the Future of Presidential Debates
Sat Feb 15 21:03:36 EST 2014
I watched a couple of TV shows today about the Presidential debates.Commonwealth Club of California:
Future of Presidential Debates
65 min, C-SPAN, Mon 2013 Sep 2
Presidential Debate Moderators
90 min, C-SPAN, Sat 2013 Feb 2
Both of these have been sitting in the DVR for a while (5-12 months).
The first was a discussion with the co-chairs of the Presidential Debate Comission. They talked about how things started, and how they have changed over the years.
The 2nd has 3 of the 4 moderators (Jim Lehrer, Martha Raddatz, and Bob Schieffer) from the 2012 Presidential and VP debates (hosted by Marvin Kalb, a past moderator) discussing their roles and the purpose and effectiveness of the debates.
Both shows felt that there's about 40% of the electorate solidly set for each party, with 20% left undecided. Jim Lehrer argues that the debates are just as much about reassuring the convicted as they are about enlightening the undecided.
The moderators also mention that the debates are the only part of the election process where both parties' supporters are watching/listening to the same information. There are so many selective and even fringe data streams out there that help people form and maintain the attitudes they choose.
Some interesting anecdotes about how some debate moments were very different for the people on site and the people watching on TV.
Disclaimer: I didn't watch much of the debates. I'm in one of those 40%s, with my mind already made up. (I find one party's policies and attitudes unacceptable, so my vote was more against that party than for the other, but there wasn't much that could happen in a debate to change that. Even someone incompetent would be preferable to someone competent advancing unacceptable policies.)
There's a little graphic in the top right corner that says "Monday". I guess it's there for the benefit of people who catch a rebroadcast later in the week. I'm watching this more than a year after it aired, and the day of the week seems meaningless here.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/652379.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I watched a couple of TV shows today about the Presidential debates.Commonwealth Club of California:
Future of Presidential Debates
65 min, C-SPAN, Mon 2013 Sep 2
Presidential Debate Moderators
90 min, C-SPAN, Sat 2013 Feb 2
Both of these have been sitting in the DVR for a while (5-12 months).
The first was a discussion with the co-chairs of the Presidential Debate Comission. They talked about how things started, and how they have changed over the years.
The 2nd has 3 of the 4 moderators (Jim Lehrer, Martha Raddatz, and Bob Schieffer) from the 2012 Presidential and VP debates (hosted by Marvin Kalb, a past moderator) discussing their roles and the purpose and effectiveness of the debates.
Both shows felt that there's about 40% of the electorate solidly set for each party, with 20% left undecided. Jim Lehrer argues that the debates are just as much about reassuring the convicted as they are about enlightening the undecided.
The moderators also mention that the debates are the only part of the election process where both parties' supporters are watching/listening to the same information. There are so many selective and even fringe data streams out there that help people form and maintain the attitudes they choose.
Some interesting anecdotes about how some debate moments were very different for the people on site and the people watching on TV.
Disclaimer: I didn't watch much of the debates. I'm in one of those 40%s, with my mind already made up. (I find one party's policies and attitudes unacceptable, so my vote was more against that party than for the other, but there wasn't much that could happen in a debate to change that. Even someone incompetent would be preferable to someone competent advancing unacceptable policies.)
There's a little graphic in the top right corner that says "Monday". I guess it's there for the benefit of people who catch a rebroadcast later in the week. I'm watching this more than a year after it aired, and the day of the week seems meaningless here.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/652379.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]