Tag: CPD
Commission on Presidential Debate Debunked
Those who read debatescoop.org know that I am not been a fan of the monopoly the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) of general election debates. An interview by George Farah last Thursday is worth a listen (The interview transcript and audio can be found at Democracy Now). He discusses the case for reconsidering the CPD's exclusive sponsorship.
George Farah is the executive director and founder of Open Debates, author of No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates.
Farah is interviewed on Democracy Now!, a national news program carried by PBS and NPR stations, hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. He provides the history of CPD control and questions the exclusion of candidates from the debates.
Farah referencing the Palin/Biden VP debate begins:
We don't know the extent of the rules, because, precisely because, the Obama and McCain campaigns have absolutely refused to release the detailed contract that dictates the terms of tonight's debate.
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: CPD, Farah, No Debates, Democracy Now, debate sponsors
Spinning the Presidential Debate - Internet Influence
The influence of the Internet as a player in the post-debate spin is unknown. What is known is that millions of Americans will be adding their voice to the post-debate constructions.
An interesting example is the invitations of Current TV used of Twitter to "broadcast" the voices of American youth during and after the debate. A provocative post at The Presidential Debate Blog by Joel Hyatt,CEO of Current TV is worth reading.
The Commission on Presidential Debate is stuck in the 80s. They may voice the parties concerns, but cannot control the diffuse Internet. Their "interactive" initiatives have been widely panned. The MySpace.com is little more than streaming the debate on line with pseudo polling. Lots of folks will stream the debate.
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: Internet, MySpace, CPD, Interactivity, Presidential debate
CPD Moderators Announced - Is McCain Playing?
The CPD debates are taking shape. University hosts are preparing, Obama has signed on, moderators are announced, but where is the McCain camp? Who will lead negotiations, are they holding out for more Town Hall debates, might they accept only part of the package? Holding out for some presumed strategic position is a long employed tactic, but typically it only leads to bad headlines and a last minute acquiesce.
First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS
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: Moderators, CPD, presidential debates
McCain: "Debating-the-Debates"
There seems to be little hope there will be more than three presidential debates in the fall. One obvious reason is in the post below, Obama refuses. The McCain camp, long proposing ten+ town hall debates, has taken up the "debate-about-debates" to further construct their characterization of Obama.
In a statement posted soon after Obama anointed the CPD debates, reported on TPM Election Central, their themes build, Obama words defect; his real character vialed.
"Unfortunately, it appears that Barack Obama's tough-guy talk on 'duels' this week was just more empty words. Americans are quickly coming to the conclusion that it's better to look at what Barack Obama actually does and not listen to what he says."
And then there is the reoccurring Celebrity narrative ["
it might be beneath a worldwide celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude to appear at town hall meeting"]. Perhaps the McCain camp ought to read Alan Schroeder's
Celebrity in Chief. Maybe more people read
People Magazine than
Foreign Affairs.
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: McCain, Obama, CPD, fall debates, Debate about debates
"Change Campaign" is Unchanging
There was a chance, even a good one, to restructure the Presidential fall debates. The Commission on Presidential Debate (CPD) was on the ropes following a primary filled with debate events, ready sponsors, and pressure from the new media. BUT ALAS!
Today the Obama campaign appears to have nixed debates beyond the three scheduled by the CPD.
Obama spokes person, Plouffe, wrote in a letter to the commission agreeing to their three debates:
In letter to Commission on Presidential Debates, writes
"Due to the late date of the two parties' nominating conventions, and the relatively short period between the end of the conventions and the first proposed debate, it is likely that the four Commission debates will be the sole series of debates in the fall campaign."
The campaign is putting a lot of eggs in one basket. Debates, even without memorable moments, have power to drive candidate's narrative, positive and negative, materially influencing electoral outcomes.
For a campaign that depends on the change message the decision to forgo more debates, for the staid Commission productions, appears wholly political.
