Tag: Iowa
Two Iowas - When Debates Are Not Debates
Two hours, two debates, two disappointments: The Des Moines Register Debates from Iowa will push pundits to find a lead for their new stories and blogs. The format/moderator, which led yesterday's GOP no-news debate won't be enough today. The format didn't fundamentally change and results were similar -- muted repetitions of known candidate positions; so what's the news? The format of linear "interchange" again throttled at least some of the characteristics we'd like in debate, simply stated: DEBATE. [In fairness, the moderator had some flashes of personality today]
Candidates are often advised in debates to recognize that many viewers are first-timers who will hear their stance. Certainly that's good advice since even in the three main-stage presidential debates, after months of coverage, large numbers of "yet to be informed" are reached.
This advice, however, seems a misread of what was needed with the Iowa Register debates. They were more repetitions of candidate stump speeches than fresh information; and that is just not enough for these debates.
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: democatic debate, Iowa, format
Des Moines Register Debates Round Two Preview: Democrats
After getting our hopes up and having them dashed yesterday, it's tough to preview today's Democratic version of yesterday's disaster. Since most of the blame lies with the moderator and the format, today's Des Moines Register debate might not be much better, but a few factors offer hope.
First, there are three fewer candidates, and no Alan Keyes. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are the debaters. Dennis Kucinich did not meet the sponsor's criteria and complained with a press release, but his grounds for complaint are weak as Jason Zengerle explains.
Fewer candidates could mean longer time given to each answer, more follow ups, and/or more total questions. If the last is the adaptation, the debate will be no better than yesterday's.
Second, the moderator and her employers surely cannot have escaped the stinging and nearly unanimous rebuke of those who watched or participated. Maybe, just maybe, some crow will be eaten and the format and moderation will be improved.
Third, the candidates can learn from yesterday. They might run roughshod over the moderator knowing the media is sympathetic. They can exploit the rules to attack without naming names and to demand answers. They can "frontload" their sound bites to adapt to the very short response times. They can question the question, question the premise, and use "go backs" (go back to an earlier issue after being very brief in reply to a current one).
On the other hand, the poor format and weak moderator also allow candidates to avoid debating if they choose. They might bet on little follow up and not name names so as not to elicit a rebuttal. This afternoon we'll hear a debate if the Democrats want one and the moderator allows it.
To see for yourself at 2pm EST:
Tune in to Iowa Public Television, CNN, C-SPAN3, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN Radio or Fox News Radio.
You can also watch via the web at C-SPAN 3 or at the Des Moines Register website
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: debate, debates, democratic presidential primary, Des Moines Register, preview, Iowa
Worst Debate in DebateScoop History?
Update [2007-12-13 12:56:14 by Ross Smith]: Lest you think we exaggerate, I just found this:
Charles Krauthammer: "That was not just the worst debate of 2007, that was the worst debate in western history, and that includes the ancient Greeks" ("Sprecial Report," FNC, 12/12).
------------------------------------
My last liveblog comment was, "Awful. Just Awful." Steve called the debate "Less Than Earthshaking."
But DebateScoop's criticism was muted compared to that elsewhere. The extremely harsh reactions might be due to the fact that the expectations and stakes were high. These debates are, after all, the last debates before the Iowa caucuses, races in both parties are up for grabs, and the results may well determine who the next President of the United States is.
Whatever the reason, this debate had the worst reviews of any we have seen since DebateScoop was founded in August of 2006.
The first problem was that this event had too little give and take to merit being called a debate. Even the Des Moines Register's David Yepsin did not spare his own colleagues on that score:
"The biggest problem with the debate was that it wasn't really a debate. Candidates got almost no opportunity to grill one another. Often they ran out of time and were cut off just as they started to probe an opponent.
The event would have been more nourishing had the format allowed for more back-and-forth."
Dean Barnett of the Weekly Standard is not as measured as the home town colleague:
I'm sure there are people in Iowa who could capably moderate a presidential debate. Unfortunately, and obviously, Carolyn Washburn is not one of them.
The bulk of the post-debate analysis will probably focus on how maladroit Washburn was at the job. She did the impossible--she moderated the last Iowa debate between the Republican candidates before caucuses and yet saw to it that none of the candidates engaged each other. In other words, the moderator ensured that the debate would be as lively as a 12 part PBS series on "How Grass Grows."
A personal aside to the Des Moines Register--"boring" is not synonymous with "serious."
The problems went beyond Washburn's lack of mad moderating skillz. From the outset, Washburn announced that the candidates would not be discussing either Iraq or immigration. Swell! It's the biggest debate of the season, so let's take the two biggest issues off the table. For what it's worth, Washburn brought all the charm to her assignment of a latter-day Nurse Ratched.
Whether from left, right or center, from blogger or mainstream journalist, the reactions to the format, moderator, questions, and resultant "debate" tended to be closer to Barnett's than to Yepsin's. "Highlights" are in the extended entry.
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: debate, debates, Iowa, Des Moines Register, moderators, republican presidential primary, elections 2008, round up
Des Moines GOP Debate Less Than Earthshaking
I suppose to some extent it's inevitable that a 1.5 hour debate with 9 participants won't get to much in the way of substance.
[Was there a reason this debate couldn't have been 2-hours long as several others have been this season? Was there a reason it ended 6 minutes early?]
