In 1980, PBS held genuine debates between the advisors of the Carter, Reagan and Anderson campaigns. The candidates themselves did not appear. These events were not joint press conferences, which the current “debates” truly are, but actual debates with cross-questioning, rebuttal and counter-rebuttal. Had the candidates appeared, it would have degenerated into canned sound bites. Each debate was on a particular topic, and each team had a captain and supporting teammates. The captain would decide who would go in for a particular function.
One of my cherished memories was the foreign policy debate where Al Haig was captain for the Reagan squad. He sent Paul Nitze in to wipe the floor with Carter’s Soviet expert Paul Warnke. It was wonderful to behold.
Another memory. In the economic issues debate, Arthur Laffer, the captain, went in himself to eviscerate Mitch Rogovin, John Anderson’s economic policy advisor. All poor Mitch could say was, “Liberalism has never been tried. It was mugged.”
This experiment had never been repeated because the two parties feared the uncontrolled and spontaneous nature of the debates, which was something the spin-meisters couldn’t control. It’s a shame. I learned more in those debates than I did the actual joint appearances of the candidates.
I am following your thoughts on Presidential Debates. I have always thought these were useless. Last cycle, 2016, after much argument they kinda forced the debates on Trump. He was already prepared. HTC got the questions ahead of time. Still lost. Lester Holt looked like an idiot.
The only people who are helped by the Debates are the MSM. I agree that Trump should say “no” and not even discuss it further. He has his own platform. Let the Dems find one of their own.