Fellow Wilsonian Speaks out on Senate Debates

Three debates won't help us decide this race
By Tom Campbell/NC SPIN

Richard Burr and Elaine Marshall have announced they will participate in three televised debates between now and the Nov. 2 election. If recent debates are any indicator, few will watch the three events, and those who do will not learn much. While we love the concept of candidates facing each other to discuss important issues and visualize these confrontations being as significant as the Lincoln-Douglas or Nixon-Kennedy debates, we know this rarely happens.

Nobody understands the complicated debate formats. Candidate A gets two minutes to answer a question, then candidate B gets two minutes, whereupon candidate A gets one minute for rebuttal or some such structure. Candidates look awkward standing at podiums. The questions are mostly inane, more especially since producers have increasingly depended on e-mailed viewer questions. Most of the queries bounce from topic to topic and are generally poorly written.

If the upcoming debates follow those we've most recently seen, the candidates will fill their allocated time trying to position their opponent while spouting carefully rehearsed platitudes of their candidacy that reveal little of substance. These debates have been taken over by consultants who worry more about their candidate not making big mistakes. With few significant campaign rallies, meaningful TV ads or direct mail that speak to the issues, we have little or no opportunity to really learn candidates' positions on the pressing election issues.

There are issues worthy of discussion in this Senate race. We would love to hear specific proposals to stimulate the economy, discussion on the war in Afghanistan, immigration, the national debt and the current budget. If meaningful, such a debate could help us decide for whom we will vote. Later debates could similarly feature topics on foreign policy, agriculture, health care, education, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Times have changed. The old television debate format has outlived its value. It is time to redesign a way for meaningful political discussion with candidates. Get rid of the podiums. Throw out the convoluted formats. Ditch the viewer mail questions. In their place let us propose a new format, an honest, unrehearsed discussion between the candidates, much as you or I might have around the dining room table.

Without sharing specific questions, candidates could be briefed on the four or five topic areas. Great care should then be devoted to writing questions which favor neither candidate but are direct enough so as to force the respondent to provide specific answers or be obvious in not doing so. The moderator for these events must be well versed, directing like a traffic cop to ensure no one candidate dominates, demeans or pontificates instead of answering questions.

For the record both Burr and Marshall have been invited to participate in such a forum by the statewide TV show NC SPIN but neither has responded.

It is important for voters to know where candidates stand on vital issues. We need to devise a better way than the current televised debate to get that information to those who are truly interested. An ill-informed electorate will not make informed decisions at the ballot box.

Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina state treasurer and is creator/host of "NC SPIN."