Have to admit that these are the worst series of debates by the media and some other groups I have ever seen. Fox News may take the prize for the most worthless debate ever last Thurday night. The questions that were asked makes you wonder if Fox News wants Obama and the soft money policy of the Fed to continue and are willing to keep the status quo. Hard to come up with another explanation for the questions. Why no substance with the questions in the debates? If I read about Gardasil one more time after a debate, I am going to scream.
CNN polling after the debate and the Orlando straw poll has Perry losing little and still leading -- looks like regular Americans understand more than the Fox media and know that debates and straw polls are absolutely worthess. Are straw a gauge of support? Not in most cases as they don't represent most voters but a small handful of people. Have personal experience to know how unethical they can be as well. What are the Fox pundits and others going to do now that Perry didn't tank?
Why the presidential debates aren't serious
By: | 09/24/11 8:05 PM | Examiner Columnist
The presidential debates are looking more like symptoms of our problems than they do like part of the solution.Maximum style, minimum substance. Focus on sizzle, forget about the steak.
These events are supposed to be about quality information, raising the bar, and producing a thoughtful, informed electorate. But they are being produced to provide entertainment, and we are barely getting that.Technology doesn't take the place of substance. YouTube and real-time polling are not substitutes for thoughtful, provocative questioning.
Can it really be, after all the heat he has taken on Social Security, that Rick Perry was not pushed on how specifically how he would reform it?
Can it be, as expert after expert has laid out the long list of failures of Romneycare in Massachusetts and its unquestionable similarities to Obamacare, that Mitt Romney was not called out on his sidestepping and denials?
Can it be that, on a day where the stock market in our country dropped 3.5 percent and in China by 5 percent, that candidates were not asked what they think is wrong with the global economy?
Can it be that, when many experts agree that government meddling in housing and mortgages was central to the recent financial collapse, there has not been a single question on why Fannie and Freddie are still standing, propped up by government, and untouched?
Why, when everyone knows that Rick Santorum is a social conservative, would the question on "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military be directed at him? His answer was a surprise to no one.
Why wasn't Romney the one questioned on this?
Why, instead of wasting time on stupid questions like "Who on this stage would you choose as your vice president?" would the question not be asked "Who is your favorite justice on the Supreme Court"?
Both Romney and Michele Bachmann have said they will repeal Obamacare on day one.
Shouldn't someone ask what happens on day two? hat would they do to fix our health care system, which clearly has problems?
With all the focus on Social Security, policy experts generally agree that the problems of Medicare are much bigger and more complex. Yet, there has not been a single question about how to reform Medicare.
But perhaps even more fundamentally, the cable sponsors of these events have failed grotesquely to bring out the fault lines that divide these Republican candidates and the Republican Party.
Where are these candidates on Roe v. Wade and the role of law in protecting unborn lives?
Where are these candidates on preservation on the integrity of traditional marriage?
With all the talk about states' rights, why are there no questions about the appropriateness of a federal court overturning a popular vote in the state of California -- Proposition 8 -- to preserve the traditional definition of marriage in their state?
Or the denial of the District of Columbia government to even allow a vote of its residents on this issue before declaring same-sex marriage legal?
Does the collapse of the traditional family in America -- something undeniably happening as we rapidly approach having half of our children born to unwed mothers -- even matter? Should candidates not be forced to weigh in on this?
The downward spiral into an exclusively technocratic discussion about the economy -- like we're all laboratory mice in a box with politicians pushing the buttons -- obfuscates key differences between these Republican candidates and the two parties.
It is a symptom of the big problems of our country that we appear incapable of having presidential debates with serious questions.
Examiner Columnist Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education (urbancure.org). She is syndicated nationally by Scripps Howard News Service.
Read more at the Washington ExaminerLike millions of Americans, I join those ignoring the debates as nonsense. I was at the airport Thursday night during the debate and looks like from all accounts of regular people that Fox News hit rock bottom. Don't know what Murdoch and Fox News are up to but anyone who thinks they are a friend of grassroots conservatives need to think again. If a Presidential candidate cannot stay a member of the Fox Team, why do they have Karl Rove still giving his two cents when he is Romney's adviser trying to tank Gov Perry? If that is not a conflict of interest or the fact that Crossroads gave major dollars to candidates in 2010 who now are endorsing Romney, I don't know what is. That's not a story? Not in the Fox World of Murdoch it seems.
Not only are the debates not serious, some of the questions are downright stupid. We agree with Star Parker if Perry goes after social security ask him what his plan is and also ask Romney about RomneyCare. Not these debates as the moderators are asking questions meant to stir up animosity. There are way too many debates and have yet to see questions on much substance.
On immigration you have a group of candidates who don't have a clue about what goes on with the border states. Do you hear questions asked about the Hezbollah and the Drug Cartels who are on the border actively working? Not on your life, you have to concentrate on children and college age students who were brought to this country through no fault of their own.
Shame that a Governor who believes every child in his state deserves a quality education gets clobbered by the anti-illegal crowd. Education is the path to the future and I am not going to tell some high school senior who has lived here all their life that they have to pay out of state tuition or go back to Mexico when this is the only country they know. Illegal immigration is against the law but it goes back years and the solution that some come up with to send over 11,000,000 people back is not feasible. How about the children who were born here? Are we going to tell them because their parents are here illegally that they can stay but their parents have to go back to Mexico?
Crime along the border is at an all time high which should be the focus right now. I am not concerned about a roofer who is putting on my roof being here illegally, but I am concerned about the violence on the border and potential for Hezbollah to do real damage in the United States. Shame the anti-illegal group cares more about a family then they do the real problems on the border. As we have said many times, that fence along the Texas border will not work but Fox News, some of the candidates, and others don't seem to have a clue.
Star Parker has nailed the problem with the worthless debates we are seeing. The questions keep ignoring the problems that are faced in this Country as the moderators attempt to tank Republicans. Why? Is it to help Obama have four more years of his socialist policy so it will bring in more revenue to the cable news networks with advertisers. Is this what it is all about? The almighty dollar that Murdoch will sell his soul along with Soros to get even more money and influence. Food for thought!
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