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The Texas Blue
Advancing Progressive Ideas

A Novel Idea

I don't know about the the rest of you, but I'm enjoying the multitude of political debates this election cycle. It reminds me of what we could have and what we should be demanding of our candidates.

In Britain, the leaders of each party stand before the media and field questions in the weeks before an election. Conservative and liberal reporters ask tough questions and demand detailed answers. It takes control of the political process out of the hands of the candidates and puts it in the hands of the media. While the media is not truly the voice of the individual citizen anymore, it is far more responsible to the day to day demands of the voter than most politicians are. It brings the debate closer to our control. Britain also places strict controls on political advertising that we do not.

First, let me say that I'm not wild about strict controls on political advertising. I'm not even wild about loose controls on political advertising. What I am wild about is that the candidates are gathering in front of reporters on a fairly regular basis to have questions asked of them and by each other. Is it the beating of a daily press conference? No. Is it a step in the right direction? Absolutely.

Complain about the extended campaign if you will, but this is long series of debates is giving us a chance to really hear what our candidates have to say on an extended variety of issues. They don't get to fudge their way through two or three televised debates and hope no one reports on the non-televised local ones. They actually have to attempt to answer some questions put to them by various moderators who more than likely hosted a precious debate. Try getting a pat answer past Chris Matthews more than once. He'll call you out, and he'll do it loudly.

If anything, this election cycle should teach the voters what to demand. If we're lucky, we can even keep demanding it past the primaries and expect the major candidates to stand next to each other in venues they don't control over and over again. We might get to see a candidate defend his views against his or her opponent and the media and then we'll really see the effect of debates. George W. Bush could never have withstood the scrutiny of a series of long form debates. At some point, the weaker candidates just can't keep up and start to fade into the background. Let the Republicans nominate a one trick pony like Giuliani, or a conservative-come-lately like Romney. I don't think even Thompson, for all his Reagan-esque wit, could stand up to a series of debates. At some point, we've heard all his jokes and want some new material.

Tonight is going to be a lot of fun for political junkies like me. We get to see candidates staring in the face of becoming irrelevant make another shot at getting some ideas out. We get to see the "major" candidates start to jockey for position. We even get to take a step at learning how great the electoral process can be if we encourage candidates to get in front of the media.

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