Real losers in gerrymandered NBC debate—Florida voters
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 9:30AM According to members of the media on Twitter, NBC banned clapping during the Monday night GOP Presidential Debate in Tampa.
Doesn’t that sound strange? After all, crowd feedback is part of US history when it comes to political debates. From the Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debates to current times, Americans have been an interactive part of these exchanges by way of applause and sometimes catcalls or cheers.
US History, a website created by the Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia, said this about the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858:
The spectators came from all over Illinois and nearby states by train, by canal-boat, by wagon, by buggy, and on horseback. They briefly swelled the populations of the towns that hosted the debates. The audiences participated by shouting questions, cheering the participants as if they were prizefighters, applauding and laughing. The debates attracted tens of thousands of voters and newspaper reporters from across the nation.
Most of us covering the debate found it dull and at times, bizarre.
For instance, the moderators spent one segment of time on the Terry Schiavo case. Although most of us were trying hard to stay awake, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s response on the Schiavo question made me think:
“Well, look, I think that we go to extraordinary lengths, for example, for people who are on murderers row. They have extraordinary rights of appeal.
And you have here somebody who was in a coma, who had, on the one hand, her husband saying let her die and her parents saying let her live. Now, it strikes me that having a bias in favor of life, and at least going to a federal hearing, which would be automatic if it was a criminal on death row, that it's not too much to say in some circumstances your rights as an American citizen ought to be respected.”
Now what the Schiavo case had to do with a presidential election I cannot say.
There was some after-humor. I watched on Wednesday morning as a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush praised the performance by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Not for the first time did I realize it is entirely possible for government feeders to suffer from delusion.
Obviously the format of the NBC debate was designed to benefit Romney whose poll numbers have been tanking. Even more obviously the Romney camp had a plan in place to advance their man, with full cooperation from big media.
All’s fair in love and politics. But Romney supporters should bear something in mind. If he goes toe to toe with President Barack Obama, it’s not likely clapping will be prohibited.
The NBC debate was a tepid farce, divulging little of substance and wasting the time of most who watched it. The orchestration of an event to benefit a single candidate reminded me of media’s assistance to Obama in 2008.
Rep. Ron Paul and former Speaker Newt Gingrich normally draw the most applause.
Aside from the format, Romney was given more time despite the fact the polls are so close and Gingrich won the most recent Primary (S.C.) with a near sweep of the state.
Romney spent most of his time attacking Gingrich—nothing new there. Romney and his PAC launched the whole season in attack mode on other candidates.
Hopefully the dull event on Monday won’t impact audience share for the Thursday debate in Jacksonville. CNN hosts that debate, so it should be more substantive. If audience share does fall, of course, that will benefit Romney.
What was interesting to me is how much media missed on claims Romney made. I’ll have more on that later.
The only energy I saw last night was on Twitter.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Jan. 24, 2012)