The Primary Debates

With the first set of Democratic 2020 primary debates June 26 and June 27, I thought it was time to write about their purpose and effect, and what I am going to look for in particular.

The 120 minutes of air time each night averages to twelve minutes per candidate, all things being equal, which they never are, and not subtracting commercial time, which there will be. Comparatively a Trump rally speech is 70 to 90 minutes and a single candidate town hall is an hour. The Lincoln – Douglas debates, of which there were seven, had no moderator, each opened with a one hour speech, followed by an hour and a half rebuttal, and finally a closing half-hour response. So how much depth and information will be imparted in 10 to 12 minutes, usually in 60 to 90 second segments, from each of the candidates?

“The debates are the first chance for voters across the country to tune in and compare the ideas of the contenders, and I’m honored to have the opportunity,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. (NY Times article 6/14/2019)

If by chance one of the candidates proposes an idea or policy that goes beyond a slogan (Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Guaranteed Minimum Income, etc.) and tries to describe it, how it will be implemented and how much it will cost, and accomplishes all this in 90 seconds, will there be an actual debate about the idea involving all the candidates? Obviously not. Will the media take it upon itself to replay this in its coverage of the debate? Not likely unless there was some gaffe or controversy involved. What if each candidate wants to talk about just healthcare, climate change, and gun regulation? How would it be differentiated and covered by the press? It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen that way. The questions by the moderators will be the most provocative and controversial, trying to pit the candidates against each other as if in a verbal cage match. And don’t forget the Elephant in the room. How much time will be wasted talking about Donald Trump?

“Your biggest goal has to be to be likable and acceptable,” said Newt Gingrich, adding that a successful night might involve getting “two, or at most three, memorable one-liners out.” – (NY Times article 6/14/2019)

The predominantly corporate controlled media loves this type of debate. It brings them millions of eyeballs and clicks which are subsequently monetized. To them it is just another form of sports and entertainment, polititainment. It is a compelling, prestigious, low cost and profitable drama.

“Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition.” ABC Wide World of Sports intro.

The main action of this sport is not athletics; it is also not the competition of ideas. It is the Zinger Competition: who can land the best one-liners and sound bites that will be played over and over again throughout the campaign? Who can land a knockout blow like Chris Christie did to Marco Rubio in 2016 destroying his viability? The media loves this, focuses on this, replays this, and has panels of pundits and expert analysts to endlessly pontificate. They speak about what it all means, mostly in terms of how it affects the “horse race.” The thrill of victory; the agony of defeat; for the candidates. Not the agony of the country; the fate of the world.

Picking a candidate by who performs best in an essentially entertainment milieu is how TV “star” Donald Trump was chosen. His outrageous iconoclastic behavior was irresistible; his lies, insults, xenophobic proposals sucked up much of the coverage. Reactions to this substituted for actual policy discussions. It was entertaining the same way a WWE heel is entertaining. And just as profound.

Candidates are prepping furiously for this Democratic Primary debate, knowing they have to have a bag full of one-liners and zingers so they can throw one out when needed; show how clever they are. This may get them valuable airtime, but is it the best way to pick a candidate? Obviously not.

Personally what am I going to look for? I’m going to look for the very best Scotch whisky in the house and then drink too much of it.

 

:>Howard Flantzer