Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Loser of the Debate: The Moderators, The Methodology, and The Process
Vanity | 15 Dec 2015 | Xzins

Posted on 12/15/2015 8:17:31 PM PST by xzins

This debate was annoying.

If the moderators would stop talking over top of the candidates, then we could actually hear what they have to say.

If the moderator's handlers would have had the courage to trim this debate (finally) down to five or six of the top candidates, then we wouldn't have been subject to their short time limits, their incessant buzzers, and their rude interruptions right as the candidates were making their points at the end of their comments.

This gets us to the process. More than anything, I was struck by how artificial this entire format was tonight. I've never been a fan of putting too many people on a stage, or of putting two people on a stage and subjecting them to questions from faux neutral commentators from faux neutral news organizations.

The disconnect went deeper tonight. We got to see again the phony efforts to get candidates to confront one another. We got to see the leading questions, the inane questions, and the ideologically loaded questions.

What a lousy way to pick a president.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: 2016debates; cnn; media; rnc
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081 next last
To: Reno89519

+++


41 posted on 12/15/2015 9:05:19 PM PST by fantail 1952 ( So long, America! It's been great while it lasted.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: xzins
My guy is Cruz. But, I thought Rubio's opening statement was a home run.

I give Christie a star for taking it to Hillary so much.

The anorexic moderator sitting by Hugh Hewitt bugged me.

John Kasich's busy hands and arms did too.

42 posted on 12/15/2015 9:07:02 PM PST by Baynative (Liberty lost is a high price to pay for the experiment of socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Baynative

I really had trouble getting into the specifics because the mods, the methodology, and the entire process was so lousy.

If the mods interrupted once, they interrupted a hundred times. It just got tiresome. And I really hate it when someone talks over another person at the very end of their comments just when they are making their point.

I don’t watch the 5 because of that, I tune out any news show when that starts to happen. You listen to someone laying the basis of his point and then the point gets drowned out. It annoys the hell out of me.


43 posted on 12/15/2015 9:11:58 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support the troops pray for their victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: xzins

It’s something like that. Like he is often not sure of himself or he is stating something he’s rehearsed but it’s something that did not totally originate with him. Whatever it is, he doesn’t inspire confidence. He’s too often on the defense. He has no chance of winning and should drop out.


44 posted on 12/15/2015 9:12:54 PM PST by Lake Living
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Lake Living

Kasich is my governor. Good governor and lousy presidential candidate. He’s injuring his chances of ever winning Sherrod Brown’s Senate seat. He needs to drop out. This is hurting him.


45 posted on 12/15/2015 9:16:06 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support the troops pray for their victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: WENDLE

Cruz has the article II issue but will be a great Attorney General and then move to the Supreme Court!! The cabinet will be stacked with these candidates.

****************************************************************

Thanks for not saying, “Carson would make a great Surgeon General”. An utterly superfluous position and should be one of the first positions eliminated.


46 posted on 12/15/2015 9:16:09 PM PST by Graybeard58 (Bill and Hillary Clinton are the penicillin-resistant syphilis of our political system.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: xzins

I thought that after the 1st debate. He should stay governor as it seems he’s done a good job for your state. Few have the traits or intellect or personality to fill the job of president (Obama certainly doesn’t have it).


47 posted on 12/15/2015 9:20:18 PM PST by Lake Living
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: xzins

You ranked Fiorina higher than I did. She did not give too many specific answers to questions, but seemed to think technology was going to somehow combat terrorism. Her worldview does not seem larger than a corporate office. Surviving cancer and the death of her child hardly qualifies her to be President. She made a sexist comment about “men talking but women doing” to solve a problem - that was a real groaner. Carly should go home.


48 posted on 12/15/2015 9:24:41 PM PST by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: mrsmith

“I thought Woofie did surprisingly well.”

Ditto. I thought he was the best debate moderator BY FAR of ALL of the Pub debates. Was pleasantly surprised actually.

I also thought this was the best debate of them all so far, as well. It was exciting as candidates disagreed with each other, and of all the debates, the candidates had their best opportunities for articulating their positions. Overall, I thought the moderators did an excellent job of asking provocative questions and then getting out of the way to let the candidates go at each other. Their questions were short and to the point and with minimal editorializing, and I thought for the most part fair questions. Even the kinda gotcha questions were asked with no sneering or smirking.

