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Presidential Debate Poll

vcczar

By vcczar
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Presidential Debate Poll  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you general watch Presidential debates?

    • Yes, at least the general election ones, if not also the primaries.
      14
    • I tend to watch the highlights only or I just read about them.
      1
    • No
      0

  2. 2. Is it important to have presidential debates?

  3. 3. Do presidential debates influence voters?

    • Yes
      1
    • Maybe undecided voters, but probably not people already with a preferred nominee.
      14
    • No
      0

  4. 4. Should all major party nominees be required to attend debates?

  5. 5. Does Trump refusing to partake in the primary debates bother you?

  6. 6. Does Biden refusing to partake in the primary debates bother you?

  7. 7. Would you be bothered if Biden or Trump refused to debate each other in the general?

    • Yes for both
      11
    • No for both
      3
    • Yes for Trump only
      1
    • Yes for Biden only
      0

  8. 8. Should any of the following 3rd parties be allowed to be part of the general election debate if they are polling over, say, 5% of the vote?

    • RFK Jr
      9
    • Cornel West
      7
    • Jill Stein
      6
    • TBD Libertarian nominee
      6
    • Joe Manchin, if No Labels
      9
    • My above choices, but only if they are polling over 10%
      7
    • My above choices, but only if they are polling over 15%
      3
    • My above choices, but only if they are polling over 20%
      0
    • Only the two major parties should be permitted to attend.
      2

  9. 9. If Trump refuses to debate Biden, should Biden request to debate RFK Jr, even if RFK Jr only has, say, 8% of the vote?

  10. 10. Do you think Trump will debate Biden in the general?

  11. 11. What is your opinion of the typical debate moderator?

    • Fantastic
      0
    • Fairly good
      4
    • Adequate
      6
    • Needs improvement
      4
    • Terrible and biased
      1

  12. 12. How should the moderators be chosen?

    • Just as they currently are. No change.
      5
    • Both major parties should have a moderator of their choice from the media group hosting the debate.
      0
    • Debates should keep the moderators out of it, and they major parties should select any person they wish to be one of the two moderators.
      1
    • The moderators should come from a mix of media groups covering the full spectrum of political ideologies.
      3
    • The moderators should act only as referees; the candidates should ask each other questions
      2
    • The moderators should act only as referees; audience members should ask the only questions
      3
    • The Supreme Court should act as moderators; the US Senate and US House should ask the questions.
      0
    • Somethine else (mention below)
      1

  13. 13. Who do you think wins a debate between Trump and Biden

    • Biden
      10
    • Trump
      0
    • Biden would win under the traditional rules of debate on style and substance, but Trump would "win" because he'd rise in the polls following the debate because of his personality.
      3
    • Trump would win on substance, but Biden would "win" because Trump's performance will be spun as a disaster by the media.
      2

  14. 14. Who would win a debate if all of the below were in the same debate?

    • Biden
      3
    • Trump
      3
    • RFK Jr
      4
    • Cornel West
      2
    • Jill Stein
      0
    • TBD Libertarian
      0
    • Joe Manchin
      3

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vcczar

vcczar

Posted
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Two clarifications:

I think Trump is too cowardly to debate Biden in the general

&

I think Biden should debate RFK Jr if Trump won't debate him. Biden could basically back RFK Jr into a corner in which RFK is primarily defending Trump-policies, making RFK Jr seem more like MAGA than an independent Democrat. This extra exposure, and making RFK Jr seem more RW Pop than LW Pop, could possibly end up hurting Trump. RFK Jr might also come up as the "better" MAGA alternative. One that isn't afraid to take on Biden. If he can take more from Trump than Biden, then Biden wins. 

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Hestia

Hestia

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Posted

There's no historical precedence that a sitting president needs to debate someone that's 70 points behind him in the polls. Absolutely no reason to do it. And Trump doesn't even bother me that he won't debate in the primary because he's 30 points up - pure strategy says that there's really no reason to do so. Few pay attention to primary debates (and VERY few would pay attention to a Democratic primary debate between Biden and the also-rans), but I do believe general election debates are very important from a democracy standpoint. 5% is too low of a bar, however, and I'd support anyone averaging over 15% being invited to a general election debate. 

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Pringles

Pringles

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Debates are a thing of tradition, of precedence. I believe anybody ought to subject themselves to a debate, however, I don’t believe it should be enforced. That’s why it won’t bother me if there is no Trump v Biden debate. Our country deserves better than to subject ourselves to that. 
 

