June 08, 2007

Wrestling With the Debates

As you can probably tell from the lack of commentary lately, I'm already sick of the presidential election, and we don't even vote for another 17 months. Part of the problem has been the awful debates so far- I watched one each with the Democrats and Republicans, and that's about all I could take.

The debate format certainly could use a tweak, and Michael Currie Schaffer has some ideas on TNR's website: namely, "learning from Wrestlemania." Schaffer's idea is bipartisan debates during the primaries, one I certainly like. What's the point of not even letting the two parties interact until it's already general election time? Not only would it be more exciting, but it would force that fraud Mitt Romney to pretend to be a centrist to one audience one week, and a hardcore conservative to another the next week. A preview of his presidency, if you will.

But even better than Wrestlemania, I propose the debates shift to a Royal Rumble-like format: We start with two men at the podiums, and every two minutes, another candidate enters the debate (preferably with theme music.) When a candidate is thoroughly out-argued, he is "eliminated" and has to leave the stage. This continues until only one candidate is left, and he's proclaimed the "winner" of the debate. (No, there won't be any actual wrestling, at least not outside the Alabama legislature.)

This would make things so much more fun, and actually force the candidates to argue persuasively, instead of giving bullshit answers that have nothing to do with the question. (No, Mayor Giuliani, there's really no reason to mention 9/11 or Reagan when the question is about ethanol subsidies.) And if it goes REALLY well, maybe in 2012 they can let the last guy standing actually be president.

Posted by Stephen Silver at June 8, 2007 12:34 PM
Comments

Great ideas all around...I've watched all the debates and the one thing I hate is the raise your hand if questions...and its the same tactics each time. Bring on the bipartisan royal rumble!

Posted by: A at June 9, 2007 05:27 PM
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