Democratic Debates: Are They Over Yet?
I have watched all 20 of the Democratic debates so you can understand my frustration with the course of events. I remember watching the first debate with everyone from Joe Biden to Mike Gravel competing for air time well before anyone would expect the campaign season to start. The entire Democratic field was invited to these events when few people were watching. As the campaign season began to crank up for voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, people began to drop off due to prior commitments and network rules about viability.
Tuesday’s MSNBC debate in Ohio was a fitting conclusion for the long grind of the Democratic primary season. I know that there are other primaries after next Tuesday with Pennsylvania a big fish in Democratic circles. This was my last debate until there are Democratic and Republican nominees because I have reached maximum capacity for rhetoric.
We have heard both candidates put through the grinder with MSNBC covering the presidential election 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (unless a celebrity does something). I don’t know if I can hear Chris Matthews tell another story or make a piss-poor joke. Joe Scaroborough is intolerable as a debate analyst and I won’t get too deep into my disdain for Tim Russert and Brian Williams as moderators. One of the reasons why I won’t be watching more primary debates is the spectacle made of the democratic process made by cable networks.
The main reason that I tire of these debates and hope that this was the last one is that they serve no purpose. Candidates aren’t going to answer questions that are omitted by moderators and the networks aren’t interested in getting down to issues. We fight the same fights constantly in these primary debates including the “who’s tougher? debates in the Republican primary and the “who can get out of Iraq quickly? debates in the Democratic primary. The writers are back so I can watch some terrible sitcoms and dramas instead of watching poorly-scripted debates.
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