Poll Position: How many debates for a presidential primary?
Last night brought us the 19th or 22nd — depending on how you count them — GOP presidential debate of 2011-12. It was the second this week and sixth this month.
Mercifully, there won’t be another for almost four weeks.
To say the networks have had to strain to keep things fresh would be an understatement of Newt-ly grandiose proportions. We were only two debates into the schedule when moderators tried the “This or That?” gimmick (as in: Elvis or Johnny Cash?). Last night, we were treated to questions about such issues of immediate national importance as lunar exploration, Puerto Rican statehood and why each candidate thought his wife would make a good first first lady. (Note that CNN was responsible both for these and “This or That?”, as well as the infamous debate-opening exchange between Newt Gingrich and moderator John King in South Carolina last week about allegations by Gingrich’s second wife that he’d asked her for an “open marriage.”)
How many debates should there have been in the GOP primary?
- About half as many as there have been (56 Votes)
- Just a few (27 Votes)
- I wish there had been even more! (20 Votes)
- We've had just the right number (13 Votes)
Total Voters: 116
Loading ...My multiple references to Gingrich are not accidental. Each time he’s stumbled on the campaign trail, debate performances have brought him back to the fore. Rick Perry, by contrast, had arguably the best resume of any candidate but was undone by his stumbles (”Oops”) on the debate stages. It’s quite reasonable to wonder if, had there been only a couple of debates rather than almost a couple of dozen, Perry might not have been sitting in Gingrich’s place and vice versa. And because debating skills are valued in presidential campaigns out of all proportion to their utility in presidencies, one also wonders if the current arrangement is really best.
On the other hand, no one can argue they haven’t had an opportunity to watch the candidates tackling a variety of topics that test their grasp of the issues, ability to think on their feet, temperament and discipline. So, were voters well-served by having so many debates, or did the number of forums waste our time and the candidates?
That’s this week’s Poll Position question. Answer in the nearby poll and in the comments thread below.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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115 comments Add your comment
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
10:24 am
And as far as debates go…..It’s not the QUANTITY so much as the QUALITY….!!!!
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:24 am
retired early
If you can find one single thing that I’ve typed that even remotely sounds racist, I’ll gladly leave.
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:25 am
“And as far as debates go…..It’s not the QUANTITY so much as the QUALITY….!!!!”
Then again, you’re a Democrat. Not sure why you’re so upset.
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
10:33 am
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:24 am
redneckbluedog
So you won’t be voting for Obama again?
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Did not vote in 2008….most likely will not vote in 2012……..The silver lining is: I haven’t been called for jury duty in 20 years…!!!…:-)…..
UGA 1999
January 27th, 2012
10:34 am
Redneck……Now that was funny. It is a great trade off! haha.
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:38 am
redneckbluedog
Ok, I just took your name as being a blue dog democrat. Sorry.
” I haven’t been called for jury duty in 20 years…!!!…:-)
You mean you didn’t want to waste an entire day sitting in a waiting room?
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
10:38 am
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:25 am
Then again, you’re a Democrat. Not sure why you’re so upset.
——————————————————————————————-
And as for my politics…the 15th Amendment guarantees me the right to vote…and I CAN afford the poll tax……Given that right…..I WILL VOTE MY INTERESTS…!!!!
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
10:40 am
This Tom Tancredo guy makes a lot of sense…but he couldn’t win the gubernatorial election in Colorado last time….
That Black guy
January 27th, 2012
10:47 am
independent thinker
January 27th, 2012
9:17 am
I would like to see a debate of the future first ladies, Have Callista explain her views on family values.
And we can have Michelle explain why it was OK for her to turn away sick people at the hospital because they were poor and didn’t have insurance.
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-politics-in-national/michelle-obama-part-of-alleged-patient-dumping-scheme-chicago
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
10:52 am
That Black guy
Mrs. Obama is still on the payroll at the U of Chicago even though she hasn’t worked there in years. Funny ain’t it?
UGA 1999
January 27th, 2012
10:55 am
redneck…..”right to vote” haha…..Commit a felony and see how much that amendment gets ya.
Ivan Cohen
January 27th, 2012
11:03 am
Frankly if the GOP are on their 19th or 22nd debate, then they are not debates anymore. They have become the equivalent of the Boston Marathon. This current crop of Republican candidates leave much to be desired. It’s like the Katzenjammer Kids have gone into politics.
