WARWICK, England — When it comes to debate, the gold standard remains the Oxford Association, which bills itself as “the most prestigious debating society in the world.” Founded in 1823, the Union has nowadays hosted debates with luminaries such as Ronald Reagan and the Dalai Lama. The Oxford Union Debates provide useful information. The same cannot be said for the US presidential debates.
Next week, 10 Republican presidential candidates will gather on stage in Cleveland, Ohio, behind a podium like “Jeopardy” contestants. Because so many candidates have so little time, no useful information will be provided. More likely, the all-male cast will find ways to squeeze in rehearsed sound bites that will be played in campaign ads and, they hope, on mainstream newscasts. But to make sure no one is left out, Fox News just announced a prequel to the main debate for all the remaining GOP candidates who didn’t meet the event’s primetime requirements. So now Carly Fiorina, George Pataki and Senator Lindsey Graham will also have a chance to say little of substance.
In 1960, the first televised US presidential debate took place, pitting John F. Kennedy against Richard Nixon. The UK, after several failed attempts, broadcast its first leaders’ debate in 2010. In 1964, Labor leader Harold Wilson summoned Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home to the debate, but Douglas-Home refused, saying: “You’ll get something like a competition.” Top of the Pops” will select the best actor to lead the country, and the actor will be instructed by a scriptwriter.
Given today’s political system, Douglas-Home was prophetic.
Before this year’s UK elections, all parties were televised and had time for debates, but the best candidate may have emerged on March 26, when the three best candidates – Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservative Party, Labor leader Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, who stood leader of the Liberal Democrats, witnessed a mesmerizing question and answer session.
During this session, broadcast by Sky News, the candidates did not debate directly, instead host Jeremy Paxman asked questions of each candidate, who appeared sequentially for 20 minutes. The studio audience then asked questions. Many of their questions were better and more confrontational than Paxman’s. Valuable information was provided and voter impressions were confirmed. Cameron and his party won the election in a landslide.
While it is true, as Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal, that the GOP improved the 2008 and 2012 debates — when there were 23 and 20 debates, respectively — more changes need to be made to the way we elect our presidents outside of these political fashion shows. This will aid us avoid buyer’s remorse like the one revealed by a 2014 Economist/YouGov.com poll that found that only 79 percent of Obama voters would vote for him again if given the chance.
A good first step towards improving debates was adding conservative questioners to the discussion panels. The main criticism from conservatives about these contests is that reporters they perceive as liberals ask questions that reflect their own worldviews and are often intended to elicit answers that Democratic candidates can employ to their advantage. Republicans shouldn’t expect questions about softball from conservative questioners.
For the 2016 GOP debates, one will be sponsored by NBC/Telemundo and National Review; In another instance, CNN will partner with Christian network Salem Media Group, and for the third time, ABC and Independent Journal Review will partner.
Additionally, notes Spicer, “There will be 25 candidate forums before the first debate.[…]These forums range from CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) to Citizens United to the SiriusXM forum on the website
On the Wednesday before the first debate, candidates should be allowed to address voters directly, without repeating the debate.”
This is progress. One can hope that the Democrats will follow the example of the Republicans, or even better, the example of the Oxford Union. If you’ve never seen what a real debate is like, go to oxford-union.org and find a link to YouTube where you will find the most thrilling discussions on political and social issues you will ever see.
Next week’s debate is unlikely to be anywhere close.
