CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Political Discourse › 2008 Presidential Debate Round 2: Showdown at the Town-Hall
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

2008 Presidential Debate Round 2: Showdown at the Town-Hall

post #1 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:27am
Thread Starter 


Tuesday, October 7, 2008 @ 9pm EDT
Belmont University's Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw

Live Streams:
http://www.hulu.com/spotlight/election08

News & pre-debate analysis:
In second McCain-Obama debate, the voters take control
CNN: McCain vs Obama: Round Two
Newsday: 5 things Obama, McCain must do at Tuesday's debate
Reply
post #2 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:38am
Not a showdown, it's a glorified press conference. They know the questions, no follow ups and they can't ask each other things.
Reply
post #3 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
Wait, they got the questions before hand???
Reply
post #4 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:45am
They are questions from the audience, that had to be pre-approved. They'll be the standard questions they always get and they'll have a nice script to follow for each of them.

Moderator can't change questions, can't ask follow ups, can't do shit. They just recite one answer after the other.
Reply
post #5 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:47am
This is make or break for McCain. The outcome of this determines if he has a shot at the White House or if he's a footnote in the Obama Presidency.
Reply
post #6 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:49am
Thread Starter 
The candidates don't know the questions.

I like this format, remember, this is the one that horribly tripped up Bush Sr. and made Clinton connect with the real "regular joes" of the country ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE
Reply
post #7 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:50am
The questions are known and approved by Brokaw, obviously, but I don't see any indication that the campaigns have advance knowledge of the specific questions. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.
Reply
post #8 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:51am
this is BS. No follow ups? No asking questions? This will just be a parade of talking points once again.

You could really learn from the European model here (or at least the French and Danish way).
Reply
post #9 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:52am
From Electoral-Vote.com
Quote:
Town Hall Event Rules

The Obama-McCain event tonight consists of two parallel press conferences that happen to be in the same room. The detailed rules hammered out by the two campaigns state that the questions were to have been submitted in advance by the audience members and over the Internet. The questioner may not change the question and the microphone will be cut off after the question. Neither the questioner nor the moderator, Tom Brokaw of NBC, may ask followup questions. The candidates may not question each other. There will be no debate at all. Who does this format favor? Probably neither candidate. Usually the questions the general public asks aren't very hard, are largely predictable in advance, and have already been asked 100 times ("how will you fix the economy?"). The candidates have stock answers they will reel of
They don't know them specifically, but really what shocker of a question will come from Joe Six-Pack?
Reply
post #10 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:57am
Wow, that's disappointing.
Reply
post #11 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
The candidates don't know the questions.

I like this format, remember, this is the one that horribly tripped up Bush Sr. and made Clinton connect with the real "regular joes" of the country ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE
But as tonight's debate is described it is not even close to the format we see in that Youtube link. Here the woman gets to follow up on her question and force Bush to answer even as he was on his way to one of his talking points, and the camera focuses on her and her reaction and the microphone is most certainly not turned off.
Reply
post #12 of 1106
10/7/08 at 11:59am
Thread Starter 
They should have allowed the moderator to follow up, a shame this is what the campaigns agreed to.

However, I doubt they will really not be able to address each other. If one of the candidates ask the other something, it will look really bad if they don't respond, even if Brokaw admonishes them (which he could just ignore).
Reply
post #13 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tati View Post
From Electoral-Vote.com


They don't know them specifically, but really what shocker of a question will come from Joe Six-Pack?
Well, what shocker of a question shows up in any debate, ever? Of course the questions have to be pre-approved by the moderator. The disappointment here is that no follow-ups are allowed, not that the candidates can probably anticipate the subjects of most of the questions.
Reply
post #14 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:03pm
A debate with no actual debating, great.
Reply
post #15 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:06pm
Nice to see people genuinely disappointed in the format though.

To be honest, if you're pulling for Obama, the more restrictive and "safer" the debate at this point, the better.
Reply
post #16 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:06pm
So, Brokaw's entire role in this is to choose which questions will be asked? And tonight all he'll do is introduce the questioners? Cripes, he could take the night off and let Seacrest handle the actual show. This is going to be a dull, dull affair.
Reply
post #17 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:21pm
I agree, how is this a debate?
Reply
post #18 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:26pm
Thread Starter 
Hulu will stream the debate live here;
http://www.hulu.com/spotlight/election08
Reply
post #19 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:31pm
I guess the McCain campaign clearly realized how badly their candidate doesn't want to address (much less acknowledge) his opponent.
Reply
post #20 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:38pm
I wonder if McCain took the criticism of his first debate to heart and intends to stare at Obama every time he answers?

