“THIS WAS A CIRCUS”
October 1, 2020
Dear Readers:
This week’s first Presidential Debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden was neither Presidential nor a true debate. A Donnybrook is a more apt description.
Moderator Chris Wallace was obviously biased in favor of the former Vice President. He interrupted Biden 15 times and Trump 76 times according to Fox News commentators, and according to CNN, President Trump edged out former Vice President Joe Biden by speaking 39.06 minutes while Biden spoke for 37.56 minutes.
Trump was getting no help from Wallace. I didn’t hear one question on peace in the Middle East or on any of Trump’s accomplishments. Why, Mr. Wallace? This was a circus because of poor management by Mr. Wallace.
I volunteer to be the next moderator under these terms:
Two minutes isn’t enough time to develop proper presentation. It should be uninterrupted by any argumentative moderator or opponent.
I would give them each 3 minutes.
I would have the previously used green-yellow-red-light practice implemented. When the yellow light comes on it would give a 15- second warning and ping sound to both the speaker and the audiences (in person and televised/live-streamed). When the red light appears a gong sound would go off. When the red light comes on and the simultaneous gong goes off, I would turn off the speaker of the person who had the floor and they would both be silent. Then would come the 3-minute reply from the opponent. After that, off go both microphone speakers. When the moderator presents the next question, both candidates would have their microphones turned off.
How about that for fairness and controlling the conduct of the participants?
Regards,
James M. Hoover, CACM
Captain, USAF (Retired)