For the Sake of Democracy, Cancel the Trump-Biden Debates

[signalmankenneth]

The president is maneuvering to steal the election. Why help him?

Little more than 12 hours after the conclusion of the most chaotic, counterproductive and outright offensive American presidential debate in my lifetime, the Commission on Presidential Debates promised unspecified format changes in the two remaining faceoffs between Donald Trump and Joe Biden so that the events would be more orderly, which is to say watchable at all.

Hooray for the commission, but give me a break. If its members fully absorbed President Trump’s 90-minute snit on Tuesday night in Cleveland, then they know that they can show him the way toward decency and give him a few forceful shoves in its direction, but they can never get him there. That’s the lesson of his entire presidency. The debate just put a gargantuan exclamation point on it.

A destructive, dangerous exclamation point, too, which is why the commission isn’t going far enough. It should cancel the coming Trump-Biden debates altogether.

Let Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris have their matchup next Wednesday night, then let Americans move on. They have all the information they need to decide whether they want another four years of Trump. Giving him more time in front of a national television audience isn’t a route to clarity. It’s an expressway to autocracy, because his performance on Tuesday night proved that he will use these showcases to subvert democracy.

In what sane country should that be abetted? By what sound reasoning should that be endorsed?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/o...n-debates.html

[dukkha]

ROFL.. so lets get this straight - less debate is more democratic ???

[StoneByStone]

The president is maneuvering to steal the election. Why help him?

Little more than 12 hours after the conclusion of the most chaotic, counterproductive and outright offensive American presidential debate in my lifetime, the Commission on Presidential Debates promised unspecified format changes in the two remaining faceoffs between Donald Trump and Joe Biden so that the events would be more orderly, which is to say watchable at all.

Hooray for the commission, but give me a break. If its members fully absorbed President Trump’s 90-minute snit on Tuesday night in Cleveland, then they know that they can show him the way toward decency and give him a few forceful shoves in its direction, but they can never get him there. That’s the lesson of his entire presidency. The debate just put a gargantuan exclamation point on it.

A destructive, dangerous exclamation point, too, which is why the commission isn’t going far enough. It should cancel the coming Trump-Biden debates altogether.

Let Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris have their matchup next Wednesday night, then let Americans move on. They have all the information they need to decide whether they want another four years of Trump. Giving him more time in front of a national television audience isn’t a route to clarity. It’s an expressway to autocracy, because his performance on Tuesday night proved that he will use these showcases to subvert democracy.

In what sane country should that be abetted? By what sound reasoning should that be endorsed?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/o...n-debates.html

I much rather them switch to a format that allows the moderator to cut Trump's mic when he starts sperging out. They should also have fact checkers calling Trump on his lies in real time.

[PostmodernProphet]

there are threads here claiming its only Trump who wants to cancel the debates........singlemankenny is singlehandedly trying to prove them wrong.......

[signalmankenneth]

I much rather them switch to a format that allows the moderator to cut Trump's mic when he starts sperging out. They should also have fact checkers calling Trump on his lies in real time.

Trump signals he won't agree to rules changes for debates – as it happened

• Trump signaled he would not agree to rule changes for the remaining debates. The Commission on Presidential Debates said yesterday that “additional structure” would be required for the remaining debates, after Tuesday’s event devolved into a chaotic mess, largely because of Trump’s constant interruptions. But the president and his re-election campaign said they would not sign off on any rule changes for the remaining two debates.

[StoneByStone]

Trump signals he won't agree to rules changes for debates – as it happened

• Trump signaled he would not agree to rule changes for the remaining debates. The Commission on Presidential Debates said yesterday that “additional structure” would be required for the remaining debates, after Tuesday’s event devolved into a chaotic mess, largely because of Trump’s constant interruptions. But the president and his re-election campaign said they would not sign off on any rule changes for the remaining two debates.

If that's the case, then they should cancel them. Trump will lie about how they cancelled future debates because he destroyed Biden, but only his base will believe that.

[bhaktajan]

"Will you shut up, man? You're a clown"
Watch Word for the election: oppositional defiant disorder

[signalmankenneth]

"Will you shut up, man? You're a clown"
Watch Word for the election: oppositional defiant disorder

[Bill]

I much rather them switch to a format that allows the moderator to cut Trump's mic when he starts sperging out. They should also have fact checkers calling Trump on his lies in real time.

Has anyone seen specifically what those "tools" will be?

[moon]

I never thought I'd see Trump be positive about anything..

[Bill]

true........... Negativity creates much more activity & attention...........

[jacksonsprat22]

ROFL.. so lets get this straight - less debate is more democratic ???

Trump is not democratic.

[jacksonsprat22]

true........... Negativity creates much more activity & attention...........

Trump just wants to attract attention to himself.

[Nordberg]

ROFL.. so lets get this straight - less debate is more democratic ???

It has nothing to do with democracy. The debates are political. The next one was a Townhall. Trump would have gotten in spats with those who question him. It is not a good format for him. There is no good format for a debate for daffy. He shines in red rallies. He cannot handle questioning. That is why he ended the presidential press conferences that happened yearly until he got into office. That is how he maintains his version of "transparency".

[Bill]

Trump just wants to attract attention to himself.

Unfortunately, yes........

The world media is more than happy to accommodate it.......