The First Presidential Debate-- Don’t Get Distracted, Issues Matter
A supermajority of likely American voters are telling pollsters they intend to watch the first Presidential debate, available for viewing on just about every platform at 6pm Pacific Time.
A supermajority of that supermajority has already made up their minds on their choice for President. The candidates and their pollsters know that. People who aren’t likely voters are one audience they hope to reach. By the time the second presidential debate is broadcast -- October 15-- millions of people will have already voted making this event “must see tv.”
(There is a Vice Presidential debate next week --October 7-- that might be fun to watch, provided Senator Kamala Harris can find a respectful looking way to eviscerate Vice President Mike Pence.)
I watched almost all the Democratic debates last spring, and if there’s one piece of advice I can give, it’s watch this event on CSPAN. (I’m guessing on the link; you may have to search at YouTube) It is refreshingly unfiltered and you can always flip over to your favorite talking head later. Public Broadcast System coverage is also not bad.
Chris Wallace, the anchor of "Fox News Sunday" is tonight’s moderator. He ran the third debate in 2016 between Trump and Hillary Clinton, and I don’t remember throwing anything at the TV on his account.
It has been made clear that tonight’s debate will not be fact checked by the moderator. Chris Wallace’s style is to let the words uttered speak for themselves when people use common sense to reflect on them. This keeps him out of trouble with his bosses at Fox (who live for hyperbole) and keeps the pace of discourse fast enough so people don’t lose interest.
There’s a chunk of the audience that doesn’t give a damn anyway, as Tom Jones at Poynter explains:
Meanwhile, a new NBCLX/YouGov poll shows that while Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats for their preferred candidate to say whatever is necessary to “win” a debate, 83% of those polled (3,190 Americans) prefer that candidates always tell the truth in a debate.
For many people tonight is like a sporting event; they’re watching to see the home team score points. In the unlikely event that it’s a blowout, people will tune out.
For those keeping score cards, I found this Reuters piece to be the best of the [insert number] things to watch for at the debates articles vying for clicks on the internet today.
But here’s the thing; while minds are made up about the top of the ticket, many people are less sure about the rest of the ballot. And you can be sure that some of the best advertising minds around are hoping to catch viewers attention with (mostly) over-the-top presentations on issues.
Here’s the most pernicious ploy you’ll see tonight:
The gigamoths of Silicon Valley are going to throw money at reaching viewers nationwide hoping to persuade them that working as an independent contractor isn’t a dead end.
Their business model depends on disengaging with the social safety net largely created through a compact between labor and capital in the mid-twentieth century.
It’s a long game strategy using short-term financial gain by a few motivated workers who will end up dumped by the side of the road as soon as technology advances to the point where it’s practical.
Look for the anti-AB5 ad. It’s relevant for the entire country, because it’s not just Trump that needs to go; it’s the mindset that puts people last when assigning value to a thing we’re really dealing with. Trump is just a symptom.
Another reason to watch the debates tonight will be that both candidates will be out of their comfort zones for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
Here’s Matt Berman at Buzzfeed:
The reasons each candidate has for being cloistered are different — Biden with a strict adherence to pandemic protocol, Trump with a strict adherence to ego maintenance. But you learn something to actually see what a president or candidate is like when they’re directly challenged and can’t easily change the subject or leave the room. It is rare to see either Biden or Trump forced to deal with discomfort.
It’s probably not going to change your vote this year. But as we work and live through a pandemic without a known end, seeing a candidate in a position they don’t want to be in reveals something about how that person actually is — how this year, or the last four, may have changed them. The debates are still an opportunity to learn a little more about these very sheltered men. That should still matter.
There has been a fair amount of criticism directed at the debate topics chosen by Wallace for tonight, mostly because the sad state of the environment didn’t make this list. The lack of attention on this subject was also a source for activist scorn during the Democratic primary debates.
Those topics are: "The Trump and Biden Records," "The Supreme Court," "Covid-19," "The Economy," "The Integrity of the Election" and "Race and Violence in Our Cities."
FYI- The topics were announced well before the news about Trump's taxes came out.
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