Posted on 05/31/2015 10:16:01 AM PDT by jazusamo
My husband was ecstatic when Rick Santorum threw his hat into the already overcrowded Republican presidential primary ring. Since he’s no fan of Santorum’s I was puzzled by his response and he explained.
“As soon as there are 16 candidates you can have a regional sweet sixteen. Then you can do what the NCAA does. Rank the candidates one through sixteen. The top ranked candidate debates the lowest ranked candidate. The second ranked debates the fifteenth ranked candidate and so on. The highest surviving seed debates the lowest surviving seed until two remain for the final debate.”
I know nothing about the sweet sixteen procedure, but the idea struck me as a better alternative than the notion of a silly kick line of heaven knows how many candidates, vying for attention with two-minute soundbyte answers to gotcha questions by certain-to–be-partisan liberal media personages. (By my count in the 2012 run up there were 10 Republicans in the debates and no less than 20 debates.)
A quick check shows there are probably 27 potential or announced Republican candidates with more standbys in the wings now that John Kasich has announced.
The weak Democrat bench consists to date of a corrupt Hillary Clinton whose achievements (besides padding her own nest and résumé with titles) are nil, the loony leftwing Bernie Sanders who thinks if we restrict the number of deodorants on the market more hungry children will be fed, a pretend American Indian law professor populist, a failed governor and once-upon-a-time Republican with a dynastic name (Lincoln Chafee), and the former governor of Maryland whose fame rests on magically turning his blue state red. In contrast, the Republican bench is deep and wide.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Why can’t Presidential debates be more like an honest exchange of ideas?
Exactly, and she agrees with us.
Never happen. Candidates must be in very general terms and lie on most topics. The main reason is the American public is so ignorant as to where America is now that to elaborate would just be wasting time. It is to the point that a candidate might say he is in favor of no more murders and arsholes would cheer and yell. How, doesn't matter, just the words. Dumb, get it.
I like this concept ... (not sure how you’d do it though)
It’d sure narrow the field down when a party has two bakers dozens running for the nomination.
Start with random pair-offs of the sixteen (or 21, or whatever), and do a double-elimination one-on-one debate
on successive nights until the field is pared to a manageable number (say, six or eight), then bring back some which had done fairly well, and replace those who had fumbled in the multiple debates with those who had shown satisfactory performance, but not good enough to win in the one-on-one.
Because nobody actually wins debates.
Hello everyone, I’m Greg Gumball and it’s time to announce the regions for the various debates that will take place among the various candidates.
To recap, there’s 4 regions (East, South, Midwest, and West) where candidates are seeded based on polls and other data.
It’s time to reveal the brackets. Brackets are set up to make things balanced/even as possible resulting in some politicians being placed outside their region of influence.
First, well reveal the East Bracket with our primary sponsor the Republican National Committee. These one-on-one debates will take place in Washington, DC
#1 Jeb Bush (Former FL Gov) takes on #4 Rick Santorum (Former PA Senator)
#2 Ben Carson (Doctor) takes on #3 Donald Trump (Real Estate/Businessman)
Next up is the Midwest. These debates will take place in Chicago.
#1 Scott Walker (WI Gov) takes on #4 George Pataki (Former NY Gov)
#2 Rand Paul (KY Sen) takes on #3 Rick Perry (Former TX Giv(
Then it’s the South. These debates will take place in Atlanta.
#1 Marco Rubio (FL Sen) takes on #4 Lindsey Graham (SC Sen)
#2 Mike Huckabee (Former AR Gov) takes on #3 Bobby Jindal (LA Gov)
Last is our west Region. These debates will take place in Denver
#1 Ted Cruz (TX Senator) takes on #4 Chris Christie (NJ Gov)
#2 John Kasich (OH Gov) takes on #3 Carly Fiorina (Former HP CEO)
Winner of the East debates the Winner of the Midwest and the Winner of the South debates the Winner of the West. These Semi-finals take place at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA along with the Championship.
Thoughts? Seth? Clark?
Seth: Wow, I’m looking at that Midwest bracket as a real group of death there and the South is right there too. I wouldn’t sleep on Carly Fiorina either in the West.
Clark: I see that potential Bush/Walker showdown if Walker can get past what could be a tough 2nd round debate against Paul or Perry. On the other side, I’d like Rubio more but that bracket is brutal and we don’t know if Christie or Fiorina will make a charge out of the west.
