{"id":1082,"date":"2008-10-07T14:01:19","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T21:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2008-10-07T14:01:19","modified_gmt":"2008-10-07T21:01:19","slug":"the-hermetically-sealed-presidential-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1082","title":{"rendered":"The Hermetically Sealed Presidential Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heading into the final month of campaigning, John McCain is showing signs of desperation. His aides have announced that they cannot talk about the economy or they will lose. So they are resorting to personal smears and distractions. Sarah Palin is doing her part by associating Barack Obama with controversial figures from the past that he had little to do with.<\/p>\n

All of this makes the stakes for tonight’s debate much higher for McCain who is falling farther behind in both national and state polls. But the debate format<\/a> pretty much excludes any possibility for either candidate to make any significant movement.<\/p>\n

The questions will from a group of allegedly uncommitted voters in the audience and on the Internet. Then moderator Tom Brokaw will select the actual questions the candidates are asked. There will be no follow-up questions from either the questioner or Brokaw. There will be no reaction shots following the answers. The candidates must stay within their “designated areas”<\/em> and may not directly question each other.<\/p>\n

Given these rules, I don’t why they even need to be in the same room. The format prevents any real interaction. This debate promises to be no more enlightening than a series of alternating clips of each candidate’s stump speech. The candidates can ignore the questions without repercussions, and their answers will never be challenged in a way that makes them accountable.<\/p>\n

Designing the debate in this manner is a disservice to voters who will not get to see how the participants perform when challenged. It was negotiated months ago by representatives of the campaigns who obviously feared putting their candidate into a situation that could harm them politically. As it turns out, it will be a big advantage for Obama because it is McCain who needs to make a mark if he hopes to stop Obama’s momentum. This format will make that much more difficult for McCain.<\/p>\n

Consequently, I predict that nothing of note will happen tonight, and McCain will hit the trail tomorrow with more and louder accusations and slander. He and Pit Bull Palin have much better luck manipulating the press at their rallies. They have even taken to corralling the media<\/a> into virtual cages, not allowing them access to the candidate or even their supporters.<\/p>\n

You can smell their fear. But so can the viewers, voters and the press. This election is all but over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heading into the final month of campaigning, John McCain is showing signs of desperation. His aides have announced that they cannot talk about the economy or they will lose. So they are resorting to personal smears and distractions. Sarah Palin is doing her part by associating Barack Obama with controversial figures from the past that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[152,1],"tags":[183,103,381,408],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-john-mccain","tag-sarah-palin","tag-tom-brokaw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-hs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1066,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1066","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":0},"title":"Free Sarah Palin From Rupert Murdoch!","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/25\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"While John McCain is consumed with personally resolving the nation's financial crisis, Sarah Palin is cavorting with the glamor set (elitist?) and the uber-conservative media barons who are propping up the Republican ticket: \"Sarah Palin schmoozed with controversial media tycoon Rupert Murdoch at a swanky charity gala here Wednesday night.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art\/Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Art\/Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1073,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1073","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":1},"title":"Frantic Conservatives Trying To Ditch The Sarah Palin Debate","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/1\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's face it. They have a right to be scared. Conservative activists have seen Sarah Palin humiliate herself and her Party repeatedly. She can't name a single newspaper or magazine that she reads, or cite a Supreme Court decision other than Roe v. Wade, or give an example of McCain's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1065,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1065","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":2},"title":"McCain Proposes Suspending Campaigns To Address Economy","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/24\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"John McCain has announced that he is suspending his campaign in order to return to Washington to help pass legislation on the financial bailout. He is characterizing this political stunt as a way of avoiding political stunts. In fact, Barack Obama's team reportedly called McCain's camp this morning to discuss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1077,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1077","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":3},"title":"John McCain’s Smear Campaign","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/4\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As John McCain's prospects for election diminish, the incidence of dirty tricks and nasty campaigning are likely to increase. Almost every event and news story in the past couple of weeks has resulted in voters trending more to Barack Obama. Polls show Obama gaining support after the conventions, after the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1083","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":4},"title":"John McCain Thanks Osama Bin Laden","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/8\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As I predicted, the debate last night in Nashville was almost utterly devoid of constructive engagement. The rules agreed upon months ago by the candidates precluded any interaction or follow-ups, so both candidates were able to deliver de facto stump speeches. In Barack Obama's favor, his stump speech actually contains\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1094,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1094","url_meta":{"origin":1082,"position":5},"title":"The Supporters Who Make John McCain So Proud","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/16\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"At last night's debate, John McCain responded to the reports of derogatory and hostile remarks by his supporters by saying... \"Let me just say categorically I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies.\" Oh really? Are these the people that make you so proud? \"The latest newsletter by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}