Debates, ‘Debates,’ and Showbiz

GEORGE BUSH sure can be a heavy sleeper, and some nights it takes a helluva wakeup call to get his attention. But once he hears the buzzer. . . . Would that there were two more weeks before the election, and two more debates. I mean, of course, a cross between Quayle-Gore and Presidential III, both of which the good guys won—hands down.

But what does “won” mean? A short answer is any or all of three things: gaining the most votes, making the best impression, or making the best case. These criteria apply, mutatis mutandis, to formal debating as well as to popular, hybrid, political-campaign debates. Juries vote, and the Oxford Union “divides the house”; debate coaches counsel fluency, direct eye-contact, and varied and appropriate gesture; and debate judges calculate winning arguments. So: To some degree every debate is a Rorschach test.

JC

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James Como

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Debates

Presidential Election

GEORGE BUSH sure can be a heavy sleeper, and some nights it takes a helluva wakeup call to get his attention. But once he hears the buzzer. . . . Would that there were two more weeks before the election, and two more debates. I mean, of course, a cross between Quayle-Gore and Presidential III, both of which the good guys won—hands down.

But what does “won” mean? A short answer is any or all of three things: gaining the most votes, making the best impression, or making the best case. These criteria apply, mutatis mutandis, to formal debating as well as to popular, hybrid, political-campaign debates. Juries vote, and the Oxford Union “divides the house”; debate coaches counsel fluency, direct eye-contact, and varied and appropriate gesture; and debate judges calculate winning arguments. So: To some degree every debate is a Rorschach test.