While many Americans are aware baseball season is ending, football season is reaching a sort of midway point and hockey season is just starting, the nation does not seem to fully appreciate that we are currently in the thick of the presidential debate season. The nation has watched three debates — two Republican and one Democratic — and is mentally preparing itself for another Republican debate Wednesday.
Just like sports, presidential debates require finesse and nimbleness, with hours of practice and drilling dedicated to mastering the craft. The spectators of debates and sports alike desire blood, guts, panache and gusto.
With Americans arguably caring and knowing more about the New York Giants than the former governor of New York and presidential candidate George Pataki, there is an incredible amount of misinformation surrounding the debates. Luckily for you, this columnist is here to clarify some of the misconceptions about presidential debates and the race thus far.
Misconception No. 1: Democrats on the debate stage are more ideologically unified than the Republicans. I’ve heard several of my friends comment that the Republican nominees are locked in ideological opposition while the Democrats largely share the same views. In my estimation, this isn’t the case at all.
For starters, it’s worth taking a look at the policy positions of the GOP field: Every Republican says heavily taxing the middle class is a bad idea, the role of government should be minimized, the rich should not be demonized, religious considerations are important, Obamacare should be repealed, the president should hold a pro-life disposition and the needs of the private sector should take precedence over the public sector. Every single candidate believes these things and the GOP has 15 of them.
Now, look at the effectively two-person Democratic field. Vox website outlined the differences between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton nicely: Sanders demonizes capitalism and the rich while Clinton defends both to an extent; Sanders is unabashedly against trade deals and Clinton "waffles;" Clinton is a hawk and Sanders doesn’t have a clue on foreign policy; Sanders believes in single-payer health care and Clinton wants a more practical plan for health care; and Clinton supports more gun control measures than Sanders.
Misconception No. 2: The Democratic debate was more enjoyable to watch than the Republican debates.
To rebut this misconception, I’ll give you two words: Donald Trump. Every person wants to see this guy go nuts. Every person wants to create another Trump GIF or meme. The last GOP debate received 23.1 million viewers compared to the 15.3 million of the first Democratic debate. Millions of people can’t be wrong: Trump makes the debates worth watching for the average Joe.
Misconception No. 3: The debates don’t matter.
Think about this for a second: Who are the candidates who dropped out of the race? The answer is Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee. What characteristic do they all have in common? Well, the newly smart-guy, glasses-cladded Perry stumbled on the debate stage. In the second GOP debate, Walker largely remained silent and dulled the audience when he eventually spoke. Webb awkwardly told the nation he killed a Vietnamese soldier in ‘Nam. Chafee chaffed on the debate stage — sorry, I couldn’t help myself. None of these men debated well. A bad debate performance means a decrease in campaign fundraising. A decrease in funds means staffers don’t get paid, campaign offices aren’t opened and advertisements aren’t run. These situations lead candidates to drop out of the race like Perry, Walker, Chafee and Webb.
The moral of the story: Don’t have a bad debate performance. Why? Debates matter.
Debates allow the candidates to map out their positions to the American public. The nation gets to see how each man or woman handles the spotlight, scrutiny and pressure. All in all, the debates have been, and will no doubt continue to be, very useful on a few levels.
Michael Beato is a UF political science senior. His column appears on Mondays.