UGA 1999
January 27th, 2012
11:05 am
Ivan….I would vote for anyone that was running over Obama right now.
ragnar danneskjold
January 27th, 2012
11:08 am
I may be a contrarian, but I think the multiple debates have been beneficial. There is no question that everyone has enjoyed an opportunity to present his/her case on a stage that allows voters comparison shopping. This is a Proverbs 27:17 argument if ever there was one.
I was a Cain supporter – he was not undone by debates.
Perry has never competed anywhere other than a strong red state – he was undone by debates, for his inability to articulate his vistion. No second item leading to an “oops” joke by me.
Romney and Gringich – the one surely the most skilled experienced executive in the field (yes, even more so than my favored Herman, as Romney’s experience is far more varied), the other the most seasoned politician – were the last two viable candidates standing, probably as it should have been. The debates were a material element of the winnowing process, and have given all voters an opportunity to understand why the Obama administration failed, and to glean a few ideas that could get us back on the right road (after the 2006 democrat Congress drove us into the ditch.) Executive leadership will be necessary and has been sorely lacking for the past three years. I am now moving myself into the Romney camp.
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:11 am
“Ivan….I would vote for anyone that was running over Obama right now.”
Same here.
Don't Tread
January 27th, 2012
11:14 am
There should have been an option for “didn’t watch”.
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
11:17 am
I was just very surprised how closely Mitch Daniels’ SOTU response sounded EXACLTY like the actual SOTU……I mean seriously…….Daniels practically threw Mitt Romney under the bus and DID throw the Tea Party under the bus….
TRUTH
January 27th, 2012
11:20 am
MORE DEBATES?? A wise man once said, “If you don’t have anything to say that is productive, then keep your mouth shut.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….and now a word from our sponsors of this crap!!
Is this TRULY the best the GOP has to offer? In spite of the fact that the President has managed a horrific recession, reported the fact that the private sector created over 3M jobs, that the stock market has shown a steady increase, and now has flexed and says that ALL AMERICANS should do their part, yes you to citizen Millionaire, after 19 or 22 debates there remains Romney, Newt, Santorum, and Paul and none are speaking to the American people about the vision forward. Laughable.
OBAMA 2012
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:20 am
“.Daniels practically threw Mitt Romney under the bus and DID throw the Tea Party under the bus”
Weird, I dont’ remember anything like that. Can you elaborate a bit more?
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:21 am
“Is this TRULY the best the GOP has to offer?”
Beats the current crap residing in the Oval Office.
“In spite of the fact that the President has managed a horrific recession, reported the fact that the private sector created over 3M jobs, that the stock market has shown a steady increase”
Dow is low, stocks are low, unemployment at 8.6%. Yep, he’s done real well.
UGA 1999
January 27th, 2012
11:23 am
somewhere….unemployment is actually at around 10% if they would use factual information. Gas is soon to be at $4.
Dusty
January 27th, 2012
11:25 am
DEBATE?? Yeah, let’s debate, contemplate and deliberate! eiiiyaeeee! I’ m sick of ‘em! Then it is debilitate and it hits Republicans in all its unfairness.
While Republicans spend millions on candidates who get subjects & questions usuable in high school debates & gossip columns, the opposition party gets little government paid sunshine speeches by their contendor who calls them “addresses”.
Everytime a president running for a second term makes a speech, the opposing party should get a subsidized debate or speech. Now that’s fair!
In the meantime, let us call good ol’ Texas toughness Rick Perry and invite him to stick around Washington for the next four years. It would be like a good dose of cod liver oil & super-vitamins for Washington and the entire USA. There must be some way to do that . Now let’s see……..
JKL2
January 27th, 2012
11:25 am
Godhates- And, there has never been a bigger display of nit-wittery on display on American TV
You evidently missed Al Sharpton, Carol Mosely Braun, and Dennis Kucinich battle it out a few years ago…
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:27 am
“somewhere….unemployment is actually at around 10% if they would use factual information. Gas is soon to be at $4.”
Not including real unemployment. People who just quit looking for jobs. Gas is high and will go up even more. It’ll be a fun summer watching Obozo try to smear everyone else for his idiotic mistakes. Mitt should really go after him on gungate, Sylandra etc.
Everyone knows Obozo is a bad president.
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:28 am
“Godhates- And, there has never been a bigger display of nit-wittery on display on American TV”
Cynthia Mckinney.
Nuff said.
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
11:29 am
Sure…..
Reforming entitlements…..a sustainable “social safety net”….civility in politics…Fairer and simpler tax code…..Who talked about the importance of these issues….are these Democratic issues or Mitch Daniels’ issues…!?!? They DEFINITELY are not Tea Party issues….and you don’t hear Mitt Romney address the tax code much these days….except to keep it like it is….Doesn’t matter in Georgia anyway…..it doesn’t appear that President Obama is going to be on the ballot…you know…citizenship issues…..
