"Congress Debate" held at George Washington
In a debate format recognizable to academic debaters, four members of Congress held their first in a series of public encounters removed from the Capitol building. The Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference's stated purpose is to "foster higher-quality discourse than the bombastic one-minute floor speeches that often pass for debate in the House" and "use public debate to arrive at common ground."
CQs "trail-less-traveled" blog reported the debate in depth. In an earlier post debatescoop outlined the series. Unfortunately the event received such sparse coverage that it is likely nearly everyone missed the debate. The eight congresspersons found some common grounds spurred, in part, by the venue and format.
"It's ironic that we have to leave the U.S. Capitol to give you the kind of debate the American people deserve," Putnam (FL) said
Davis (NY) noted that just having an audience is an improvement.
"We're accustomed to empty chairs and nobody listening," he said.
Excerpts from the GW event:
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: Congress, policy debates, public debates, NAFTA
A Blizzard Predicted - Handicapping Tonight's Democratic Cleveland Debate
The weather forecast for Cleveland tonight is another brutal winter day with eight inches of snow. Many predictions for the debate from Cleveland State University at 9-10:30 on MSNBC (ET) hint that the encounter will be equally nasty.
On the trail over the weekend Hillary Clinton threw down the gauntlet with the line "Meet me in Ohio and let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign." [earlier blog entry on challenge]
Certainly there is much to debate given the "issues" dominating the contest since a Texas debate last Tuesday: Mailers, costumes, celestial intervention, utopia vs. "get real,' commander-in-chief, Union & 527 advertising. If the debate devolves into a debate of "tactics" it would indeed provide fireworks. The press would love that debate but it is unlikely, not serving either candidate's purpose.
Also unlikely is a repeat of the Texas love-fest with negligible policy distinction. Smooth sailing does little to recast the choice, suggesting the Clinton campaign cannot afford mixed story-lines of attack and cooperation. The latter will undoubtedly be Obama's motif, only leaving Clinton to continue the assault if the race is to be impacted.
Assessing media predictions - after the fold.
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: Ohio, democratic debate, preview, media coverage, NAFTA
