Five Ways To Improve Our Primary Debates

The fundamental problem with the 2016 primary “debates” among presidential candidates (especially Republicans) is that they are not debates—they are news conferences sanctioned by the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee. As long as the TV and cable networks and other news organizations are in charge, we are going to have “gotcha” questions, arbitrary time limits, and quiz show gimmicks like a buzzer signaling a potential commander in chief to shut up.

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It is impossible to discuss intelligently a critical issue like immigration, Obamacare, or Syria in 90 seconds. The candidate is obliged to offer short takes from his stump speech—“let’s get America going again” —and similar platitudes. It is impossible to gauge the mettle of a candidate if he is forbidden to diverge from a question or to ask another candidate a question. Ideas cannot be fleshed out “à la Tweet” in 140 characters. The stronger argument does not emerge when the moderator determines what shall be discussed. From an Aristotelian perspective, pathos (emotion) inevitably prevails over logos (logic) and ethos (credibility). More...

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