This country has never been a country that debates.
Kennedy famously trounced Nixon because he crushed him in the debate (mostly by looking better, but, also, he was Nixon and his ideas sucked)
Lincoln straight up master debatered his way to the White House after the Lincoln-Douglas debates made him famous.
The problem is not that America hasn’t had a debate tradition. The problem is that the last forty years it’s been neoliberals debating each other about how to suck less until now it’s neoliberals vs fascists and they’re, ya know, fascists.
There isn’t a debate. They just lie and rage about their made up enemies.
No offense, but if you’ve got to go back to Lincoln/Douglas for your most convincing argument for how the United States has a tradition of debate, I think you’ve lost the argument before you’ve finished your point.
Nixon/Kennedy, while often represented as a style vs substance debate (it wasn’t, Kennedy largely one on both based on broader polling than is generally trotted out, but his good looks to a televised audience certainly helps) is still more than two DECADES before the timetable you’re trying to lay out here.
NH is extremely pro Trump unless you’re rich. Its really weird here. People are very defensive, even if you’re not pro Democrat. Also people think all gay people here prance around acting like girls. It’s really strange here. It’s kind of addicting trying to figure why people think like that.
I was about to contradict you but I realized I kinda agree with what you’re saying – although calling my friends up there “rich” is a bit of a stretch. They are not exactly wealthy but they make good salaries doing interesting work with companies based in Boston or remote. Hell, I’m buying land either there or Maine. Got a Starlink and everything.
It’s a very purple state. I travel there often from a red state and it’s very different. The trump supporters just tend to be way louder than most, he does after all seem to capture the most unhinged people in society.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter at this point. The debates are only useful for sound bites and headlines.
The other Republicans have no actual shot at winning; 82% still want Trump and don’t care about the Hitler larping or whether he’s a convicted criminal, a rapist, a fraudster, etc. He’s their guy, the monster they always wanted who will exact vengeance upon their always-nebulous “enemy” for a litany of misdirected and mostly-fictitious transgressions.
Very well said.
I think you underestimate some of those things. People know about the stuff you listed and they still want him.
Keep in mind I’m not saying this to be pro Democrat or Biden.
What I’ve learned in school growing up in NH is that everything I was taught about the world being a secure good place was a lie. From what I’ve seen a lot of people stay naive to reality. I went my own way and have seen a ton of fucked up shit in my life. Meanwhile there’s people just taking the narrow life path acting as if evil isn’t just as equal in amount to the good in life. A lot of the adult I knew as a kid… Aren’t the image that they portray. A lot of people just fake their social life. It’s really surreal and bizarre here.
If you see reality for what it is… Life sucks. I wish I could have just been one or those average narrow pathed people.
Not trying to say that in an offensive way or to one up you or whatever…
You could have saved so much typing by ranting about red pills and blue pills.
I think you underestimate some of those things. People know about the stuff you listed and they still want him.
But…that’s what they said
I could have been drunk. 🤏
Back when there were four TV channels debates made sense. It allowed candidates to respond in real time to each other, and to address the American people directly.
But thanks to social media they can respond to each other in real time right now, or let everyone know they’re chillin’ in Cedar Rapids without needing to appear on prime time.
tl;dr - Unless the League of Women Voters is running the debate I honestly don’t care about them.
The other Republicans have no actual shot at winning
I mean, it’s not nonzero, Trump could have a heart attack or something tomorrow and it wouldn’t surprise me that much.
Same goes for Biden, too, not sure VP Harris would make a compelling canidate. Maybe I’m wrong.
Having VP Harris safely in the shadows like Mr Cheney was hasn’t been good for her exposure and for building cred. But they needed to do that to appease the racist rednecks … who weren’t going to vote for her anyway.
