Allen vs. Webb Debate -- The Other Elephant in the Room?
No mention in the debate, or in the media coverage of the debate, of the AP story on Allen's failure to make certain financial disclosures.
However, today's editorials are mentioning it...
Tag: Jim Webb
Allen vs. Webb Debate Roundup - Media Edition
Media coverage primarily fell into the following categories:
The Tenor - The combative framing of the debate
The Situation - The debate in the context of the campaign
I'm Not Him - The contrasts the candidates emphasized
The Company He Keeps - Efforts to unfavorably link their opponents to other politicians
The Style - How the candidates appeared
The Issues - Exchanges on the issues, including: racism and sexism, economic issues, Iraq/national security, and the islands (both Craney Island and the Senkaku Islands)
The Miscellany - Other observations in the coverage
More details below...
Allen vs. Webb Debate Roundup
After all the pre-debate spin and blog hype, let's see what they have to say now.
We'll start with the campaign's spins, then blogs. Media coverage will follow in the morning. More added as it becomes available.
Where are those islands, exactly?
It should come as no surprise that a remote island should surface as an "issue" during the Allen/Web television debate on Monday night. After all, one of the current top-rated television shows ("Lost") is about surviving on a remote island, and past political debates have sometimes involved a bit of island hopping themselves. Kennedy and Nixon in their 1960 debates talked about about Quemoy and Matsu, and an earlier Allen/Webb debate brought us an exchange about Craney Island. So, it's only logical that Jim Webb would take the next step of asking his opponent about . . . the Senkaku Islands.
Live Blog - Allen vs. Webb
Update [2006-10-9 21:10:46 by Tim ODonnell]:: The debate is over, but you can dig into the threads and post your comments on the candidates answers
Join us for live blogging on the Allen-Webb debate and at 9:00 pm EST for Burns-Tester.
They are both LIVE on C-SPAN tonight! ...with analysis from DebateScoop experts to follow...
A special welcome to RedState and Daily Kos readers who have accepted the debate challenge!
Comment away below the fold.
Finally, here's a shout out to some of the better VA politics blogs that are following this race and tonight's debate:
Raising Kaine (has an open thread on tonight's debate) , Richmond War Room (has free coaching advice) , Virginia Political Blogs , The Virginia Progressive , Commonwealth Conservative , Policy Soup , The A-Team , SWAC Girl , the Virginian Federalist , SLANTblog , AllenHQ , The Mason Conservative
High Expectations for the "Invigorating Debate"
As you may recall, last Monday, Virginia Senator Allen called for the remainder of the campaign season to focus on an "invigorating debate worthy of our rich history" (press release, video)
Whether this debate lives up to Allen's aspirations or not, some in the media and blogosphere have deemed this debate a "crucial" point in the Virginia senate campaign. Coverage suggests this is Allen's opportunity to refocus the prevailing narrative away from his recent gaffes. However, some of the coverage also seconds Allen's motion to move on to the issues, while other coverage focuses on the snapshot of the race at this point in time. And finally, there is the no-debate debate.
"An Invigorating Debate Worthy of Our Rich History"
Near the end of his somewhat unprecedented two-minute paid television statement on Monday evening, U.S. Sen. George Allen said that this was what he was hoping the Virginia Senate campaign would become in the days ahead. He was, of course, making a general statement about campaign tone and direction. The intriguing question is whether some of Allen's comments suggest how he might approach the upcoming televised debate on October 9 against his opponent, Democrat Jim Webb.
The "Meet the Press" Format
Tim Russert is hosting a series of senatorial debates on Meet the Press this Fall. Our Debates Calendar gets you access to the details (for registered users).
The fact that the moderator, Tim Russert, and his format are constants across the debates makes this series an interesting study for analysts, campaign advisors, and interested observers.
Russert uses well prepared questions and does not "pitch softballs." For example, in the Virginia debate, he brought up an article written by Webb titled "Women Can't Fight." Russert then showed video tape of Commander Kathleen Murray, who declared:
There is no question that James Webb's attitudes and philosophy were major factors behind the unnecessary abuse and hazing received by me and my fellow women midshipmen. This article was brandished repeatedly by our male
upperclassmen. They quoted it and they used it as an excuse to mistreat
us.
When Webb replied in part that "it's been 27 years" since he wrote that, Russert turned to an other article from 1997. Russert also asked pointed questions of the other candidate, George Allen, who had written about Virginia
Military Institute, "[I]f it admitted women, it wouldn't be the VMI that we've know for 154 years."
It is difficult to think of a moderator/questioner in debates who asks more direct questions and matches Russert's willingness to ask pointed follow-up questions when candidates do not answer his questions.
