The debate process is supposed to be about the Republican party and the candidates, not the media making money from debate coverage. CNN and Fox News don’t own the debates and shouldn’t have copyright control. It’s imperative for the candidates to get their message out to as large of an audience as possible, but the RNC is doing them a disservice by allowing media outlets to limit who can broadcast the debates. ~ ML, 9/16/15Agreed. And that's just one issue. Here's some very brief thoughts concerning the second GOP presidential debate hosted by CNN (pshhh) last night...
Fiorina trumped Trump, which is what all the lights were focused on. Accomplished. No doubt she was more substantive. Rubio also did well considering the little amount of time allotted, which wasn't necessarily planned out by the media, but kudos to the Senator. As for the so-called 'lower tier', Jindal was head & shoulders above the rest. IMO, he should be moved up to replace Kasich, who shouldn't even be there, then probably shed the castaways. BAM! One panel (and away with all this tier nonsense).
CNN's predictable antics lived up to the actual ads (one is pictured right) that illustrated their conduct; i.e., paint this as a spectacle, motivate candidates to bicker & distract from substance (even Christie spoke up about this), and then of course drive the new flavor of the month (Carly!). The moderation was divorced from any real policy issues until the final hour of a hellaciously long 3-hour event. And in eating up the prime time with family feuds, as with the first debate on Fox, it not only negates the notion of a meaningful, informative debate, but it also quite literally ignores the most conservative on the stage (Cruz, Paul, Walker) by design. As mentioned earlier, Rubio managed to break through this (as did Jindal in the first debate of the evening), but Carson wasn't nearly as vibrant considering his #2 polling status going in. Unfortunately, the three-ring atmosphere contrived by the media is detrimental to where a crippled party and country need to be heading.So, even after this second debate, I find myself still wanting less theatrics, less soapy-ness, less reality tv/pop culture-esque BS, and longing for more substance in policy discussions from the get-go.
One final thought...these games transpiring remind me of something the late comedian Bill Hicks used to mockingly exclaim in one of his bits: "Go back to bed, America; your government is in control." These debates, thus far, interject one revision to that statement...
"Go back to bed, America; your MEDIA is in control."
Related links: CNN's Jake Tapper stages a food fight
Ted Cruz Ignored; Won’t Play Along
Bobby Jindal Wins the First Debate
Bobby Jindal and the Maladjusted
Rubio and Fiorina Win
Carly Is Only Going Up
GOP Debate Wrap-Up: Fiorina cleans up at the big kids’ table
Winners and Losers from the CNN/Salem Debate
My scorecard for this debate.
Video: GOP Debate, the trash talk reel
Debate number 2: CNN’s missed opportunity
Poll: The debates’ losers?
GOP debate got better once Trump shut up
ADDENDUM: via Levin...
Related link: Mark Levin BLASTS CNN for holding a ‘FOOD FIGHT’ debateOn Thursday’s Mark Levin Show: The Republican National Committee needs to stop turning over the Republican debates to the media. CNN’s debate format was one big effort to instigate fights between candidates to drive up the ratings. We’ve had enough of TV hosts and anchors using their power as moderator to inject their personal bias into the debates. The entire process needs to be fixed, starting with the whole “2 debates” format. Polls today will have no consequence a year from now, which is why it’s unfair to decide who gets to speak in primetime.