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:33 am
“hey DEFINITELY are not Tea Party issues”
Huh, I heard plenty of them talking about a simpler tax code. Fair Tax, Flat tax etc…
“Reforming entitlements”
Paul, Cain, Bachman, Perry, Mitt, Newt all talked about it over and over and over again.
“and you don’t hear Mitt Romney address the tax code much these days”
Heard him talk about it in two debates. Maybe you just weren’t paying attention.
“it doesn’t appear that President Obama is going to be on the ballot…you know…citizenship issues…..”
Uh huh.
Dusty
January 27th, 2012
11:47 am
Ragnar,
I hate to disagree with you because I think you are a wise man.
In a general line of thought, debate does seem a good place to thrash out perspective presidents.
But not when I consider the fact that debates gave us the inexperienced and bad comrade history of Obama and tilted him into the presidency. Everything was overlooked. He could speak “nice”.
Perhaps that is more a bad reflection on Americans who could not differentiate between the good and the unqualified..
So I am now very skiddish about the effects of debates.
Orange12
January 27th, 2012
12:20 pm
I agree, let’s vote now.
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
12:23 pm
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
11:33 am
————————————
Bachmann, Perry, and Paul…..the real Tea Party darlings…Talked about GETTING RID of the social safety net…not REFORMING it…..That is a HUGE DIFFERENCE…
You could superimpose the President’s SOTU and Daniels’ response and they would be 95% the same…!!!!!!
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
12:27 pm
“Bachmann, Perry, and Paul…..the real Tea Party darlings…Talked about GETTING RID of the social safety net…not REFORMING it…..That is a HUGE DIFFERENCE…”
What exactly is a social safety net?
“You could superimpose the President’s SOTU and Daniels’ response and they would be 95% the same…!!!!!!”
Doubt it. Obama is for government control. Daniels is for person responsibility.
Don't Tread
January 27th, 2012
12:28 pm
“a bad reflection on Americans who could not differentiate between the good and the unqualified”
Seems a lot of people these days let the media decide what to think for them. And we know which side is in charge of most of the media. So the “good” is anyone with a D after their name, and the “unqualified” is anyone with a R after their name.
This also is why a lot of scam artists (including Obama) are so successful these days – people can’t think for themselves and/or blinded by greed.
snoqualmiefalls
January 27th, 2012
12:30 pm
I’m just loving the Republican debates. Why would our President have to hire speech writers when we have such a wealth of pearls of wisdom from these debates?
Yes my conservative friends, we will have a replay of “A Choice,not an Echo” in the next presidental election… for the kids out there, that’s a reference to AU H20 1964… and we all know how that turned out.
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
12:36 pm
“Why would our President have to hire speech writers when we have such a wealth of pearls of wisdom from these debates?”
Considering the president has the worst record since Jimmy Carter….
C Jae of EAV
January 27th, 2012
12:53 pm
While I think the total number engaged to-date is abit out of alignment with what’s reasonable, I must admit the sheer number debates have allowed for each candidate to get their ideas on record, which IMHO has served the voting public quite well in the sence of truly vetting candidates.
This go around there as been very little room to hide the shadows of slick campaign ads & bumper sticker slogans. The contrast of choice is for me quite clear at this point.
Whats most interesting is the fact that with all the focus and attention, the reality is tht even after so-called “Super Tuesday” there will still be enough delegates outstanding such that any of the existing pool or some as of yet unannounced candidate could potentially win the republican nomination.
Hence the poltical circus is far from over.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
January 27th, 2012
12:55 pm
I think there was just the right amount of debates, given the fact that it finally allowed Mitt to hammer Newt last night into a pile of pasty dough.
Except for his “It’s not worth getting angry” remark to Beaver Cleaver (Rick Santorum), this was Mitt’s best performance in all the debates.
Intown
January 27th, 2012
1:34 pm
For the Republican party primary, I’m for as many debates as possible so that all contenders are equally damaged when they then have to turn and take on a sitting Democratic president.
redneckbluedog
January 27th, 2012
1:41 pm
Somewhere over there
January 27th, 2012
12:27 pm
————————————
You need to ask Mitch Daniels’, then, what he means by “social safety net”…..Because he seems pretty intent on keeping it….Ditto for Barack Obama…..I did see excerpts from both oratories regarding personal responsibility….The one that comes to my mind is “No Bailouts, No Handouts, No Cop-outs”…..