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: Obama, CPD, Fall Debates
July 4th - Opportunity Missed/ Previewing the Fall Debates
Alan Schroeder, author of published Presidential Debates: Fifty Years of High-Risk TV, an informed observer of presidential debates, often in theater where he has absorbed the political atmospherics of the last several Presidential Debates, has written a reasoned analysis on the Columbia University Press Blog , previewing what to expect in fall Commission of Presidential Debate events.
Professor Schroeder weaves his analysis around the missed opportunity for a July 4th debate between McCain and Obama and why the demands of presidential debates are likely to thwart real innovations in the fall. He hints that this years unconventional campaigns had the hope for unconventional debates, but don't hold your breadth.
Schroeder writes:
By traditional metrics, the McCain camp was probably accurate in its assumption of low viewership on the Fourth of July. But the unorthodox nature of this year's presidential campaign challenges that expectation. A holiday debate would undoubtedly have generated a high degree of media hype, drawing an audience unable to resist the lure of live political theater. . .
Click for the
full article.
.
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: CPD, formats, townhall debates, McCain, Obama, negotiations
Nagin Says Presidential Forum A Go - Well Almost
Nagin Says Presidential Forum A Go
Michael Hill, - ABC26 News
May 29, 2008, 4:38 PM CDT
METAIRIE -- Mayor Ray Nagin said the City of New Orleans will host a presidential forum, featuring at least 2 candidates on June 7th.
The forum, which is planned to take place during the annual meeting of the National Conference of Mayors, will focus largely on New Orleans recovery an urban issues.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have committed to the forum in writing, according to Mayor Nagin. He says the city is still working on confirming Senator McCain's presence.
City and state leaders and Women of the Storm called upon the candidates individually to participate in an independent forum after the National Council of Presidential Debates turned down New Orleans' bid to host one of their debates.
Well almost a "debate" outside the domain of the CPD (Commission on Presidential Debates) McCain has not accepted but may be "obligated" given his call for several debates in the summer and fall.
See an earlier post on the New Orleans Forum.
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: New Orleans, Nagin, CPD, Candidate Forum
Barring Barr from CPD Debates
Now that Bob Barr (GA) has secured the Libertarian nomination for president efforts to get him in the political mix pick up pace. Not surprisingly some in the Libertarian party have begun to push Barr's inclusion in the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).
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: CPD, General election debates, Bob Barr, Libertarians, Obama, McCain
Media Calls for More Debates than CPD's Three
In what will likely be a chorus of editorials and pundits endorsing a general election breakaway from the three scheduled Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) debates the USA Today editorialized on Tuesday, May 27.
[T]there's no reason they [CPD debates] have to be the only times the candidates share a stage; this year they might not be.
The
USA editorial cites as precedence the Lincoln/Douglas debate and an almost tour of Kennedy and Goldwater stopped by events in Dallas.
The rational for the debate series is not well developed in their endorsement, but a chorus of voices begins to pave the way for overturning an outdated CPD monopoly. They argue that Obama and McCain and voter interest demands innovation in format and opportunity.
The uneven quality of the debates during the primary season showed the need for alternative formats. Joint appearances would elevate the tone of the campaign and benefit voters.
Surely there are political risks in even an elevated join-tour, but the possibilities for signaling a change in the system has to appeal to both camps.
The three scheduled CPD debates are: Sept. 26 in Oxford, Miss., Oct. 7 in Nashville and Oct. 15 in Hempstead, N.Y.
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: CPD, general debates, USA Today, editorials
Media Calls for More debates than CPD's Three
In what will likely be a chorus of editorials and pundits endorsing a general election breakaway from the three scheduled Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) debates the USA Today editorialized on Tuesday, May 27.
[T]there's no reason they [CPD debates] have to be the only times the candidates share a stage; this year they might not be.
The
USA editorial cites as precedence the Lincoln/Douglas debate and an almost tour of Kennedy and Goldwater stopped by events in Dallas.
The rational for the debate series is not well developed in their endorsement, but a chorus of voices begins to pave the way for overturning an outdated CPD monopoly. They argue that Obama and McCain and voter interest demands innovation in format and opportunity.