That having been said, I agree completely with Ross that choices in format and questioning made the situation far worse than it needed to be. The result was a very disappointing outcome for a debate that was supposed to be "seismic" in its potential to alter the course of the Iowa caucus.
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: GOP, Iowa, Debate
Liveblog of GOP December 12 Debate in Iowa
Update [2007-12-12 15:27:17 by Ross Smith]: Terrible debate, really, and I blame the moderator. Read through the comments below to get a sense of how it didn't ever unfold.
Join me in the comments for live reactions to todays debate as it unfolds.
(If you are not registered, just do so in upper right of screen. It's free and easy.
Click "Discuss" for more . . .
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: debate, debates, Iowa, republican presidential primary, liveblog
High Stakes: D(ebate) Days Are Here in Iowa
Update [2007-12-12 13:45:3 by Ross Smith]: Actually two updates. One, look in the space just below this post for the liveblog of today's debate. Two, The New York Times Magazine piece on Huckabee (originally scheduled for Sunday) in which he "innocently" asked about Mormons and Satan is now up.
Today and tomorrow at 1 pm CST debates with potentially "seismic impact" will be held for the presidential contenders, the Republicans today and the Democrats tomorrow. Even if the Des Moines Register's "seismic" overstates the impact of the debates they are hosting, as the last debates before the fast approaching holidays and the January 3 Iowa caucus these primary debates do have added importance, especially in the context of the fact that neither party now has a clear front runner for the nomination.
AP provides the basic details:
Sponsored by Iowa Public Television and The Des Moines Register, the two debates will be held in Johnston, Iowa, and broadcast live at 2 p.m. EST on Iowa Public Television, CNN, C-SPAN3, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN Radio and Fox News Radio.
You can also watch via the web at
C-SPAN 3 or at the
Des Moines Register website.
Even though it's an afternoon debate, there will be rebroadcasts and over 200 news organizations are covering the debates, so the "earned media" effect should be huge.
The leading narrative for today's debate is that there is now be a target on Huckabee's back as he has taken the lead in Iowa and is rapidly surging nationally. Read below the fold for more details about the format, participants, and expected dynamic of today's debate. I'll have a preview focused on the Democrats tomorrow.
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: debate, debates, Des Moines Register, Iowa, presidential primary, elections 2008
Flurry of Debates Continues Tonight
[Update] Liveblogging the Brown and Black Forum in the thread below. Join us for comments on the off chance you get the Sirius feed or have HDNET.
Update [2007-12-1 15:12:8 by Ross Smith]: Happening as I type, the "Heartland Presidential Forum" which is "not a debate" but is a three hour forum with the Democratic candidates being interviewed for 20 minutes each. Stream and preview. Long day for the Dems.
Tonight's "Black and Brown Presidential Forum" in Iowa is the second of a flurry of five debates in the thirteen days that began with Wednesday's GOP CNN/YouTube debate.
The DesMoines Register reports the basics of tonight's event which has been held quadrennially starting in 1984:
This year's edition will be at 7 p.m. [CST] at North High School in Des Moines, and will be telecast live nationally by HDNet, a high-definition television network. It will be simulcast in Iowa and surrounding states by cable company Mediacom's "Connections" channel. Sirius satellite radio also will carry it.
The forum moderators will be Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" newsmagazine, and Ray Suarez, a senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS.
In addition, newsman Dan Rather, who appeared with Ford and Campos, will be the host of a preview show on HDNet half an hour before the forum begins, and will conduct an analysis of it afterward.
Activists are questioning the fairness of tonight's event, claiming the organizers have favored Hillary Clinton.
Daily Kos and
Iowa Independent have details.
The debate schedule continues Tuesday, November 4 from 1-3pm CST with NPR's radio debate for Democrats.
The following week begins with the GOP Univision Debate Sunday, December 9 at the University of Miami (Florida). That debate, broadcast in Spanish and focused on issues of concern to Hispanics, was canceled earlier in the year when most of the GOP contenders refused to commit to it.
Wednesday and Thursday, December 12 and 13, the Republican and then the Democratic candidates will participate in debates sponsored by the Des Moines Register. These debates were originally to be held in early January, but were moved up when the Iowa caucuses were moved to January 3.
Democratic candidates were also scheduled to debate in Los Angeles on December 10 in a nationally televised debate on CBS which was canceled because of a strike by CBS news writers.
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: debate, debates, preview, Iowa, minority issues, democratic presidential primeary, elections 2008
Election 2008 thus far
http://video.google.com/vid
eoplay?docid=-6355773023591
053612
From the standpoint of both a debater and a potential voter, this debate was uninformative, useless, and inconsequential.
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: Democratic, Iowa, debate, presidential, 2008
Debates Reveal Significant Differences On Iraq, More Debate Needed
By
Stefan 08/20/2007 12:54:53 PM EST
There are significant differences between Democrats and Republicans on Iraq. But there are also important differences among the Democrats that are too quickly brushed aside because their proposals are all elements of a broader policy of withdrawal.
These differences are significant because choosing one approach over another may determine whether or not Iraq collapses into a full-blown civil war, requiring the U.S. to return to the region. If a Democratic proposal results in a U.S. return to the region, the policy become consequentially indistinguishable from Republican approaches.
Most significantly, in Sunday's debate Bill Richardson endorsed withdrawing all U.S. troops, claiming that "none of this peace and peace building can begin until all of our troops are out." He claimed that the withdrawal can be accomplished "within six to eight months."
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: iraq, iowa, democrats
