The Not So Great Debate

Again I watched and listened to the Democratic debate. Well, hardly a debate. A few years ago I read the transcripts of the Lincoln-Douglass debates. The format was this.

Lincoln spoke for an hour. Douglass spoke for an hour and a half. Lincoln spoke for half an hour. Each side was given 90 minutes to talk. Explain. Extrapolate.

No moderators. That was a debate.

Last night I watched something that was called a debate, but was actually one of a series of  made for TV soundbite shows. OK. OK. With 6 candidates you can’t have a real debate, but that does not necessitate the ridiculous system now controlled by networks and moderators.

The discussion , which should elicit in depth, comprehensive explanations of views and policies, instead only encouraged “gotcha ” questions and hostile statements. I ask: What did anyone LEARN about the positions of the candidates? Not much, if anything.

Before I honor you with my solutions, let us re-enact the discussion.

Start Moderator # 1 (because, to be honest, the discussion is more about the “cleverness” of the moderators than the substance of the candidates): Mayor Bloomberg. You run a 60 billion dollar empire and have been around since Jesus walked the Earth. We now have 3 anonymous women who say you told a dirty joke in 1986. Since we now know you are a misogynistic, racist pig who rapes little girls, why are you even on the stage, and not in prison? You have 75 seconds to respond.

Star Moderator # 2: Senator Sanders. You are a communist through and through. You want to give everyone a communist health care plan that will destroy the very fabric of American society. You also had at least one heart attack. So, do you really think America is ready to elect a sickly, disgusting Mao-loving communist who will take away all their rights? You have 75 seconds to discuss all your plans and explain why you love Stalin.

Star Moderator # 3: Vice President Biden. You suck. We all know you are too old and you suck. And what about your son? You are trying to ride Obama’s coattails. Because you are old, a crook and suck, why should people vote for you? Hell, why am I even talking to you, you loser. You have 75 seconds to explain all of your work as vice president.

Star Moderator # 4: Senator Klobuchar. When you were a prosecutor in Minnesota you put black people in prison for crimes. Also, you cannot name the youngest daughter of the Vice President of Guatemala. In view of this history of racism and anti-Latino sentiment, please answer the following. Why are you a racist and why do you hate Latinos and why should any person of color even consider voting for such an obvious hater? Please limit your response to 75 seconds, you racist bitch.

Star Moderator # 5: Senator Warren. You are behind in the polls. You want to do better. You have these very hard to understand plans that no one cares about because they aren’t going to happen. You have been very unladylike today . Do you think being a strident , screeching female who thinks she is so smart will make men turn off to your campaign. I mean, what man wants to hear you talk like you know more than they do? Have you always turned off men or is this a new phenomenon? You have only 60 seconds because you talk too much.

Star Moderator # 6: Mayor Pete. You little cutie pie. Are you insane? You are gay. You are young. You are a smarty pants. You were in the military but no one cares about that. What the hell makes you think you have any right to run for president? I don’t care what your views are. Bottom line. Other than your “husband” and others in “that community” do you really think anyone else is ever going to vote for you? Please answer in 75 seconds and don’t play the lame “military” and “gay” cards.

As the discussion comes to a close the 6 moderators all congratulate each other on their insightful questioning.

Questions not asked by the insightful moderators. Questions which might have elicited intelligent , thoughtful responses.

Explain your health care plan, what it would cost and how you would pay for it.

Mr Trump has turned the Constitution upside down. Explain two ways you would bring us back to be a nation with respect for the law.

Immigration reform has been talked about for years. What is your plan for protecting the border, dealing with the Dreamers and developing a comprehensive plan for legal immigration?

To what extent should we be involved, with troops on the ground, in the Middle East? Explain.

Of course, questions like this cannot be answered in 75 seconds.

So, my suggestions.

1.Give each candidate 4-5 minutes to answer any question, uninterrupted.

2.Ask the exact same question to every candidate.

3. Do not allow candidates to ask each other questions except in the context of their own allotted time.

4. Make sure each candidate gets the same amount of time as the others.

Now these rules would mean that the moderators would no longer be the stars of the show. They would have to bury their egos. Actually, you would need only one moderator who could just ask the questions and keep time.

This would change the entire feel of the discussion. It would have depth. It would be BORING. Nothing but facts, ideas, plans and explanations. So people who wanted more information about these candidates could get that information.

But then, that would be bad TV.

Then There Were Four

I didn’t watch all of the Democratic candidate debates. But I saw enough. It’s time to thin the herd. Be merciful. Cut out the slackers.