In the same way Katie Hobbs refused to debate Kari Lake, Biden has much more justification for refusing to debate should he be the one that makes that call publicly against Donald. I do think it’s shameful and disappointing that Trump doesn’t attend the GOP debates, but ultimately it doesn’t bother me because I’ve come to expect his antics. 

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pilight

pilight

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Posted

General election debates shouldn't even consider polls.  Any candidate with enough ballot access to win should be invited.  Otherwise it's just a self fulfilling prophecy.

Primary debates should be at the desire of the party leadership.  They shouldn't be televised as "news", the party should have to pay for the airtime.

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vcczar

vcczar

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24 minutes ago, Bushwa777 said:

In your scenario of Biden debating is this including him having notes like he does when he is doing press conferences with his answers written down?

Only if that is allowed in debates. I'm not sure what the rules are year-to-year.

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vcczar

vcczar

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Just now, Bushwa777 said:

we act as if not having debates is the end of democracy

Who are the "we" here? 

I'm aware that debates are recent. That's why I called it a 60-year-tradition. 

My reason for sustaining them is that it gives undecideds and decided voters a chance to see their candidates respond to each other face-to-face. I actually think there should be more debates. One a week for the general. The could host them in all the vital states so that the candidate can also campaign in the states the day before, day of, and day after. These debates could be shorter--1 hour--and focused on one policy per week. I'm okay with one Trump-approved and one-Biden approved moderator. Ideally, all questions would require the candidate ot have substantial policy knowledge, specific ideas, extensive background on the issue, and etc. 

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10centjimmy

10centjimmy

Posted
Posted

On 14, if all the candidates make the 10% or 15% threshold, then the US wins. We should have that many perspectives to choose from in selecting the president. The American people deserve to hear what someone stands for if they plan on running the country. (Same reason we should have PR elections and eliminate single member districts, but that's another conversation.)

We also shouldn't force candidates to participate in a debate. 

But it should be flagged (if they met the threshold) that they had a spot and chose not to come, like a handrawn cardboard cutout or scarecrow. Periodically, the scarecrow gets asked questions and then we sit in deafening silence as time expires. I want it to be awkward and embarrassing that they didn't show up.

Also, I feel like there shouldn't be a live audience.  

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Pius XIII

Pius XIII

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I wonder why the poll implies Trump would be the one to refuse to debate during this election. If anything, my money is on Biden refusing because Trump is an “insurrectionist”.

I am salty that Trump refuses to partake in the GOP debates. Improprieties aside, he lost last time, so he needs to re-earn his nomination. In the very least he should explain to his voters how he intends to win this time, because just claiming the election is rigged will not motivate Republicans after successive defeats.

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vcczar

vcczar

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6 minutes ago, Pius XIII said:

I wonder why the poll implies Trump would be the one to refuse to debate

Biden has never refused a debate when facing a serious challenger; Trump has. He also threatened to skip a general election debate in 2020. Then, there's the GOP primary debate he skipped in 2016. Overall, there's more evidence for Trump being a skipper than Biden. That Biden is skipping the primary debates as an incumbent president is not unusual. Trump's skipping of debates and threats of skipping debates are. 

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Pius XIII

Pius XIII

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Posted
Just now, vcczar said:

Biden has never refused a debate when facing a serious challenger; Trump has. He also threatened to skip a general election debate in 2020. Then, there's the GOP primary debate he skipped in 2016. Overall, there's more evidence for Trump being a skipper than Biden. That Biden is skipping the primary debates as an incumbent president is not unusual. Trump's skipping of debates and threats of skipping debates are. 

Fair enough. I have no problem with Biden skipping the debates. And I agree with you on Trump’s flakiness on debates as well. I am merely saying that I believe that it’ll be Biden who will skip the debates this time because of January 6th… in addition to avoiding conversations on cognitive decline

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vcczar

vcczar

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5 minutes ago, Pius XIII said:

Fair enough. I have no problem with Biden skipping the debates. And I agree with you on Trump’s flakiness on debates as well. I am merely saying that I believe that it’ll be Biden who will skip the debates this time because of January 6th… in addition to avoiding conversations on cognitive decline

I don't see him skipping the debates. I think he looks forward to it. 

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