RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates

[jon-nyc]

Very odd considering it was co-founded by the RNC and DNC and has a bipartisan board. This must be the RNC taking on Trump’s personal grudges.

Or just another example of the new GOP’s anti-institutionalism.

[Jolly]

Lincoln and Douglas managed to do pretty well without them.

[George K]

@jolly said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

Good.

Maybe we should have some rules where the candidate of one party doesn't call the President of the United States a "clown" and "a buffoon."

[89th]

I would be curious on what the alternative would be. Overall I think they've worked fine and (compared to other media, such as ads, interviews, political speeches, social media...) they seem to provide a pretty professional and neutral stage for presidential debates. Almost like they're the tip of the iceberg during the election rancor that is above the ocean of mud slinging.

My issue with them is the high threshold to participate. I remember vividly in September 2016 the libertarian candidate (Gary Johnson) had 8.6% national but the debates require a 15% polling average. The problem is to get to 15% you almost need a 3rd party to have the national platform of a debate to jump to the next level! They should reduce the threshold to 10% or even 5%.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

Maybe we should have some rules where the candidate of one party doesn't call the President of the United States a "clown" and "a buffoon."

If you elect a clown and buffoon, what do you expect?

The same comment applies to Biden. Fair, and unbalanced!

[George K]

@doctor-phibes said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

If you elect a clown and buffoon, what do you expect?

I expect the person debating him to prove himself to be better and have a measure of new civility decorum, and not be occasionally impolite.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

I expect the person debating him to prove himself to be better and have a measure of new civility decorum, and not be occasionally impolite.

Complaining overly about Biden's impoliteness does rather ignore the massive orange orangutan in the living room.

As you pointed out on another issue - Trump created a precedent for this kind of childish behaviour.

[George K]

Ax's link is behind a paywall.

The RNC's complaints:

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the party has a duty to make sure that its candidates are treated fairly during the debates.

Some of the top concerns laid out in the letter included:

• Waiting until after early voting had already begun to host the first presidential debate;
• Making unilateral changes to previously agreed-upon debate formats and conditions, in some cases without even notifying the candidates;
• Selecting a moderator who had once worked for the Democrat nominee, a glaring conflict of interest; and
• Failing to maintain the organization’s strict nonpartisanship, with a majority of its Board Members publicly disparaging the Republican nominee.

McDaniel called for the commission to adopt the following changes to address the party’s concerns:

• Adopt term limits for its Board of Directors, several members of which have served formore than a decade;
• Commit to holding at least one debate before the start of early voting, and in no case after the deadline for states to mail absentee ballots to uniformed and overseas voters;
• Enact a code of conduct prohibiting CPD officers, directors, and staff from making public comments supporting or opposing any candidate, or otherwise engaging in partisan political activity in connection with the presidential election, with meaningful consequences for violations;
• Establish transparent criteria for selecting debate moderators that would disqualify individuals from consideration who have apparent conflicts of interest due to personal, professional, or partisan factors; and
• Enact a transparent code of conduct for moderators in conducting debates, including guidelines for appropriate interactions with the participating nominees, with meaningful penalties for violations.

[Doctor Phibes]

I really hope the Republican candidates can continue to provide the decorum they have in the past.

Remember when they started making jokes about the size of each other's knobs in the primaries? A particular high point for me.

[George K]

@doctor-phibes said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

I really hope the Republican candidates can continue to provide the decorum they have in the past.
Remember when they started making jokes about the size of each other's knobs in the primaries? A particular high point for me.

I agree. It was unseemly and beyond silly.

But, my point stands - Candidate Biden, you claim to be better suited. Prove it.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

But, my point stands - Candidate Biden, you claim to be better suited. Prove it.

Despite what many still appear to believe, he got elected.

I've been told that there are followers, and there are leaders. Also, there are losers. Big, fat, orange losers who cry like little girls who've had there dolly taken away. I know, I know, I'm being needlessly offensive.

TBH, I think we need better candidates, not better moderators.

[Jolly]

@doctor-phibes said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

@george-k said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

But, my point stands - Candidate Biden, you claim to be better suited. Prove it.

Despite what many still appear to believe, he got elected.

I've been told that there are followers, and there are leaders. Also, there are losers. Big, fat, orange losers who cry like little girls who've had there dolly taken away. I know, I know, I'm being needlessly offensive.

TBH, I think we need better candidates, not better moderators.

And...who might win again in 2024. What would you call him then?

[Jolly]

@89th said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

I would be curious on what the alternative would be. Overall I think they've worked fine and (compared to other media, such as ads, interviews, political speeches, social media...) they seem to provide a pretty professional and neutral stage for presidential debates. Almost like they're the tip of the iceberg during the election rancor that is above the ocean of mud slinging.

