I am reminded of John F. Kennedy, who supposedly won the debates in 1960. Those who watched on television swore Kennedy won, and those who listened to the radio thought Nixon had won. The media swooned over Kennedy and the rest is history.
Among other things, Kennedy moved us into Vietnam and Johnson moved in over 550,000 troops. The media remembers the debate, and forgets about what their spin bought us.
Whether Thompson does better in the debates or not, it is most important what his core beliefs are. And I’d say that of all the candidates. The debates are okay, but in the current format, they are essentially meaningless.
The left does their best to corner the Republican candidates on issues important to the left. Frankly I’d rather see the cancidates give a chance to make opening comments, then tear into each other at will.
It would be a lot more revealing.
I agree. The purpose of these debates should be to articulate your position and sharpen issues between the candidates. The media likes to "award" the debate to the one who is glib and plays the sound-bite game better. Their beliefs are far more important to me than their performance for the cameras.