Why Are The Debates So Shallow?

The corporation that controls the Presidential Debates – sets the rules, decides who can participate – also decides what topics will and will not be discussed.
This results in a debate that is neither democratic nor representative of the American people.
Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of Reclaim Democracy, wrote:
In a country where corporations are the dominant political and economic force, why did three debates pass without the word “corporation” being spoken? The World Trade Organization, “free trade,” and labor also were omitted. How can so many issues of vital interest to Americans freely be ignored while Slobodan Milosevic is cited 17 times? Answer: because the two dominant parties own and operate the debates.
Moreover, candidates have increasingly agreed about the few issues they discuss. The rate of agreement between the candidates during the debates has skyrocketed from 11.54 percent in 1988 to an astounding 37.30 percent in 2000.
The Poverty of the 2000 Debates
Below are cumulative mentions of specific words or phrases by either George W. Bush or Al Gore during the three events staged by the Commission on Presidential Debates in 2000.
Middle Class 15
Working Class 0
Prosperity 16
Homeless(ness) 0
Poverty 1
Wealthiest 20
Poorest 1
Crime (street) 23
Crime (corporate or white collar) 0
Prison (s) 0
WTO 0
NAFTA 0
Corporation(s) 0
Labor 1
Free Trade 0
Immigration 0
Population Growth 0
Gun Rights (or Control) 0
Transportation or Traffic 0
Slobodan Milosevic 17
Death Penalty 9
Taxes 144
Social Security 67
Seniors 64
Medicare 58
Drug(s) (prescription) 60
Prevention (health care) 0
Drug War 0 http://www.opendebates.org/theissue/excl…


This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Seniors' Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Why Are The Debates So Shallow?”

  1. I preferred it when the League of Women Voters sponsored the debates. At least the questions were real.
    There are two issues here in the past 2008 debates.
    First were the meaningless, useless questions such as the statements made by Obama’s reverend or wearing a flag pin. And completely bypassing the meat of the issues.
    Second is that issues dealing with big business, and substantive issues are glossed over by the candidates.
    Part of the answer is the same and you hinted about it. Big business owns the Media which was sponsoring the debates, it was not in the best interest of ABC, NBC, etc to have a discussion on it. For example, NBC is owned by General Electric, a major defense contractor, do you really think they wanted any discussion on ending the Iraqi war?
    The issue on the candidates is similar, big business is financing the campaigns of all of the candidates, often donating to both sides. The candidates also do not want to get into specifics because they do not want to be attacked by their opponents that could nitpick on a minor aspect.

  2. The answer is simple, it’s because the American people are generally pretty shallow.

  3. Because target audience is shallower.

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