By Jonathan Stankiewicz
Two weeks ago my editor wrote about “a need for less debate” when it comes to the GOP and their debate schedule. He has a point in many respects, but I don’t agree with him.
Keep in mind that I am an independent and that I love the debates.
What I do agree with is the media frenzy over the presidential election that has started earlier and earlier. Having GOP debates a year and a half before we vote for our next president seems a bit irresponsible, but it may have a purpose.
We should be weeding out the people we don’t want running our country. Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, the country saw it’s most exciting debate yet.
The debates are being overshadowed by Herman Cain’s situation, where women and others are coming forward about sexual harassment allegations against Cain from his time spent at National Restaurant Association. Cain, who is currently at the top of the recent polls, is calling the claims “baseless” and has and will continue to campaign.
As Proch said in his column, the debates will be, on average, every 10 days until March once they start up again this week on November 5th. Yes, the bickering will start up again. Yes, the finger pointing will start up again. I can’t wait.
The bickering helps bring out the worst in people. That will only help voters decide for themselves who it is they will choose a year from now.
Many have asked what must other countries must be thinking when they see the quality of Republican candidates. I say, ‘Who cares?’ Isn’t this why we are having all of these televised debates? Let’s see who has what it takes to act under pressure amongst a group of people who are fighting for the same job. We need to have them prove themselves now.
When we look at previous campaign years, the number of debates is less than what we have had.
“By this point in 2007, Republican candidates had participated in 10 debates, two more than have been held in 2011. (For Democrats, there had been 13.),” said Dylan Stableford and Chris Moody from The Cutline on Yahoo! “Right now, there are 13 more debates scheduled for the Republican presidential primaries, for a total of 21. There were a total of 26 Democratic primary debates and 21 for the Republicans in the 2007-2008 presidential election cycle.”
The debates also allow for certain candidates to have a national voice that otherwise couldn’t. The last presidential election had Mike Huckabee, who America liked so much he now has his own show on Fox News. And this year we have the likes of Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul to voice their opinions. Their ideas may appeal to some people that agree with them and not the top tier candidates this time around.
Ultimately, all of this is fodder for Obama. All our current president has to do is sit back and watch what’s unfolding in front of him. The race has gotten too combative for some and if Obama is taking notes from the debates he should already be one step ahead of the Republican candidates. Right?
Republicans have the ability to take over the presidential campaign soon enough. Obama’s rating is steady, but below the 50-percent mark. And hopefully with a chance to spice up the upcoming debates even more, Republicans may try to find the most electable among them.
