Posted on 05/13/2015 8:38:34 AM PDT by Theoria
Republican leaders, searching for a fair-minded but strategically wise way to conduct the presidential primary debates, are grappling with how to manage White House contenders in a sprawling field that mixes proven politicians with provocateurs and reflects an increasingly fractious party.
The Republican National Committee’s decision last year to claim control of the 2016 debate process was welcomed by many in the party who believe that Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee, was hurt by both the pummeling and the positions he took during the 20 debates in that primary contest.
But by trying to impose order through party-sanctioned debates and limiting the number of forums, the party may have begotten an equally messy problem: who to include on stage for a 90-minute debate from a field of nearly 20 potential candidates.
As the national committee gathers in Arizona this week for its spring meeting, it will discuss how to determine the candidates who will make the cut for the first sanctioned debate, which is set for Aug. 6 in Cleveland and will air on Fox News. But there is already a robust discussion behind the scenes, with candidates who are lagging in early polls nudging the party to take an inclusive approach in the initial forums.
It is not entirely clear who will be in charge of devising or enforcing the debate criteria — that is, if there are criteria. One member of the national committee panel charged with overseeing the debates said its members had discussed ceding the decision entirely to Fox News.
At issue is how to stage a substantive discussion that is fair to viewers and the campaigns.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Let me guess: neutral moderator Rachel Maddow.
At issue is how to stage a substantive discussion that is fair to viewers and the campaigns.””
Sounds pretty easy to me:
Ted Cruz on stage with an EMPTY CHAIR representing the other candidates. Moderator can be Rush.
“...proven politicians with provocateurs...”
I wonder who they consider the provocateurs?
No; why would I? Do you think the GOP has the best interest of the country in mind?
It's a real problem..in the past, they've used polling criteria...but after the total failure of polls recently, I don't trust them.
It's a problem..
Final 4 format.
Every candidate goes 1 on 1 with another candidate.
Put some voting parameters in place which are fair and where only registered republicans can vote.
Narrow down the field to two candidates. Have three debates at the convention in a best of three format.
The winner is the Republican nominee.
I don’t like the idea of intra-Party debates, all it does is weaken the eventual nominee in the eyes of the voters, and usually the moderators are lib plants.
There should be three first-round debates with six or seven candidates in each, determined randomly. After that, use a polling threshold to limit participants to eight or fewer.
said its members had discussed ceding the decision entirely to Fox News.
Fox News is on board The Cheap Labor Express.
The RNC wants an amnesty candidate.
Fox News is seen as a credible way to weed out the non-amnesty candidates.
Private Sub ChoseDebaters()
i=1
Do while .not. Ted Cruz
PollLeader(i).choose
i = i+1
Loop
End Sub
Let a moderator ask a question to a candidate, and then have a panel of conservatives decide if the answer is true or false. If the panel is correct, the candidate gets an "X"...
-PJ
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