The first presidential debate was a fiasco, and individual voters interviewed by news organizations declared themselves disgusted by what the candidates exhibited during the discussion last Tuesday in Cleveland.
After the much-awaited presidential debate, voters and members of the political infrastructure woke up Wednesday morning, all with the same question in mind, is there a better way to run a Presidential debate?
No was the overwhelming answer. Democrats and Republicans alike are disgusted by how the two candidates presented themselves as they call each other names and constantly interrupt each other. This opinion by supporters of two opposing parties represents a rare moment of unity in a deeply divided country where everyone disagrees.
Changes in Structure of the Presidential Debate
“Commission On Presidential Debate” by klmontgomery is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The Commission on Presidential Debates made a statement after the chaotic and bitter debate, stating that they will change the structure and format for the two candidates’ remaining debates.
Furthermore, the commission also said that they will ensure that they will apply additional tools to maintain order between the candidates for the second and third presidential debates, which were set to be held on October 15 in Miamis and October 22 in Nashville.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has been managing the Presidential general election debates since the 1980s. They set rules ahead of the Presidential debates. In the past, each presidential candidate gets to have two minutes to answer the question given to them by the moderator and a time to respond to each other.
However, this rule wasn’t effective for these two presidential candidates as frequent interruptions and yelling made it hard to understand their answers and made it difficult for them to deliver full responses.
Chirs Wallace’s Professionalism and Skill
The commission praised the moderator and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on how he displayed professionalism and skill. Wallace continuously tried to restore order in the debate and manage the frequent interruptions.
Despite all the chaos, Wallace continuously tried to bring the debate back on track. And at one point, he even yelled, “Gentleman!” just to get the attention of both candidats. Wallace was even quoted saying “I hate to raise my voice, but why should I be different than the two of you?”
Biden, Looking Forward For The Next Debate
Joe Biden, a representative of the democrats, spoke to the reporters and called Trump’s performance as a national embarrassment. He stated that he was looking forward to the next debate on October 15 in a town hall format event in Miami. he further stated that he is still hopeful that they can get to actually answer the questions asked by the people inside the room without causing much chaos. and despite what happened by then still would want to continue with the upcoming debates.
Biden also hoped that the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates could find a better way to ensure that candidates will answer the questions without being interrupted by the other contender or being shouted over. After the release of this statement, the Commission stated that they are planning to do something along those very lines.
This statement released by Biden and the Commission was responded with a complaint by Trump’s campaign stating that Biden is attempting to change the rules while they are in the middle of the game.
Trump, showed a more dominant force in the first presidential debate
On the other hand, Trump said, “I hear he doesn’t want to go forward”, hours after Biden told in a nationally televised appearance that he Biden is looking forward to the next debate. Trump added, “I don’t mind debating him. I hear he wants to get out of the debates. I don’t know. That’s up to him,”.
Furthermore, the president added that they won the debate in almost every poll he saw. Trump’s campaign spokesman also said that Trump showed a more dominant force and because of this, Biden is trying to negotiate with the moderators.
With the change in the format of the presidential debate, the second one, which was set on October 15 is hopefully less chaotic.
