About Last Night… It Was a GOP Push-Poll Disguised as a Debate

Posted on August 1, 2019 by tengrain

Death of the Media

Joe Biden’s 2020 Goat Rodeo

As the candidates were introduced to the stage like some sort of exhibition match on WWE.  Where—we wondered—are the masks and the capes? the trumpet fanfare as the contestants entered the ring, er, stage? We got our first only on CNN moment when  Handsome Joe Biden leaned in to greet Kamala Harris, leaned into her hot mic and urged her to “go easy on me, kid.”

Fact check: Harris is 54.

It went downhill from there.

The basic problem was not the candidates, it is CNN, “the most trusted lame in news.”

Some background: CNN’s Jeffrey Zucker brought reality teevee and monster sports to NBC-Universal before going to CNN. As one Scissorhead in the news bidness said, Zucker is the Goodson Todman of the news.

CNN Drama, explained

And here’s the essence of the problem: all of the questions were formed like notorious Republican push-poll questions in South Carolina:

“Did you know that History’s Greatest Monster standing next to you wants to take healthcare away from all Americans and raise their taxes?”

Honestly, I think I became dumber about the issues after watching this debate. But now I am left with the memory of the questions and not the answers,  and each question made me think that the candidate is a monster. And that’s what I mean when I say it was a push-poll and not a debate.

We’ve already criticized much about CNN’s questions. The moderators’ goal was to encourage conflict, not to help viewers-like-us to understand the nuances between the candidates’ policy positions. CNN made the candidates into one of their patently stupid, shouty, powerhouse panels.

Here’s an idea for Tom Perez, the chairman of the DNC: Put on the debates yourself, and invite the media to cover it. BS like last night’s CNN Debate is not helping.

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8 Responses to About Last Night… It Was a GOP Push-Poll Disguised as a Debate

  1. brucedesertrat says:
    August 1, 2019 at 6:58 am

    Sigh. That would require Perez to, how shall I put this delicately….join the phylum * Vertebrata*….

    Liked by 2 people

  2. Pyed says:
    August 1, 2019 at 7:56 am

    Would be an improvement if the pro-Trump questioners were tied in a bent-over position, their heads four inches from a gong, and forty belligerent billy goats released into their space.

    No, dinner is not being served, but something deserved is.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Scottie says:
    August 1, 2019 at 9:35 am

    Hello TG. The “news” media is not about news or informing people these days. It is as you so well point out a spectacle for ratings and clicks. The more drama and division they can cause the better it is for them, but far more damage is done to the candidates and the party. I am disappointed some of the lower ranked candidates are attacking others in a way the Republicans can use in attack adverts during the general or other elections. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Dennis Cole says:
    August 1, 2019 at 10:02 am

    Is it only the Dimocraps who have every single member of their circular Firing Squad survive nearly round after round? When oh when will they finally winnow it down to a one-on-one matchup? Stay tuned, for an exciting roundtable discussion on this, by our esteemed panel of experts.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Stony Pillow says:
    August 1, 2019 at 10:31 am

    You’re assuming the DNC wants to win. Assertion unsupported by evidence.

    Like

    • R White says:
      August 1, 2019 at 11:24 am

      Yup. It’s much easier for Perez, Bustos and Pelosi to go around the country and whine about republican leaders’ incompetence and sadism as a minority party while raising money from wall st. with the empty promises of future greatness by hopefully governing from the mythical center instead of actually passing progressive legislation that the public favors while they have majorities.

      Everything else is theatre of the absurd.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. xulon says:
    August 4, 2019 at 6:59 am

    Earlier this year, I met a couple of women who were members of The League of Women Voters. In our chit-chat, I mentioned that The League used to host presidential debates which did not involve partisan game show hosts as moderators nor loaded questions and I wondered why that stopped. They said that somewhere in the 80s the political parties refused to allow their candidates to appear on their debate. While I would like to assume it was the Republicans leading the way on that boycott, the point is that the parties hated the concept of a non-partisan, non-sales pitch (from both the candidates and the moderators) debate and chose to stop going.

    Liked by 1 person

    • tengrain says:
      August 4, 2019 at 7:16 am

      The League of Women Voters released an announcement in the 1988 election:

      Most objectionable to the League, Neuman said, were conditions in the agreement that gave the campaigns unprecedented control over the proceedings. Neuman called “outrageous” the campaigns’ demands that they control the selection of questioners, the composition of the audience, hall access for the press and other issues.

      “The campaigns’ agreement is a closed-door masterpiece,” Neuman said. “Never in the history of the League of Women Voters have two candidates’ organizations come to us with such stringent, unyielding and self-serving demands.”

      Rgds,

      TG

      Liked by 1 person

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