Having negotiated many debates, I am always amused at the posturing prior to an agreement. The debate about the debate is always grist for the media mill – even though as an issue important to the public it has only a 24 hour shelf life. When it comes to voting, no one is going to base their decision on the debate over the debate.
The debate over the debate is like the negotiations over a ceasefire in the Hamas War. Every day we hear the same thing – negotiations, no decision. Each side blames the other. And that passes off as news.
One of the cardinal rules of negotiations is that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. At some point, there will be an agreement to debate or not. That will be newsworthy. So, why does the news media waste their and our time with a story every day telling us that nothing newsworthy has happened?
The answer is simple. The two sides use the negotiating period as a form of Kabuki Theater in which they try to characterize the other side as unwilling to debate … too afraid to debate … too unwilling to accept reasonable terms (meaning unwilling to accept one side’s or the other side’s specific terms.)
In terms of the Trump/Harris debate, there has been a lot of debate over whether the rules established between President Biden and President Trump should be maintained for the Trump/Harris debate. That is utter nonsense. Once Biden caved to the pressure to drop out, the old debate and the old rules were null and void. They can be the basis for current negotiations, but everything is on the table.
At this juncture, the main sticking point appears to be whether the microphones should be muted as a candidate’s time runs out … or not. Interestingly, the theory on both sides has switched. The rule in the Biden/Trump debate was to mute the microphones to prevent Trump from talking over Biden. It sounded good in theory but in fact, keeping Trump confined to his time worked in his favor. It tamped down Trump’s propensity to get overly belligerent. According to reports, it is now Team Harris that has been pushing for open mics and Team Trump who wants them muted. Go figure. I suspect by the time you read this, the issue will be settled in favor of muted mics.
I suspect that there will be one debate. Harris will be declared the winner by Democrats and their news media cronies. That you can bet on. What is unknown is whether the debate, itself, or the biased analysis of the media will have the most impact on the voters. In 1980, Carter was given the win in the debate by the elite establishment, but all Reagan did was win the hearts and minds – and the votes – of the people.
Whatever people stand on the candidates and the issues there will be a coming together. All sides will be tuned into the debate.
So, there ‘tis,