My issue with them is the high threshold to participate. I remember vividly in September 2016 the libertarian candidate (Gary Johnson) had 8.6% national but the debates require a 15% polling average. The problem is to get to 15% you almost need a 3rd party to have the national platform of a debate to jump to the next level! They should reduce the threshold to 10% or even 5%.

Two alternatives.

1. Lincoln - Douglas style. Give each candidate 20 or 30 minutes, uninterrupted. Then 30-40 minutes of no-holds-barred, free-wheeling questioning done by the candidates themselves.
2. Trio. Let each candidate pick a questioner for his opponent and have one guy keep the time and enforce any rules, of which there should be very few.

[Doctor Phibes]

@jolly said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

@doctor-phibes said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

@george-k said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

But, my point stands - Candidate Biden, you claim to be better suited. Prove it.

Despite what many still appear to believe, he got elected.

I've been told that there are followers, and there are leaders. Also, there are losers. Big, fat, orange losers who cry like little girls who've had there dolly taken away. I know, I know, I'm being needlessly offensive.

TBH, I think we need better candidates, not better moderators.

And...who might win again in 2024. What would you call him then?

Rest assured, I will afford him all due respect.

[Copper]

Mr. Trump's occasional concession to popular vulgarity does not eliminate the need for civil discourse.

In fact it probably strengthens it.

[89th]

@jolly said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

@89th said in RNC to boycott Debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates:

I would be curious on what the alternative would be. Overall I think they've worked fine and (compared to other media, such as ads, interviews, political speeches, social media...) they seem to provide a pretty professional and neutral stage for presidential debates. Almost like they're the tip of the iceberg during the election rancor that is above the ocean of mud slinging.

My issue with them is the high threshold to participate. I remember vividly in September 2016 the libertarian candidate (Gary Johnson) had 8.6% national but the debates require a 15% polling average. The problem is to get to 15% you almost need a 3rd party to have the national platform of a debate to jump to the next level! They should reduce the threshold to 10% or even 5%.

Two alternatives.

1. Lincoln - Douglas style. Give each candidate 20 or 30 minutes, uninterrupted. Then 30-40 minutes of no-holds-barred, free-wheeling questioning done by the candidates themselves.
2. Trio. Let each candidate pick a questioner for his opponent and have one guy keep the time and enforce any rules, of which there should be very few.

All seems entertaining to me. Let's do it!

[George K]

https://hughhewitt.com/rnc-chairwoman-ronna-mcdaniel-on-the-rncs-divorce-from-the-biased-presidential-debate-commission/

I think for us, it’s that the Commission had no interest in working with the Republican Party, which represents 74 million voters. And what they’ve done is they’ve set up a system where we’ll only work with the nominee. But by the time the nominee’s in place, which is after the convention in 2024, the debates are all set. So they have total control and a total monopoly. And there were three things that were really egregious in 2020. They picked a moderator that worked for Joe Biden. They started debates after a million votes had been cast. We asked them to start debates before early voting starts. And I think the third is they had members of their commission that were vocally disparaging the Republican candidate and allowed to stay in their role. And so this has been a cushy job for decades. They have a total monopoly. And we said can you just guarantee us that you won’t pick a moderator that worked for the Democrat candidate? They won’t even say yes to that. And I think…By the way, would the Democrats say Kayleigh McEnany can host a debate for any Democrat? I mean, you shouldn’t have an employee of one of the candidates, a former employee, host the debate. It’s just not fair. These are really simple asks that we had, Hugh. I think most Americans would say yeah, debates should start before early voting. You shouldn’t have a moderator that worked for the other candidate. Yes, the commission that’s supposed to be non-partisan shouldn’t have members disparaging either candidate. Very across the board…

[Jolly]

What radical demands!

[George K]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/04/it-is-time-to-break-up-the-presidential-debate-monopoly/

Last year, the RNC’s McDaniel sent a letter to the CPD outlining several changes it wanted the commission to make. They included adopting term limits for its board, making its meetings more transparent, and prohibiting board members from making public comments about any candidates (six of its ten board members have publicly criticized Trump). She also called for disqualifying debate moderators “who have apparent conflicts of interest due to personal, professional, or partisan factors.”

Perhaps the most relevant request for voters was a request that at least one debate should take place before the start of early voting. In 2020, more than half the states had begun early voting before Biden and Trump met for their first debate. Overseas and military voting had already begun in all 50 states.

Commission co-chairman Frank Fahrenkopf told the Washington Post earlier this year that negotiations with the RNC had broken down because it “wanted to control things we aren’t prepared to let them control.”

[Jolly]

Screw 'em.