Debate format

I have been arguing for a decade that the Republican Party has been hijacked by Dixiecrats, Special interests, and now media seeking ratings.   This is simple.  For the First debate, any candidate who has at least 1% in the polls gets into the debate.  You pick out of a hat for debate 1, eight candidates, and debate 2 eight candidates.  They run the debates back to back with each debate getting 2 hours.   After the first debate, the top ten candidates remain on the debate stage based on poll numbers.  The third debate drops to six candidates based on poll numbers, and then you go with the top six vote leaders in actual primaries for the remaining debates.

I am furious that actual folks who have governed will not get to the stage and those who make the most outrageous statements do make it.  Fox News is setting this criteria which it becomes clear that feeding hate, fear, and outrageous clown antics get ratings, and this is being done while the RNC has abdicated its own party.   What was left of traditional Republicans in this facade of what the Republican Party was is now just a sad joke.   America works best when two strong parties debate issues and together we work for the best policy.

I heard somebody argue the Republican Party is going to disintegrate like the Whig party in the next five years.  There is just too much conflict between Tea Party Nihilist, Neocons, the religious moral right, libertarians, and traditional conservative fiscal Republicans.  It is the same conflicts the Democratic Party had within their Party when the Dixiecrats were Democrats.  It is untenable.

2seaoat wrote:I have been arguing for a decade that the Republican Party has been hijacked by Dixiecrats, Special interests, and now media seeking ratings.   This is simple.  For the First debate, any candidate who has at least 1% in the polls gets into the debate.  You pick out of a hat for debate 1, eight candidates, and debate 2 eight candidates.  They run the debates back to back with each debate getting 2 hours.   After the first debate, the top ten candidates remain on the debate stage based on poll numbers.  The third debate drops to six candidates based on poll numbers, and then you go with the top six vote leaders in actual primaries for the remaining debates.

I am furious that actual folks who have governed will not get to the stage and those who make the most outrageous statements do make it.  Fox News is setting this criteria which it becomes clear that feeding hate, fear, and outrageous clown antics get ratings, and this is being done while the RNC has abdicated its own party.   What was left of traditional Republicans in this facade of what the Republican Party was is now just a sad joke.   America works best when two strong parties debate issues and together we work for the best policy.

This all sounds well and good, but I think you're forgetting who the target audience is here.

What the republican party should really do is set up an obstacle course, or perhaps a Chick-Fil-A eating contest.  They need to appeal to and energize the base.

Better yet, they should have a "Reverse Mortgage Sell Off" competition, because that is precisely what all of these candidate will be doing on Fox News in two years anyways.

Unless Trump gets in front of the cameras and says something like: "Jesus was a fraud who doesn't know how to negotiate with the Chinks" in the weeks before the debate;  that debate is going to be a Trump Show.  

I'd give about equal odds to either one of those two things happening so we'll have to see which does happen. lol

I have to agree with you Bob.  I think that the right strategy for the debate is that all the other candidates ignore trump.  I can tell you he has an attack well planned out for each of the candidates.  They will walk into an ambush with trump by attacking him in the debate and giving the appearance of piling on.....stick to the issues and your position, and let trump bluster....he will try to garnish attention and people will simply tire.

It may not have much to do with governing the country, but this is guaranteed to be a "main event" that garners the largest tv audience politics has ever seen.
I'm planning to stock up on popcorn and milk duds. And not at movie theater concession prices either. I'm buying all that shit on bogo's between now and then.
Do you know what a bogo is, seaoat? lol

Do you know what a bogo is, seaoat?


no

Forgive me for going off-topic with one post.  But I just gotta tell you a personal story that happened to me not long ago.

A few months ago,  for the first time ever in my life I got interested in gardening and plants and all that.
Being a complete newbie,  I didn't know a plant from a weed.  Still don't really.
In fact my favorite plant in the whole garden is a weed (which is another whole story involving the confederacy which seaoat probably expected to hear LOL).

Anyways,  I'm doing an outdoor patio/garden totally "on the cheap".  Meaning literally every aspect of it is coming from yard sales.

I started buying plants at the yard sales.  And then one Saturday my yard sale partner tipped me off to a lady having a plant sale in Ensley.  Said she had the whole driveway on both sides lined with plants and "she's sellin em cheap".  So I quickly made a beeline for it.

When I got there,  all these different plants were lining the driveway like he said.  And every one of them had the name of the plant and the price on a tag on it.
She was busy with another customer so I looked at all the plants and their prices.  Never heard of any of them because I'm so "green" (and I don't mean my thumb).  
The cheapest ones were also a variety I'd never heard of.  When she got free from the customer I pointed across the driveway and said "what price would you give me on all those bogo plants (that was the name on the sticker).  She had no earthly idea what I was talking about so we walked over there and she looked astonished and said "that means buy one get one (free).
I turned red in the face because of course she then knew I didn't know shit from shinola about plants.  Since all the other plants had their species name on the label,  I just figured those were called bogo plants.  lol
Of course bogo is now a common term applied to supermarket products and I buy bogo's all the time. But now I have learned there is no such thing as a bogo species of plant. lol

The first time I registered for classes at UF as a 17 year old freshman, I remember looking through the course catalog and finding my first class. The professor was listed as "Staff". I filled out all the necessary paperwork and then searched the catalog for my next class. There again, it was being taught by "Staff". When I finished registration, I had three courses that were being taught by "Staff", and one by some other professor.

I remember telling people later that night, "Dr. Staff must be some sort of badass. He's teaching three of my four courses."

Priceless. I love it, bds. Somewhere in the back of my mind I can remember experiencing kinda the same thing (with the word "Staff") when I first entered Draft Dodger College. lol