Content analysis of the candidates' comments from first two Senate debates on Meet the Press shows that acclaims (self-praise) are more common than attacks (criticism of opponent) or defenses (responses to attacks). Pennsylvania: 38% acclaims, 36% attacks, 25% defenses. Virginia: 46% acclaims, 17% attacks, 37% defenses.
Russert's confrontational style likely encourages more defenses than would be found in most debates. A study of 15 US Senate debates from 1998-2004 (Benoit, Brazeal, & Airne, 2006) found that in those debates, 61% of statements were acclaims, 29% attacks, 10% defenses.
Content analysis can also examine the topics of debates. In these debates, candidates discussed policy (issues) more than character (image). In Pennsylvania, 76% policy and 24% character; in Virginia, 67% policy and 33% character.
The study of Senate debates 1998-2004 found a 70%/30% split, also favoring policy over character. Given the importance of and interest in the war in Iraq (and the war on terrorism), Russert asked all four candidates several questions on this topic.
William Benoit, Professor of Communication, University of Missouri
Tragic Staging: Allen and Webb in Fairfax
Today, August 18, the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Virginia US Senate Debate between Sen. George Allen and challenger Jim Webb. Importance and geography brought the debate to C-SPAN only a day after they met on Meet the Press (Moderated by George Stephanopoulos, ABC's "This Week")(Video). I do not know how the media will respond to the debate but the "Ah Ha" moment appeared to be when a reporter followed up on the predictable question regarding Allen's ill-fated use of language to characterize a person following his campaign stops. Peggy Fox (WUSA-TV: DC) asked about Allen's mother's Jewish heritage (Grandfather in question). Allen stopped, stood silently appalled, and awaited the audience which roundly booed the reporter. Allen then defended freedom of religion as the cornerstone of America. He asked the reporter why his mother's religious heritage had anything to do with this or any campaign. The reporter was silenced. Allen stood tall. I doubt this moment will change much in the campaign, but it did have a feel of an authentic instance. Was the exchange relevant, was his indignant pose telling? Perhaps not, but such exchanges seem to be the natural outcome of reporters as gotcha interrogators. The format contributes. Almost always, high profile reporter panels result in each plying to get "beneath" the candidates obvious facade.
"Meet the Press" - Allen / Webb debate analysis
Thought thin on some details, the debate was a vigorous exchange between Senator George Allen and former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb on Meet the Press Sunday September 17. Both men defended their public statements on race and gender, but the war on terror and hostilities in Iraq took center stage.
Tightening VA Senate Race
As the "Meet the Press" debate between James Webb and George Allen approaches, the election is tightening between the two candidates.
The The Virginian-Pilot reported a Mason-Dixon poll on 9.10.06 that showed Webb closing the July gap of 16 points to within the poll's margin of error of 4% (now 46 for Allen and 42 for Webb).
Allen/Webb October 9 Debate Details
WHO: George Allen (R) and Jim Webb (D)
WHEN: October 9, 8:00 pm
WHERE: PBS WCVE STUDIO, Bon Air, VA
SPONSOR: League of Women Voters in Virginia, WTVR (CBS affiliate in Richmond) and WCVE (a Community Ideas Station)
BROADCAST: Statewide on Virginia Public Television Stations
SOURCE: Virginian-Pilot 8/23/06
Here is the League of Women Voter's of Virginia's description of the debate:
US Senate candidates George F. Allen and James H. 'Jim' Webb, Jr. will participate in a live debate. The event is produced by: WTVR, RICHMOND and PBS WCVE-WHTJ, RICHMOND. Questions panel members are:* CBS representative - Rick Young
* PBS representative - May-Lily Lee
* League of Women Voters of Virginia - Lulu Meese, President
* Moderator: Russ Mitchell, CBS Sunday Night Anchor from New YorkThe basic format of the debate will be:
* 2 minute opening by the candidates
* Questions posed by the moderator
* Questions posed byt panel members questions
* 2 Minute closing by the candidates
Allen/Webb September 17 Debate Details
WHO: George Allen (R) and Jim Webb (D)
WHEN: September 17
WHERE: Washington, DC - "Meet the Press"
SPONSOR: NBC's "Meet the Press"
SOURCE: Virginian-Pilot 8/23/06
From MTP's website:
"Meet the Press" created its "Senate Debate Series" in 2002, hosting debates from Colorado, South Carolina and Louisiana. The series was well received and went on to win the prestigious USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Award for "Excellence in Television Political Journalism." In 2004, "Meet the Press" continued the Debate Series with much success featuring the Senate races from South Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado and South Carolina.
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