February 1, 2008

The last debates

By Stan Dyer

Were you watching? Wednesday evening, the final four Republican Presidential Candidates got together to debate, and, the very next evening, the final two Democratic Presidential Candidates came together to do the same. These were the final two debates before the big, Super Tuesday vote on February 5 and a last chance for voters to view the cream of the crop of this year's election. The two debates were as different as night and day.

If you watched the Republican Debate, you no doubt sensed a lack of party unity, the possibility of infighting, and wondered why four men were on the stage when the focus was primarily on two. John McCain and Mitt Romney almost needed boxing gloves.

Romney began by answering a question about the present with a reference to his own past and his own accomplishments. It set the tone for the night. The two major candidates spent most of the time arguing over who was the most conservative, what each did in the past, and virtually ignored Candidates Paul and Huckabee. Even the commentator got in on the snub. When Ron Paul was about to make a point about his position, the commentator stopped him, told him he would come back to that later, and then never allowed Paul to finish the statement the entire night. Personally, I grew frustrated watching McCain and Romney take jabs at each other, and wanted to hear what the other two candidates had to say. Whenever Huckabee or Paul did say something, it made sense, it sounded positive, and it made one wonder why they did not let these men say more? The sense was that the focus is on the front-runners while the others were kicked to the curb. The sense was also that the Republican party intends to offer "more of the same", the same the country has been seeing for eight years, in a candidate this November. The Democratic Debate the next night was a different story.

Considering recent press, and the words exchanged between the two camps, people tuned in the Democratic Debate expecting something not unlike what they witnessed the night before with the Republicans, or worse. Instead, what unfolded was one of the most beautiful Presidential Debate experiences ever witnessed.

For one thing, the trailing Democratic Candidates who felt they had little chance were not on the stage. They dropped out and did not give commentators the chance to ignore or snub them. The focus of this debate was clearly on the two front-runners and the spotlight was on them. The expected catfight never happened.

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton behaved with a mutual respect seldom seen in political rivals. Each politely listened to the other while nodding approval. They agreed with each other on many points, but noted important differences. Then, each took a turn explaining why one's proposal was preferred to the other's proposal. They talked about the important issues of the day including Health Care, The War in Iraq and the Ailing Economy. They talked about things people wanted to know about, but they never argued. They gave people what we expect from any, civilized debate: good answers. At the end of the show, they politely exchanged smiles, handshakes and a hug. Whether staged or not, it seemed very sincere, very real, and left the audience filled with the hope they came to see.

Any serious political candidate on any level can learn a great deal from these last two debates. One clearly showed how not to debate, while the other was textbook perfect. A good part of politics is in public presentation, and these two debates clearly show why. People do not get the opportunity to see much of what happens in Congress, but they get a sense of it when they see their officials in public. If officials act like children in public, chances are the same is going on when cameras are not around. If they act like mature adults, chances are good they always act like mature adults. This was the final opportunity for candidates to display themselves and how it affected voters will play out on Tuesday. After that, we will have a better idea who our candidates will be and the game will be on for real. Stay tuned; the show is just beginning.