I think this format helps McCain because every time McCain interacts with Press or Obama he visibly has trouble controlling his temper. Obama sometimes pauses and stutters when he gets unexpected questions, but he keeps his cool.

I'm hoping for a complete McCain meltdown on camera before this election is over.
Reply
post #21 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
I think the possibility of a McCain hulk-out is more likely in the 3rd debate, if the polls continue going the way they are going.
Reply
post #22 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:50pm
I'm trying to figure out what the drinking game would be for tonight's debate. It's a Tuesday so at least the bar will have good drink specials.
Reply
post #23 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:51pm
Aww shit. McCain is probably going to be offering everyone in the audience a Werther's Original to prove how kind and grandfatherly a figure he is, Brokaw will enable it, and afterwards the pundits and public will think "he's not such a bad guy after all," while the polls swing back to parity.

I hope some of the questions will take McCain to task for selling out his principles (and ignoring the real issues) with the negative attack ads, but they'll probably be Ifill-lite. And we'll hear the same talking points (and the same lies) from the last two debates repeated again.

Fucking bullshit. Why the hell are the campaigns so scared of followup questions and direct conversation between the candidates?
Reply
post #24 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:53pm
This is bullshit. They don't even have to be in the same room for a moronic format like this.
Reply
post #25 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:54pm
After the criticisms of Palin's question dodging/ignoring, and some tiredness over certain McCain camp cliches, do you think McCain will still segue his war stories/Maverickness/Obama's terrorist pals into his answers? Being forced to stick to the question will probably help Obama.
Reply
post #26 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitch Connors View Post
After the criticisms of Palin's question dodging/ignoring, and some tiredness over certain McCain camp cliches, do you think McCain will still segue his war stories/Maverickness/Obama's terrorist pals into his answers? Being forced to stick to the question will probably help Obama.
With zero followup allowed to elicit a real answer, neither candidate will have to do a goddamn thing Brokaw wants them to. ETA: I have absolutely no doubt McCain's going to not even bother with segues to get right into the smears, if the past few days are any indication.
Reply
post #27 of 1106
10/7/08 at 12:59pm
There was talk that the audience won't like the fact that the candidates aren't aswering their questions but I don't see, in this format, how they'll express that displeasure. They have no way to follow up, if the question isn't answered, nor do they have a chance to change their question if they feel the need to considering the previous answers.

I have no plans to watch this. It's a pretty terrible format and really see no purpose other than giving these "undecided" voters more air time.
Reply
post #28 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:02pm
Hey, they said they were just turning off the mic, not taking it away. Maybe we can introduce an unwritten rule where if the person who asks the question feels that it isn't being answered they can throw the mic at the candidate. That way if viewers at home see a mic zooming across the camera or landing up on stage they'll know that the person who asked the question is annoyed.
Reply
post #29 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:04pm
Thread Starter 
This has to potential from some historical TV moments.

I imagine somebody asking a tough question while a candidate ignores it and the person still talking with the mic off, then dragged out of the hall and tasered. That would actually be great.
Reply
post #30 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:20pm
They should dip their hands in resin and broken glass.

Round 1:

FIGHT!!
Reply
post #31 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 
This is pretty funny;

Bush speechless during debate with Kerry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z_huHmtdGk&NR=1
Reply
post #32 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:28pm
McCain isn't going to go negative; that's Palin's job. Expect the fake maverick from the convention to appear.

Drinking game? Take a shot every time you hear "my friends," "wall street" or "main street," and whenever a candidate calls the questioner by his/her first name. Drink whenever Obama calls McCain out-of-touch, or whenever he makes allusions to Bush. Drink whenever McCain brings up Palin and any reference to "shaking things up in Woarshington," or making someone famous. Chug if Brokaw manages to do some actual moderating other than just handing someone a mike.
Reply
post #33 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:43pm
Here's two reasons McCain will probably "win" this debate, or at least not embarrass himself.

1) he favors Town Hall format, and is good at addressing audience members warmly (whether he feels warm about them or not, this is his specialty).

2) Brokaw (who I consider very heavily slanted to the right) had to bend over backwards to assure McCain that he was going to be "fair" because McCain loathes MSNBC, and by association, NBC.

Just sayin.
Reply
post #34 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
Brokaw is conservative???
Reply
post #35 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:50pm
What will be interesting about tonight's debate is not the questions but the answers. McCain can't give his standard stump speech responses tonight and neither can Obama because McCain has to actively go negative out Obama. So for a question like,

"Senator McCain, how do you plan to solve the energy crisis?"

we'll probably get a response like,

"Well we could take the energy Senator Obama puts into palling around with terrorists! HEEEH? HEEEHHH?"

