Debatable?
I had this crazy notion a few hours ago, and you know what happens when you feed those things after midnight… and so I give you, a Change.org petition to raise the idea, that 2020 is an opportunity to change it up.
Anyone who has watched or listened to the debates themselves, or the ensuing commentary, may have come away wondering what the value is of talking heads from the typical news media outlets lobbing “gotcha” questions without any sort of clock-watching oversight, allowing what should be a serious compare-and-contrast exercise for the voting public to become a mud wrestling match. To what end?
Ratings
The very first face-to-face presidential debate in September, 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon, was said to be the deciding moment of the campaigns. Where Nixon did generally better in the two that followed, and the final of the four debates was called a draw, that first debate had the highest viewership, and it is widely acknowledged that Nixon did better in the audio-only radio broadcast, but Kennedy won with a smile.
Debates, whether they’re per-party during a primary process, or between actual candidates [and this probably applies at all levels, but here I’m thinking Presidential Debates], are all about sound bites and zingers, and while a Reagan-esque “youth and inexperience” line can certainly show off the wit and charm of a candidate, in the end it comes down to how they respond and react to a volley tossed at them by talking heads who want and need those bites and moments for the sake of ratings.
The debates are not really about getting at the matters, but getting at the candidates. On camera.
Opportunity
Most former Presidents leave the limelight and spend their time on their own pursuits. George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton found a friendship in fundraising [we’ll leave that there], James E. Carter, Jr. found his calling building homes for those in need, and so on.
We have on hand, though, two of our most recent officeholders, one from each of the major political parties, each staying out of the political process for the most part [again, we’ll leave that there]. Let’s consider these, though:
- Terrorist attacks on American soil
- Wars started in various countries in the Middle East [Afghanistan, Iraq, etc]
- Relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin
- Financial crisis and bailout decisions
- Management of a global pandemic crisis [Swine Flu 2009, Ebola 2013–2016, probably others]
- Domestic unrest and divisiveness
- Immigration issues [that is a dramatic over-simplification]
- And many more
We have in George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama II, the most recent insights and experiences concerning this job which has no formal description, and which is sometimes described as “the hardest job in the world.”
Surely the electorate would tune in, and surely The Media would bill this as something like The Game of the Millennium. Each would bring their politics, no doubt, and there are surely lingering personal tiffs that would find their ways into any such an engagement. All that said, why on earth would a nation of voters not want at least some insight brought out of their Presidential candidates, by way of the answers which may be brought out by those who have held the office before?
Will They or Won’t They
While I did take the time to create a Change.org petition (which is, arguably, slightly more an effort than writing, say, a Medium or Facebook post nowadays), I am under no illusion. GWB is almost certainly stepped back a bit further from the politics with his parents having passed, and BHO has been explicitly avoiding participation in the political process as I type this [and again, we’ll leave that there amidst last-minute private endorsement rumors]. There would be almost no reason for either of them to involve themselves in the election process in what would be an unprecedented interaction. This on top of the security requirements, which alone and in light of the way political rallies and other similar gatherings can turn out, might be out of bounds for all but a Bloomberg production.
But what if… what if there was an “ah ha” moment, and just as often the case with the highest of high-level jobs at the largest of companies, a hand-off between predecessor and successor, with the appropriate contextual adjustments to those roles here.
I suggest that such an undertaking would result in the most interesting Presidential Debate in US History.
