So, this last debate was considered a "town hall debate". This debate was different for a couple reasons. First instead of harping on a general topic, the candidates are asked a question by a member of the audience. The candidate is then supposed to answer the question. Well that didn't really happen so much, both candidates brushed over the question and proceeded to do their standard speech on said topic. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The other big difference was that there was nothing separating the candidates. I do not know why, but I really liked that aspect of it. A couple times they got in each others faces a couple times and that was good for the viewers in my opinion.
The Moderator
A moderator is supposed to keep the speaker of a debate on time and on task. Ms. Candy Crowley did neither of those things last night. She was terrible! Both candidates continually went over time and off topic. Every topic or question that was brought up, each candidate went way over their two minute mark. There was a couple topics where Obama went at least three minutes. That is completely unacceptable. I can accept fifteen to twenty seconds over to finish a sentence but a minute over is just awful.
Also Ms. Crowley was completely biased. First off shes from CNN. Can you say democratic bias? Why yes, yes I can. She got to pick the questions for the debate and three of the first fiver were soft balls for Obama and put Romney at a disadvantage. That would be 60% for those of you who don't want to do the math. Before I forget, I can't believe that after Romney talked about his tax plan she rephrased it and asked if it was "settled". No! It obviously was not settled.
Who Won?
I honestly don't think anyone won. To continue with the boxing analogy from the last debate, I think Romney caught Obama flat footed with his hands on his hips and threw a jab instead of a real punch. At that point Obama woke up and was back in the fight. There is really no way a neutral party can say who won. Although I think each side can make a case for their person being the winner. So lets call round two a draw!
Stay tuned for the next debate on October 22 2012.
I was right with you here, and your analysis of Crowley's performance (esp. her not keeping time) made great sense. But then you lost me: CNN is "liberal"? Really? I can understand if you chose an MSNBC moderator like Chris Matthews, but Crowley? I've heard a lot of conservative pundits calling her a liberal lackey. You'll have to prove it more with details or examples of her outside work with CNN to prove it. (And if she really was so liberal, whey did Romney agree to her as moderator?)
ReplyDeleteAnd the questions were not written by her but by audience members. One sign of a lack of bias was the fact that Libya was brought up, a topic that would have seemed to favor Romney.
Show us some of those "softball" questions. I think you might be on to something, so back up that point with specifics. Make sure, too, not to take on too strong a tone with your audience. Telling them that some might not want to do the math is condescending.
Also, what did Crowley mean when she asked about Romney's tax plan being settled? Imagine your readers haven't see the first debate. You have to unpack some of this to be fully persuasive.
It might be useful to stay away from the word I, just to give it a stronger backbone. It sounds a little more like an opinion than something you can actually back up.
ReplyDelete