There are only 4 people who have a chance at the Democratic nomination.

Warren. Harris. Biden. Buttigieg.

The rest are toast. Window dressing.

Warren because of her command of the specifics. Her ability to take complex issues and explain complex solutions in a way most folks can understand. She created the Consumer Protection Agency and was prevented from leading it by Moscow Mitch and his gang of pirates. So. She simply ran for the Senate and now leads the charge for progressive policies. Sweet  revenge. Moscow Mitch can’t get rid of her.

Harris. Smart. Able. Organized. She can articulate why Trump has devastated the nation and how she will fix it. A former prosecutor , she understands the legal and judicial systems. Not afraid of a fight. Willing to do whatever it takes.

Biden. The last gasp of the old guard. He has plenty of favors to call in. He still wears the mantle of his vice presidency under Obama. And Obama is still the most popular president alive. A long time liberal who is willing to negotiate. Thinks he can bring folks together after the travesty of the Trump years.

Buttigieg. Young. Gifted. Articulate. Brilliant. If he represents the new wave of Democratic politicians we are indeed in good hands. He will bring in voters of his generation and younger. He looks to the future and grasps the mistakes of the past. Time to move on.

Only a fool makes predictions about politics, especially over a year ahead of time. So, here are mine.

A Harris-Buttigieg ticket. The best of both worlds. Progressive but also practical. Ethnic woman from California; young military veteran from a farm state. Being gay won’t even enter into the conversation on the Dem side.

A perfect foil to the Trump-Pence fiasco. Two old, fading authoritarians versus forward thinking, intelligent democrats. What could be better?

And you can be sure that Harris-Buttigieg will not make the same mistakes that Clinton’s handlers did. They understand that the US election is not a popular vote, but a state by state contest. They will not ignore Michigan or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

Why not Biden? He looks like he’s done. His time has passed. He does not project the energy needed to defeat Trump, Putin and the American oligarchs.

Why not Sanders? Warren has the same basic policies but articulates them better and in more detail. Bernie is long on gesture but short on substance. That will be exposed in smaller debates, as it was in 2016.

Why not Warren? She is almost too aggressive. People, especially suburban women, do not like that in a woman. Nor do many men.  I would not count her out if given the chance to defeat Trump, but I don’t think the primary voters will give her that chance.

The rest of the pack? They should go home right now and run for the Senate of House or Governorship in their own states, They had their time in the limelight. It was nice, but now it’s over. Don’t waste our time or money.

Pocahontas or not?

Elizabeth Warren is gearing up for her run for the presidency against Donald in 2020. She will be a strong candidate because she can explain economic reality in a way that the common person can understand. And she is not afraid of Trump the bully. She has handled bullies before.

If you recall, Ms. Warren was nominated to be the head of the new Consumer Protection Agency. But the Republicans hated her. Why? Because she was and is an advocate for consumers. You know. Everyone who ever buys anything.

So, the GOP blocked her nomination and she didn’t get the job.

So, what did she do? Give up? Hardly. She responded by running for the US Senate where she now has a seat. And a bully pulpit. And is a daily reminder to those same  Republicans that they have failed to shut her up.

Which brings me to “Pocahontas”.

Mr Trump regularly derides Senator Warren, calling her “Pocahontas”. He does this because she has related a family story that she is descended partially from Native Americans. And evidently “Pocahontas” is the only Native American Trump has ever heard of, outside of “Tonto”. A family story. Is it true? Trump says “No”. And if you can’t believe the guy who still says Obama was born in Africa, who can you believe?

True or not, Mr Trump will bring this up at every rally. He will try to make this a campaign issue. And the press, unable to figure out what is real news and what is propaganda, will undoubtedly play along. Fox will have orgasms of delight covering this “issue”every day. Trump knows he can’t win on his record or the issues, so slander is his best and only weapon.

So, what should Warren do? Take a DNA test. Find out once and for all if she has any Native American heritage.

If she does have Native American ancestors, she can shut Donald’s mouth with a simple test. Make it public. Donald has lost his weapon.

If she does not have Native American heritage she should openly admit it. The family story is wrong. Just like so many family stories in America. Every family understands that. Get it over with. Trump loses his weapon.

While the issue is trivial, Trump and his network have a history of making the trivial seem important. Of clouding the issues with attacks on persons. Benghazi. Benghazi. Benghazi.

So, Senator Warren. Take the test. Disclose the results. Don’t let the trivial get in the way of the important.

Who knows? Maybe we can get Trump to take that DNA test proving his mother was not an orang-utan. So far, he has refused.