It was also gratifying to see that the smarter candidates refused to take the bait for questions rigged for them to attack each other. And while the candidates DID attack each other quite a bit, it wasn’t because of rigged questions but because they honestly disagreed with each other or were pointing out when someone was lying, like Rubio did all night and got hammered all night by the other candidates for doing it.


49 posted on 12/15/2015 9:32:42 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Helicondelta

“Cruz and Rubio drew blood from each other.”

The one who REALLY drew blood from Rubio was Paul. It was obvious that Paul was deliberately playing a long game as he repeated hammered Rubio into the pulp the little lying shit so deserved to be hammered into.

I suspect that Paul was getting payback for the all the traitorous crap Rubio has pulled in the Senate and to also help Cruz out, since Cruz and Paul are clearly so closely aligned in fighting the RINO assholes like Rubio in the Senate.

Paul was totally masterful in disemboweling Rubio time after time during the night, as was Cruz. It was like Cruz and Paul were tag-teaming Rubio all night, and they forced the little liar on defensive all night long. I cheered the most during the debate as they clobbered the little prick.


50 posted on 12/15/2015 9:40:17 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: xzins

The bigger problem was, except for Trump at the end, no one was calling the CNN morons on their gotcha questions, like Cruz did in the third debate.


51 posted on 12/15/2015 9:42:07 PM PST by oldbill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xzins

“Bush proved again that there’s absolutely no reason to put another Bush in office.”

Bush and Kasich were truly pathetic, though at least madman Kasich showed some passion. Bush continued to act like he was in some kind of high-school debate. He also was the only candidate that hadn’t figured out how to ignore questions that were baited to provoke an attack on another candidate and instead just use the time to say what he wanted to without wasting all his time on attacking someone else. Every time Bush attacked Trump, it just gave more time for Trump to talk. How stupid do you have to be to do that? Very few of the others attacked Trump for that very reason.

And on top of it all, whenever Trump attacked Bush, Bush kept making these goofy faces that made Bush look like the foolish moron that Bush apparently really is.


52 posted on 12/15/2015 9:50:24 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: oldbill

I agree. The gotcha questions were bad. I found moderator interruptions to be far too frequent and annoying.


53 posted on 12/15/2015 9:51:29 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support the troops pray for their victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Iscool

“Rubio did very well...Or he appeared to, to those who didn’t know he was lying a bunch...”

Possibly. But I thought the tag-team attacks by Cruz and Paul on Rubio were devastating and had Rubio on the defensive all night. If one paid close attention, Rubio didn’t refute a single one of the many claims by Cruz or Paul that Rubio was lying or what his gang-of-eight bill would really do.


54 posted on 12/15/2015 9:54:41 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Lake Living

“For Bush and Kasich it wasn’t so much what they said (although it was that, too) but “who they are!” Bush just isn’t presidential and every time he says something, he just confirms it. Kasich, well, you never know when the ‘insanity’ if going to jump out.”

Exactly.


55 posted on 12/15/2015 9:55:41 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Too many losers on the stage, so if we’re going to have to endure losers why can’t we have pleasant ones, like Huckabee instead of Fiorina and Kasich?


56 posted on 12/15/2015 9:56:27 PM PST by onyx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

“Cruz has the article II issue but will be a great Attorney General”

Cruz would make one hell of a SecDef too!

I think Christie is obviously angling for Attorney General and would make a great one.


57 posted on 12/15/2015 9:58:05 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Jeb! looked like he was going to cry. He can not land a punch and has no winning pitch. All that expectation and money spent.

I hope we are seeing the end of the donor puppet.


58 posted on 12/15/2015 10:07:08 PM PST by mom.mom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WENDLE
Cruz has the article II issue but will be a great Attorney General and then move to the Supreme Court!

What is the Article II issue?

59 posted on 12/15/2015 10:09:56 PM PST by Ken H
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: xzins

It was odd how they waited until close to the end to try get them in a fight.

Too many debates damages our chances all the time. This year these networks are making big bucks from this.

I despise them.


60 posted on 12/15/2015 10:15:40 PM PST by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson