After watching the debates in several president election cycles, certain trends and predictable outcomes become evident. With that in mind, here is a viewer’s guide for the presidential debates between Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the two debates to follow and also generally applicable to the upcoming vice presidential debate between VP Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. This guide will be supplemented as events warrant.
The presidential debates are scheduled for tonight, October 16, and October 22, and the vice presidential debate is October 11. Apart from the Town Hall format on October 16, apparently each debate moderator will apparently serve as the sole questioner, unlike some of the previous presidential debates where a panel of journalists posed the questions.
Admittedly past performance does not guarantee future
results, and your mileage my vary as they say.
Given that the debate moderators, as usual, are from the conventional Beltway liberal media, however, these prognostications are more likely to be accurate than not . Moreover, a significant portion of the questions will be posed in the form of accusations at least when directed to Romney (or Ryan).
Given that the debate moderators, as usual, are from the conventional Beltway liberal media, however, these prognostications are more likely to be accurate than not . Moreover, a significant portion of the questions will be posed in the form of accusations at least when directed to Romney (or Ryan).
Camera wise: In
the televised debate format, Democrats have been traditionally much more savvy about
making eye contact with the American people. Republicans in general foolishly
try to make eye contact with the moderator or panelists, who are really
irrelevant. Based on precedent, expect
Obama to look directly into the camera and Romney not to, unless his handlers
were smart enough to prepare him otherwise.
[Comment: Romney should say that Obama left the economy unguarded in the same way that he left the American embassy unguarded in Benghazi, Libya.]
Buzzwords: Watch
for multiple mentions of “tax cuts for the rich,” “working families” (which in
realty usually means non-working
families), “paying their fair share,” and referring to the American people as
“folks.” Dishonorable mention: "let's be clear," the economy “was in a ditch,” “millionaires and
billionaires,” and "fiscal cliff."
Good government: The moderators will proceed on
the assumption that all government programs at face value are valid and
effective (despite rampant waste and fraud and that many are counterproductive)
and try to put the pressure on anyone (guess who?) who wants to even incrementally
reign in out-of-control government spending.
At least one of the moderators or Obama himself will accuse
Romney of having no foreign policy experience even though Obama in 2008 had
neither foreign policy nor domestic policy experience and to this day has no
business experience.
Gaff-tastic: A gaffe by Romney will be huge news. A gaffe by Obama will
be downplayed.
Dog eat dog:
Expect at least one reference to Romney putting his dog on the roof of his car.
Expect no references to Obama eating dog (which he admitted to in his
autobiography).
Crazy supporters: The moderators will also badger Romney about
Todd Akin’s idiotic, insane statements but won’t ask Obama about any of the
equally crazy things that his supporters have said.
Timing: The moderators
will interrupt Romney when he runs over the time limit to answer a question.
The moderators will not interrupt Obama when he runs over the time limit to
answer a question.
Townies: The
audience will likely be loaded with Obama supporters, especially in the Town
Hall format. With regard to the latter, virtually all the audience questions in
the Town Hall will be posed by individuals who are facing real or imagined
hardships and believe that only a government handout provides a solution to
their problems. It will be revealed later that at least one of the questioners
was a plant from the Obama campaign.
Getting personal:
The moderators will pose potentially embarrassing or tacky questions to Romney
about his background, personal wealth, or religion. No such questions will be
posed to Obama.
In touch: At
least one of the moderators will accuse Romney of being out of touch with
ordinary Americans. No moderator will ask Obama if he is out of touch with
ordinary Americans even though he flies around from one celebrity fundraiser to
another on a military jet and has played more golf than any U.S. president
in history even during national or international crises.
Flop sweat: At
least one of the moderators will ask Romney about flip-flopping on issues but
will not ask Obama about flip-flopping on issues even though both men have done
the same.
That’s nice: At
least one of the moderators will insist each candidate say something nice about
the other. Awkward and a complete waste of precious debate time.
The winner is...: It’s a given that Obama is much more skilled debater than
Romney. If Obama does well in any or
all of the three debates, even narrowly, the mainstream media will deem it a
clear win for Obama and that the election is over, etc. If Romney does well in
any or all of the three presidential debates, the headlines from the mainstream
media the next morning (or that night) will declare the debate to be a “draw.”
Romney will also be determined by most so-called reporters to be either too negative or not aggressive
enough.
Fact-checkers: Leftwing fact check groups will be tweeting like there is no tomorrow even time Romney "lies." A lie is defined these days as a political disagreement. Rightwing groups are more even-handed, in part because many of them are lukewarm on Romney in the first place and examine the facts rather than engaging in spin. Guess which fact-checking organizations will get the most attention from the mainstream media.
