The Concord Monitor (N.H.), Nov. 5:
The call by Republican presidential candidates that networks bow to their list of debate demands is the latest example of the GOP nominating process that has spun out of control. After enduring a CNBC forum that featured provocative, tough questions, the candidates decided that they didn’t like debates after all.
Cue a meeting of most of the campaigns’ representatives on Sunday. After talking through their beefs, a draft letter was created by attorney Ben Ginsberg and circulated on Monday.
In it, the candidates outline their demands. They don’t want to be asked yes or no questions without a chance to elaborate. They want approval over the graphics or biographies shown on the screen. And they want every candidate to be given equal time.
If that list of fantasies wasn’t enough, here are some more. The candidates want a chance for opening and closing statements. They want to ban lightning rounds. And they don’t want the temperature above 67 degrees.
Just imagine Ben Carson pulling out a thermometer on stage to make sure his microclimate is just right.
This letter – and this approach – by the campaigns is beyond insulting. While politicians might not believe it, those in the news media represent the people and take that job seriously. Debate moderators are the closest that most will ever come to directly interacting with all of the presidential candidates at once.
Do we want those moderators to aggressively question the people who might be our nation’s leaders? Or do we simply want them to enable candidates to deliver live versions of their TV commercials?
Take the question asked by CNBC’s John Harwood to Donald Trump last week: “Mr. Trump, you’ve done very well in this campaign so far by promising to build a wall and make another country pay for it, send 11 million people out of the country, cut taxes $10 trillion without increasing the deficit, and make Americans better off because your greatness would replace the stupidity and incompetence of others. Let’s be honest. Is this a comic-book version of a presidential campaign?” It’s direct, that’s for sure. But shouldn’t the grandiose, over-the-top Trump be called upon to answer just such a question?
Yes, there should be a level of decorum at these events, and CNBC’s crew was less than respectful at times. CNN’s Anderson Cooper managed the recent Democratic debate far better, while still including pointed queries.
Thankfully, as this week progressed, several Republican candidates began to back away from the letter’s list of demands. Trump said he would negotiate his own deals. The Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich campaigns have also said they won’t sign a final draft. On Tuesday night, Jeb Bush’s campaign said it wouldn’t join the effort either.
Perhaps they came to realize what Christie did. The New Jersey governor was one of the first to criticize the letter, and if his campaign produces nothing else of note, his words to Fox’s Megyn Kelly on the subject will endure.
Why didn’t he sign the letter? she asked him.
“Because it’s stupid,” Christie said.
Amen, governor.
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