1) Weak on Substance
One of the most noticeable features of last night’s debate was the lack of discussion of significant issues. For instance, the candidates spent almost ten minutes bickering over the use of legislative earmarks when our real fiscal problems are caused almost entirely by runaway entitlement spending. Entitlement programs were not even mentioned.
The candidates desperately attempted to discuss Obama’s recent deep cuts in defense spending, despite the fact CNN moderator John King kept pulling them back to the trivial issue of women serving in combat. The candidates did debate a few important issues, such as Iran and Syria, but other than that, there was virtually no sustained discussion of Obamacare, unemployment, taxes or the economy.
2) The Leftist Media is More Interested in Creating Issues than Discussing Real Ones
King seemed to be intentionally raising issues which could hurt the GOP candidates in the general election. Many questions were specifically tailored toward peeling away the support of women and secular-minded Americans. For example, the candidates were forced to spend an inordinate amount of time answering a question about their already known views on birth control. We’ve had devastatingly high unemployment for the past three years and the candidates need to waste time discussing birth control?!
All the candidates handled the loaded question well. They pointed out that while cultural issues are important and should be discussed, they don’t intend to establish big federal programs, like liberals often do, to address them. This is a point they’ll need to aggressively communicate in the general election; the right’s social views won’t impact your life at the Federal level, but the left’s wacky social and economic views will.
3) Debate Fatigue is Clearly a Problem
The two observations above are likely symptoms of the larger problem: there have been WAY too many debates this election cycle. In the 20 debates since last summer, all the major issues have been addressed multiple times. As much as I’d hate to defend the left-leaning moderator, non-issues such as birth control and women in the military are probably the only somewhat interesting topics which have yet to be discussed.
If a primary process is necessary in 2016, the GOP needs to get together and agree to hold only a handful of debates. With more debates than you can count on your fingers and toes, it’s no wonder primary voters have lost interest in the process. Cutting down on the number of debates will keep things interesting and relevant.