Greg: Neither of you are sold on Ted Cruz being a #1 seed?
Seth: No, first off even if he gets out of there he’s got a very strong Rubio or other opponent, and then Walker/Bush. Frankly I see Christie winning that first round.
Clark: I do too.
Greg: What about Trump?
Seth: Well just looking at how the RNC set these regions up and the talking styles, it wouldn’t surprise me for Trump to upset Carson but the Bush people will be ready if that and Rick Santorum is your toughest competition, he might as well start prepping for the Midwest winner.
Greg: All-right we’ll see how it plays out. Before we go we have a special guest with us. Dick Vitale from ESPN has graciously agreed to provide some of his thoughts on the brackets.
Dickie V: Are you kidding me? Fiorina a 3 seed after she ripped Hillary a new one? RNC what are you doing baby? She should be a #2 at worst and a 1 given what she’s done so far. And Scotty Walker, could they have given him a harder path to win this thing? They might as well of put Rubio and Cruz in that bracket its already deadly. I’m saying it now. It’s Bush, Walker, Rubio, and Carly in Vegas baby. Scotty will be so battle tested by the time this is over he’ll mop the floor with Bush. It’s Walker. It’s Carly. It’s a done deal baby.
Greg: Thanks Dickie V. You can also vote online at our poll who will win the 2016 one-on-one debates. Lookin at a quick return of votes with just about 10,000 votes, Sen Ted Cruz has 27%, Scott Walker 26%, Bush 24%, Rubio 19%, others 5%. Interesting, Clark, Seth, the people say Ted Cruz is the man to beat, but nobody’s giving him much of chance in the 1 on 1s.
Seth: He’s over-seeded really and over-hyped.
Clark: He could win the West but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him out in the first wrong.
Greg: Thanks everyone. Let the debate begin.
You nailed it...American voters are pathetically uninformed.
Not sure how you pull it off, but I like the general concept.
Greg Gumball, I love it. :)
Here’s my NCAA pick for the first GOP debate:
Cruz
Walker
Bush
Rubio
Trump
Fiorina
Paul
After that its just white noise.
How they handle the debate logistics is one thing but the GOP has taken measures
to limit the number. Currently the plan is to have 9 debates between August 2015
through March 1, 2016. There is a possibility of three more unscheduled at this time.
1. Fox News
August 2015
Ohio
2. CNN
September 2015
California
3. CNBC
October 2015
Colorado
4. Fox Business
November 2015
Wisconsin
5. CNN
December 2015
Nevada
6. Fox News
January 2016
Iowa
7. ABC News
February 2016
New Hampshire
8. CBS News
February 2016
South Carolina
9. NBC/Telemundo
February 2016
Florida
PENDING
Fox News
March 2016
TBD
CNN
March 2016
TBD
Conservative Media Debate
Date TBD
Locations TBD
https://www.gop.com/rnc-announces-debate-schedule-sanctions-9-debates/
Bump
Better method.
Most states require signatures on petitions to get on the ballot.
More than anything else, the Republican party needs a grassroots army of activists to Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV).
So we support the candidates with the most names on petitions.
Some rules. Only names that appear in street address order are accepted, indicating someone is actually working a precinct which is effective GOTV; and not standing in front of Walmart, which never is effective in GOTV.
Experts look for forgeries, round-robin signing of petitions by a group of forgers.
The goal is to build the GOTV. I can enthusiastically support everyone except Jeb, Pataki and Cristie. Same with my friends. So let’s see who can deliver for their favorite.
It would take four NATIONWIDE primary elections to determine who advances to the final two candidates. Voters would be asked to go to the voting booth 3 times (and a 4th time in the General Election)
Sweet 16 National Primary Election, held first Tuesday of April preceding the General Election: Sixteen candidates on the ballot, the top 8 advance
Elite Eight National Primary Election, held first Tuesday of May preceding the General Election: Eight candidates on the ballot, the top 4 advance
Final Four National Primary Election, held first Tuesday of June preceding the General Election: Four candidates on the ballot, the top two advance.
The final two candidates would be brought to the national party convention for selection of the party candidate to face the other party’s candidate in the General election.
The debate dilemma is easily solved. Have simultaneous debates with no more than five to a stage, same questions, then broadcast them consecutively.
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