I thought the mute button was a clear winner in last night's debate. Should this remain a fixture for all future Presidential debates, or is this a one-off to control Trump's interruptions? I say we should retain it, and I think the audience at home and the candidates should also see a timer that indicates how much time is left before their time is up. Another idea that would be useful is to overlay the moderator's question while the candidate is speaking, so the viewers can see if the response is actually addressing the topic at hand or not. What do people think about the format yesterday, and how it can be further improved?
I bet if the Trump campaign could go back in time they would've asked for it in the first debate. Muting Trump was the best thing that could happen to his campaign this election. That he couldn't interrupt very much helped his debate performance.
Just to be clear for this discussion, the mute button was only used for 24 total minutes -- for the 2 minute initial response by candidates to the 6 questions to start each segment of the debate. click to re-hear Kirsten Welker's explanation of muting rules I agree with those rules, and vote for no expansion of them at all.
Keep it as a tool for the moderator. There should also be a tool that shows the number of responses per question for each candidate. It was weirdly lopsided last night. Working the ref probably did that.
just to be clear, are you suggesting a big expansion of the rules of last night? Moderator had no control of mute button in fact, no one actually had decision-making powers
it worked out for Trump. It allowed Biden to speak, sinking his own campaign with his ineptitude. Loved it.
I thought the moderator manually did the muting. There were one or two times I think when Trump was prematurely muted as he was finishing up his point and then quickly unmuted. So, it didn’t seem to be totally automated.
I still think trump talked too much but it was better than debate one. Biden was very prepared. I dont love the candidates but the debate was better this time around.
Who are the Poor Boys? Also why is Biden talkin' about Abe Lincoln like he's across from him? Oh and why is he so inept that he actually admitted he'd dry up oil and **** Texas and other energy states. This is thanks to the mic cut threat. Excellent change. Kept Trump quiet enough and gave Biden enough rope. I was waiting for something like this, but this went better than I expected.
Have we as a society fallen so far that we have to treat our political candidates like kindergartners in the classroom. I think the debate rules served as a rebuke to us as a nation. We are permitting this behavior and it is beneath us. I was honestly amused that our own president had to have rules made for him that got him to shut his mouth and be a respectful person. If you are voting for that and or think its good, says more about you than anything else. I mean even in the Lord of the Flies they had the conch at first, look how quickly that society eroded when the rules of the conch were not respected. Then again that's a fictional story of a bunch of kids, what relevance does it have on us today. . . . .
I'm saying the rules are explicit for 2 minutes only, no decision-making when to use it. We're discussing the rules right, not mistakes that might have occurred. I'm just trying to be clear about the rules that we may or may not want to keep using. icymi, and fwiw, the moderator did not have control of mute button (listen to Kirsten in the video above). But yes, a human did (debate commission)...not software.
Biden choked hard what are you talking about? I usually agree with you but nah man this was a huge blow out for Trump. Biden got routed the second he sank his campaign by goin' after energy. lol "why would you do that?" from the deflated moderator... you can hear the face palm!
I prefer a more complex solution. I would like to see this clown show called 'Presidential Debates' cancelled. Instead of moderators and organizers coming up with questions, I would like to see online polls determine the questions for each candidate, with each question worded differently to see which way the public wants to see the question answered. Or do a long form discussion with individual candidates ala JRE method. Have real discussions instead of ranting and raving lunatics.
I am sympathetic to this take. I don’t think people who are even minimally following the campaigns are learning all that much of substance from these so-called debates. Requiring each candidate to go one-on-one with a reputable, fact-based critic representing the opposing viewpoint in a public forum would be better. It need not be intentionally antagonistic/malicious. It should be respectful and the purpose would be to see how the candidates responds to legit challenges to their positions. I like the idea of the questions up for debate being determined by the public.
Oh I didnt say that trump didnt beat him down but biden was prepared. He had his lies ready and fired them off without hesitation.
My wife's suggestion: when their speaking time is up, the volume on their mic starts going down and their image on the screen starts shrinking to a pinprick, so they can see they need to wrap it up quick.
