In the case of the recent Democratic debates - as much of the media heats up on opinions of winners, losers - I remain in a 'meh" disposition. While I watched both debates with wifey, we both agreed there was simply too little to learn given: a) too many candidates so not enough time to focus, and b) a counterproductive debate format that often squashed emergent discussions on a topic between two or more candidates. Thus, in the midst of what could have been an informative natural debate (as opposed to merely answering moderators' questions) the discussion was halted and on to the next topic.
Anyway, below are other voices on the two debates, given I am withholding any inputs until the field vastly narrows and the debates mean 3-4 debating as opposed to ten each time.
Excerpt:
"Even in the milled perfection of a machine world, 10 robot candidates in a two-hour debate would only have 12 minutes each to explain why they should be president of these wildly complex and dangerous United States. As we are flesh, however, viewers were required to endure several commercial breaks, candidates talking beyond their 45-second time allotments, moderator Chuck Todd being a clown, and an elongated microphone malfunction that ate 10 percent of the event.
At best, candidates each averaged maybe eight minutes of combined time to make their points and try to stand out. They were required in this scant window to race through answers on health care, the gender pay gap, economic inequality, the ongoing immigration crisis, Iran, reproductive freedom, gun violence, the Supreme Court, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, military interventions to end atrocities, the eternal war in Afghanistan, the merits of impeaching Donald Trump, and more.
Unless a candidate pulled a live duck out of their pants in the middle of a rushed discourse on raising the minimum wage after a different candidate spent their 45 seconds quick-splaining the Iran crisis, they were all going to be subsumed to one degree or another by the very nature of the affair. It was speed dating writ large, and a comprehensive disservice to the country given what is at stake"
Excerpt:
"On the second night of the Democratic primary debates on Thursday, most of the highest-polling candidates appeared at the center of the stage. The top two at the center were Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, flanked by California Sen. Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Ten other candidates, including the other top tier candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, participated in a separate debate the previous night.
While it can be hard to say how an evening really affected voters — and the most likely outcome for any individual candidate is that nothing much will change — some contenders on the stage show clear strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s the — necessarily subjective — ranking of winners and losers for the night. Not everyone is listed because many people didn’t seem to do much to hurt or help themselves; they were just treading water."
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