out I missed something really interesting. Watched a baseball game instead and, oh, filled out my absentee ballot. Will mail it this morning. Then take a nap for 43 days.
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-watch-one-all-or-avoid-one-all-of-the-debates/766963/40 "2016-09-27T16:59:44Z")
They’re on when I’m asleep, so I can just read about them the next morning.
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