They conclude:
The uneven quality of the debates during the primary season showed the need for alternative formats. Joint appearances would elevate the tone of the campaign and benefit voters.
Surely there are political risks in even an elevated join-tour, but the possibilities for signaling a change in the system has to appeal to both camps.
The three scheduled CPD debates are: Sept. 26 in Oxford, Miss., Oct. 7 in Nashville and Oct. 15 in Hempstead, N.Y.
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: CPD, general election debates, USA Today
Experimenting with the Fall Presidential Debates
The media is at work offering the candidates advice for the fall debates. In particular, the Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau's Jim Tankersley weighs in with a list to guide the traveling road show proposed by McCain. Some of the ideas have merit; others would raise more debates among the campaigns and the media.
The meta-message of this advice is: (1) the Commission on Presidential Debates is not a factor, never even acknowledged in the post and (2) despite careful wording the campaigned is framed as a two man race, the proposal implicitly "assumes" McCain vs. Obama.
Specific suggestions from the entry "Traveling debates for McCain, Obama? Here's how."
The "road show" format could change that with a few simple guidelines that wouldn't favor either candidate - only voters.
- Let the candidates pick a number of debates in advance and promise to stick to them - no calls for more debates later if someone is trailing in the polls or media exposure. We'll use 10 for our example, but it could be any number the campaigns decide on.
- Draft venues. Ten debates? McCain picks five sites, the Democrat picks five sites. No objections allowed. If they wanted to get fancy, they could each have to pick a site in one of five regions - the Northeast, the South, the industrial Midwest, the Southwest and the West Coast.
The Swamp's suggestions continues below the cut
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: format, road show debates, media advice, CPD
The CPD Holds No Cards - Alternate Debates Likely
The Commission on Presidential Debates is in a world of hurt, the 24/7s and technology have bypassed them and it appears McCain and Obama also are interested in holding debates outside of the rigid CPD's fall foursome (or at least adding other forums). The Commission should be nervous, very nervous.
Candidates Apply Pressure:
Floating a trial balloon via McCain's lead media creator Mark McKinnon last week, the GOP presumptive suggested that he and Obama "agree to campaign together in some states, attending joint town hall meetings and debating each other without a moderator."
McKinnon rather directly suggested:
The town hall meeting is John's best format. He's a natural campaigner up close with the public. That would test Obama's claims that he wants a clean fight on the issues."
Yesterday, according to
Alaska Report, Barack Obama seems interested
it would be a "great idea" to hold joint town hall-style campaign events with John McCain. Obviously, we would have to think through the logistics on that, but ... if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something that I am going to welcome."
Below the fold: New Orleans Debate Looms Large
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: CPD, New Orleans, alternative debates, McKinnon, YouTube
The "Beginning-of-the-End" for the CPD
The Commission on Presidential Debate ability to control presidential debates is about to end. Likely there will be four CPD debate in the fall but there may a lot more debates as well.
The latest entry is set for Sept. 18 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, featuring Google and YouTube technology to generate questions for the candidates.
The three remaining candidates have been contacted about participating and have not signed on (waiting for the Democratic nomination), but notably no one had rejected the idea in deference to the CPD.
New Orleans, spurned by the commission in the selection process as "not ready" has the support of the Louisiana political establishment, including popular Governor Bobby Jindal, continuing a lobbying effort begun nearly a year ago.
And why shouldn't the candidates agree. Exposure is the name of the game and there are easy alternates to the major networks and inflexible CDP structure. Why not spread the risk and recovery time from three over-hyped CPD productions? Surely the 24/7 networks would be willing, having scored all time ratings during the primary period.
New Orleans may just be the tip of the iceberg. The CPD, which scooped the League of Women Voters to take control for the two major parties, may be endangered themselves.
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: CPD, New Orleans, Presidential Debates, Jindal, League of Women Voters, Nework debates, YouTube
