According to Ben Smith and Lynn Sweet, here are the rules for the debate tomorrow.
Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking -- not reacting.
While there will be director's chairs (with backs and foot rests), McCain and Obama will be allowed to stand -- but they can't roam past their "designated area" to be marked on the stage. McCain and Obama are not supposed to ask each other direct questions.
[T]he candidates are banned during the debates from moving to the other side -- and from wielding proposed pledges.
From this description, no one can ask a follow up. Pander Fest USA!!!
Why should the candidates agree to this? This is even bad television as there will little chance for conflict or disagreement. At most, one can have a "I feel your pain" moment, which no one could possibly believe; one candidate could avoid providing a substantive answer to any question deemed remotely objectionable and where have we seen that; or maybe, for entertainment's sake, a candidate will look bored and stare down at his watch. What substance?
Knowing the rules, my initial take will be this will only be one ad hominem after another. Maybe McCain will call Obama a terrorist to his face.
Update: if you read Sweet's blog, you'll find out that the candidates agreed to a process that prohibited notes. Now, in the VP debate, Palin stared at notes, which means she violated the rules and brought notes or, to answer Harrogate's question, while Biden was speaking, she wrote as many topoi as possible, which means she was not listening to Biden speak. What class!!!
1 comment:
This is going to suck!
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