I doubt I'm alone in my assessment that tomorrow's debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry is going to be mind-numbingly dull, as well as uninformative, based on the L.A. Times' reporting of the ground rules:
[A]mong other things, . . . the candidates cannot pose questions directly to each other and . . . the moderators must use specific language when cutting off long-winded answers.* * *
"This is a parody of what real civic give-and-take is and could be in America," said Martin Kaplan, director of USC's Norman Lear Center, which studies the intersection of politics and entertainment.
"What we're desperate for is some really serious discussion, beyond the sound bites, about the problems the country is facing," he said. "Instead, what we've guaranteed is an exchange of bumper sticker slogans."
I couldn't agree more. Since my preferred solution -- a deposition-like format where I would get to continue pressing until I got a satisfactory answer -- isn't going to happen, I'd like to offer the inevitable reality TV suggestion. Let's have "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell critique the performances live. I bet we'd hear a lot of "that was ghastly" and "that was absolutely dreadful" comments.
Since that isn't even likely to happen, I guess I'll have to tune in to "Hardball with Chris Matthews" after the debate. . . .
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