It was an “embarrassment.” It was “The worst debate in living memory.” It was “disgraceful, “unpresidential,” terrible, awful, horrible.
It was boring.
The Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement that they would alter the format for the debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden next month. The move was the result of the food fight that broke out in Cleveland last night as the two candidates ignored the rules and savagely attacked one another.
So the staid Commission will come up with new rules to govern another mud wrestling match? It’s probably not within their power because they would have to get the approval of the two candidates. And for Trump, the debate went exactly as he planned. Chaos, shouting, over-talking Biden, getting Biden to lose his cool — they never quite got around to talking about the issues.
Issues? We don’t need no stinking issues.
“Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement on Wednesday. “The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly.”
Maybe next time, Trump and Biden could show up armed. Give a gun to the moderator too. Remember: An armed debate is a polite debate.
Actually, I don’t think a gun could have helped Chris Wallace.
“The Commission is grateful to Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night’s debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates,” the statement said.
Other changes I’d like to see to make the event more entertaining would include placing a large table full of pies so that the two men could hash out their differences like gentlemen.
Make sure there are lots of cherry pies available. Biden looks good in red.
It would be unprecedented to change the rules that had been agreed upon. We should watch the Trump camp for signs that any proposed rule change would lead to the president refusing to debate.
But Kall added, “I do think that changing the previously agreed to debate rules in the middle of this debate cycle increases the odds of not having future debates between President Trump and Biden.”
“In addition to already expressing dissatisfaction with moderator Chris Wallace’s performance last night, it’s easy to envision the Trump campaign arguing the rules of the debates are being changed midcourse in order to protect and advantage Biden,” he said.
The Trump camp believes that any rule change that would make it harder for Trump to interrupt and hector Biden would give the advantage to the Democrat. He’s probably right. The next debate can’t be about anything but what Trump wants it to be. Otherwise, he’s likely to call out the media for their bias.
The two men obviously despise one another. Perhaps we should allow them pistols at 30 paces. That might be the best way to choose a president after all.
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