I just point out facts, in a non-partisan way, for the most part…….You may assume what you wish…..
Real Athens
January 27th, 2012
1:56 pm
A “journalist” arguing for less press access and keeping voters in the dark regarding ALL candidates before an upcoming election. Your ilk (and bosses) are responsible for news becoming infotainment and working as a divider of the public instead of just providing facts and information. Kyle, I will admit you’re just punching the clock, feeding your family. However, as a student of Fink’s the first year he arrived at UGA my ethos won’t allow it.
Fink’s rolling over in his grave at the “ideas” in this column.
TRUTH
January 27th, 2012
2:03 pm
Is it just me or does the GOP have its own set of facts? I guess if you listen only to one another THEN that becomes fact, no matter how far in left field it is.
Therefore, I guess 91% of the country who approved of the SOTU and also those polled that shows the PRESIDENT (not “that crap in the White House, or any other codified language you hate filled losers want to pin to the PRESIDENT), would out point any GOP candidate who is selected. Period. Point Blank. You can try all you can to beat the drum for the GOP, but what the REST of Americans realize is that the GOP is a party designed to represent the rich. Sure, once upon a time the GOP was a sensible balance to our system of government, now its a BOUGHT party. Its a divisive party, that now has been reduced to race baiting, fear mongering, etc. Get a clue, GOP, or you will be a forgotten part of history.
JUST SAYIN’…..
Sarah Coulter
January 27th, 2012
2:04 pm
Obozo the hypocrite.
President Obama leaves event promoting clean energy in a motorcade of 22 fossil-fueled vehicles
http://nevadajournal.com/2012/01/26/president-obama-leaves-event-promoting-clean-energy-motorcade-22-fossil-fueled-vehicles/
************************************************************
Yep, he should have left on a horse just like George Washington used as his mode of transportation.
Sarah Coulter
January 27th, 2012
2:09 pm
Ivan….I would vote for anyone that was running over Obama right now.
*****************************************************************
I had to quote that. Hopefully the secret service will be paying you a visit this weekend and giving you a full-cavity search, jackhole.
Kyle Wingfield
January 27th, 2012
2:17 pm
Real Athens: Where did I argue for “less press access and keeping voters in the dark”? Because I asked whether, oh, 12 debates might be sufficient rather than 18 or 20?? And what would having fewer debates have to do with reducing press access — I’ve never known a politician to need the excuse of a debate to talk to a reporter — or keeping voters uninformed? If voters are relying on these stagings of political theater to get most of their information about these candidates, they are going to be woefully uninformed.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
January 27th, 2012
2:18 pm
Sarah Coulter, your reading comprehension skills need an upgrade.
Ivan wasn’t talking about “running over” the current Disaster-in-Chief, he was talking about those who are running against him.
Sheesh!
Lynn
January 27th, 2012
2:20 pm
Great eye openers!!!
Kyle Wingfield
January 27th, 2012
2:20 pm
What’s really funny is that you ostensibly defend the number of debates — and then decry “infotainment,” which is more or less what I was criticizing in the OP.
The Snark
January 27th, 2012
2:24 pm
The more debates the better. (Though I hesitate to call them “debates.”) The worst thing that could happen in a democracy is for voters to select from people they have not seen or heard off-script, but know only from television and radio advertisements.
The Snark
January 27th, 2012
2:28 pm
Kyle:
I don’t disagree that the Republican primary “debates” are more like infotainment or “stagings of political theater.” But they have gradually enabled people to get some accurate impressions of the candidates. Perry is not that smart; Gingrich is mean-spirited and prone to less-than-truthful statements; Santorum is very religious and principled; Romney is very intelligent; Ron Paul is a rather strange person. These facts may not be the whole picture, and they may not be what you want to base your vote on, but it’s a hell of a lot better than campaign ads.
Real Athens
January 27th, 2012
2:29 pm
I won’t get into a pissing match with you — for obvious reasons. We agree on several fronts. How about you (and your colleagues, Cox sisters included) take the charge and provide the public with real debates with real questions and begin a trend of returning the Fourth Estate to it’s rightful place in society instead of inflaming public opinion and selling advertising.
Sarah Coulter
January 27th, 2012
2:40 pm
And Tiberius, it wasn’t Ivan that said that. But nice try! UGA1999 made that lovely comment about the president being run over.
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UGA 1999
January 27th, 2012
11:05 am
Ivan….I would vote for anyone that was running over Obama right now.
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Maybe you are inside UGA1999’s head or you are psychic.