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Part 1
Arnie Arnesen and Glen Smith, political consultant , former reporter, and manager of Ann Richards’ gubernatorial campaign.
A discussion and analysis of the Democratic debates held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Candidates focused their attacks on one another rather than on Trump. This inhibited the message delivery on Trump. The Wednesday debate was more brutal than Tuesday. Glen Smith suggested that there should be, rather than debates in this format, a series of town hall appearances to give each candidate an opportunity to have a real POLICY discussion about their views. The election of Trump was a demonstration that the current debate format does not work well to identify the best candidate.
Individual candidates were mentioned. Biden is driving the conversation to the past, rather than the future. Castro and Booker were articulate. Yang reminded the viewers that the media do not focus on issues, but on externalities. Media were dismissive about Williamson. Both Arnie and Glen agreed that perhaps Biden and Sanders are a look to the past. Mayor Pete was authentic and serious., and very smart. Arnie feels that Biden and Sanders should have defined themselves as ‘elder statesmen’ and advisors rather than candidates.
Part 2
Arnie Arnesen and Live interview with Steffen Schmidt
Topics covered: Democratic debates, a lively discussion about content, style, ‘winners’ and ‘losers’
During the debates, the candidates focused attacks on each other rather than on Trump. This inhibited message delivery on Trump. The debate ended up a brutal display. Suggestion made by Arnie was a different format, such as offering a series of smaller ‘town hall’ meetings that each candidate could present his/her policy arguments. The election of Trump proves that the current method does not work well. General consensus was that Biden is driving the conversation to the past, not the future. Another problem with Biden, the front-runner so far, is also bringing more focus on Obama, and possible mistakes made during that presidency. This does not help any Democratic nominee. Arnie feels that it will be difficult for anyone to debate Trump, who is a relentless liar. Schmidt does not believe that Trump will debate the Democratic nominee, because he does not see an advantage in this.
The Democrats have a large candidate field, but no really “big” candidate with a ‘big picture’ approach, because it will be hard to win on a single issue, such as universal health care. Other problems are that black and Hispanic voter turnout has not been high in recent elections. It appears that this format for candidate debates is obsolete.
