UMD Libertarians

the 04 debates had:
1. September 30 at the University of Miami, with questions from moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS;

2. October 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, in a town-hall format moderated by Charles Gibson of ABC;
3. October 13 at Arizona State University, with questions from moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS.

One vice-presidential debate was held:
* October 5 at Case Western Reserve University, moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS

So seems like same people except for Gibson getting replaced by Brokaw. He probably would have been replaced by Russert if he didn’t die
umm whose in whose pocket? who asks the godd/honest/hard questions?
The presidential debates are a farce and have been for years.

was 9/11 an inside job too?

The presidency of the United States, and they’re only debating 3 times. What a joke.

Meh its not that, take a look at the primary debates, after the first one they were repeating the same shit over and over again

You dumbshit, have you ever watched these "debates?" They’re not debates at all, they’re a pre-established set of questions with the other candidate in the same room. They candidates don’t actually debate any more as they are rarely, if ever actually allowed to engage the other person or people.

and how is that different from all other debates we’ve seen so far this year?

The primary debates are just as useless as the presidential debates. I think Emfuser is saying that since national, political debates have become scripted events that they’re largely useless to the election process.

I wouldn’t call it useless, it gives them a platform to speak to everyone in America. The fact that there are so few presidential debates means a lot of people will tune in.

So they can tell people their platform, and explain other things

They’re really not, which is why I call them a farce. I’d like to see some real debates, not an exchange of talking points with no real debate.

You got it.

They tell people their platform at all the events and fundraisers they attend and speak at along the campaign trail. Most of the time these ideas are echoed in the media following their campaigns. You are correct the "debates" give the candidates the opportunity to reach the US all at once, but my concern is that it’s rather misleading to call them debates when there is little debating that happens and the candidate is just responding to scripted questions. I would rather see real debates between the candidates take place rather than the pre-determined circus we have now.

It’s easy for the candidates to recite their platform that they’ve had time to perfect, but if they were given off-the-cuff questions that really matter to the people, we would see their true colors.

they’re highly useful to the election process they’re largely useless to voters who want to make an informed decision
drag their asses up onto a stage with 2 chairs. tie them both down to the chairs and then make them answer questions from the audience.
Refusal to answer results in a stungun to the nuts.

Let me be the moderator and we will get some real debating again.

I agree to a point. The purpose of debates IMO is to showcase the candidates to America so they can see who they’re voting for. George Bush "lost" every debate but he was still running on the "i’m america’s protector" spiel, so naturally, he won the election. When calm and cool Obama gets up there sitting next to old and irritable McCain, I’m pretty sure the election will be in the bag for Obama.

nah, hard to answer questions that way

so its weird that the obama campaign rejected mccain’s request for 10 more town-hall debates… isn’t it

except most people don’t go/watch their campaign stops or watch political programs, and local news hardly covers policies. Most people could give 2 shits about politics, and have to rely on debates to see where each candidate stands.

Yes everyone would want to see the 2 candidates gnaw on each other, but noone wants to see McCain have a heart attack on the stage.

i just want to see them in terrible pain, fuck questions

I do. If he can’t handle a simple debate where the hard questions are asked and has to defend his position, then he won’t be able to handle the job. So find out now if his ticker (and his anger) can handle 1/1000th of the stress.
Same with Obama.

well I never said what the rules would be regarding the stun gun to the nuts.

No it makes perfect sense. There’s no reason for Obama to risk his lead. For Obama, it’s break even or lose. For McCain, it’s break even or win. If you’re Obama, you would have to be an idiot to go to some podunk town and get asked if you support abortion or gay marraige.

different from politics as usual, CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN

Obama is a smart man. Whether or not you agree with his policies is one thing, but he isn’t a stupid politician.

but he’s supposed to be different from all the other politicians… thats the whole point of his campaign…

So for his message to be true, he has to do everything differently? Do you want him to shit standing up as well?

no, but if his message is "i am not politics as usual" he should probably refrain from blatant poiltics as usual moves
I don’t think that’s politics as usual when the incumbent party demands town-hall debates when time would be better spent getting their policies out on a larger scale.

what

Town hall debates would make sense if the candidates didn’t represent cut and dry ideals. McCain represents conservatism, Obama represents liberalism. There is no debating that, and anyone that would be swayed by a town hall debate is kidding himself.

yeah swing voters… they don’t exist at all …
as long as it’s not that worthless black bitch from 4 years ago.

A town hall debate wont sway no one
mem obama is smart in not debateing… but i "personally" would honestly love a really gruesom long debate with difficult question for both canidates…. it would be up there with the super bowl as far as good tv

I love the people who say they have questions that would make the candidates crumble, but they don’t bother going to campaign events to ask them.

and you know they don’t bother going because you never see those questions on tv right

What if they let Bob Barr in?

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