Okay, that probably won't be his answer but you get the idea.
Reply
post #36 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Brokaw is conservative???
You are when you just pull poll numbers out of your ass.
Reply
post #37 of 1106
10/7/08 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Brokaw is conservative???
Yeah, he has been a liason between NBC news and the McCain campaign. He and David Gregory seem to be the guys in that news org that are sympathetic to the Republicans.
Reply
post #38 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:01pm
Brokaw is not conervative at all but he does like McCain a lot. I would say that he maybe overcompensates to the right because of Matthews and Olbermann.

Also, Brokaw never agreed to not ask followups. I literally just read that and can't remmeber where.
Reply
post #39 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by myk View Post
Brokaw is not conervative at all but he does like McCain a lot.
How do you know this?
Reply
post #40 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pervis42 View Post
McCain isn't going to go negative; that's Palin's job. Expect the fake maverick from the convention to appear.

Drinking game? Take a shot every time you hear "my friends," "wall street" or "main street," and whenever a candidate calls the questioner by his/her first name. Drink whenever Obama calls McCain out-of-touch, or whenever he makes allusions to Bush. Drink whenever McCain brings up Palin and any reference to "shaking things up in Woarshington," or making someone famous. Chug if Brokaw manages to do some actual moderating other than just handing someone a mike.
You forgot about drinking every time you hear the word "fundamental."
Reply
post #41 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
Ah, Brokaw is a conservative partisan because he cited a 2 week old poll result in Meet the Press. That right there should invalidate his journalistic career forever.
Reply
post #42 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitch Leave View Post
this is BS. No follow ups? No asking questions? This will just be a parade of talking points once again.
When was the last time a debate wasn't a parade of talking points? Even when there is a more proper 'debate' format everyone just mostly dodges anyway.

What I'm wondering is what the hell is it gonna take for McCain to get back in this thing? It seems like it's impossible.
Reply
post #43 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pervis42 View Post
McCain isn't going to go negative; that's Palin's job. Expect the fake maverick from the convention to appear.

Drinking game? Take a shot every time you hear "my friends," "wall street" or "main street," and whenever a candidate calls the questioner by his/her first name. Drink whenever Obama calls McCain out-of-touch, or whenever he makes allusions to Bush. Drink whenever McCain brings up Palin and any reference to "shaking things up in Woarshington," or making someone famous. Chug if Brokaw manages to do some actual moderating other than just handing someone a mike.
If you want to get wasted, just go ahead and get wasted. Why must you try to murder the rest of us in the process?

Again, I'll be in my jammies with a hot toddy, kind of hoping that Obama just hauls off and decks McCain out of nowhere.
Reply
post #44 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:18pm
This format just plain sucks. I am sitting here very disappointed. Turn off the microphone ? Bah.
Reply
post #45 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Ah, Brokaw is a conservative partisan because he cited a 2 week old poll result in Meet the Press. That right there should invalidate his journalistic career forever.
Why do you just assume he isn't conservative? What are his liberal creds if you're so unconvinced? He's just assumed liberal unless we prove it otherwise?
Reply
post #46 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheCynic View Post
Even when there is a more proper 'debate' format everyone just mostly dodges anyway.
Oh fer cryin' out loud.
Reply
post #47 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:22pm
Brokaw's blatantly McCain's bitch - Team POW wasn't going to show up for any debates with an NBC moderator (this, after Obama agreed to go into the No Spin Zone) until Brokaw stepped up to ensure a friendly game of softball.
Reply
post #48 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 
I don't assume anything, I'm not the one who said he would be biased? Liberal "creds"? I'm not making the argument he is biased either way, why would i have to "prove" that???

From what I've seen of him, he seems like a serious and responsible journalist, I haven't been following Meet the Press since Russert died (just not the same) but I really think it's unfair to say he is biased for quoting a 2 week old poll from his news organization.
Reply
post #49 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Brokaw is conservative???
Yeah, no sense of surprise or incredulity there.
Reply
post #50 of 1106
10/7/08 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Ah, Brokaw is a conservative partisan because he cited a 2 week old poll result in Meet the Press. That right there should invalidate his journalistic career forever.
Brokw has said on air that he had advised the McCain campaign in a very limited capacity. Also, picking Brokaw for the NBC debate virtually guaranteed that the McCain campaign had to agree to it, despite their offensive against MSNBC. Because he is known for being somewhat right of center.

Keep in mind that I never said he was a mouth-breathing freeper or incapable of being objective.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Political Discourse
CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Political Discourse › 2008 Presidential Debate Round 2: Showdown at the Town-Hall