The presidential race in 2016 has quite possibly been the biggest train wreck that has ever happened, fortunately with the election upcoming in November the resolution is near and we might finally be able to live in a world again where we don't see a presidential candidate on television or social media every day. Don’t get me wrong political involvement and knowledge from citizens is important, but at some point the hypotheticals of what each candidate would do is tedious, and it at times takes away attention from political realities currently occurring the good and the bad.
Alas before the election is decided we must deal with the ever so enjoyable presidential debates.
If you watched the first debate, you probably didn't get much out of it as most of it was bickering between the candidates and both of them interrupting each other (One much more so then the other).
With the recent debate being more mind numbing than insightful there are a few propositions that could possibly be implemented in future debates to avoid the same dilemmas.
During the presidential debates, the moderator gives a certain amount of time to each candidate to respond to a question. The candidate’s response often goes over the time despite the moderator’s attempts to step in. As a result, candidates end up receiving disparate amounts of time to speak during the debate. The candidates will also often rudely interrupt each other. This issue could potentially be solved if we implemented a system where the candidates microphones were only turned on when it was their turn to speak.
It could be argued that giving the candidates the opportunity to interrupt and go over the allotted time block provides a look into their personalities, which I suppose could help in deciding who to vote for. However though I feel as if at this point in the election the candidates will have ample time on whatever news outlet they want to express their personality. These supposed insights during the debates should not come at the expense of the less-outspoken candidate’s time to voice his or her response to important policy questions.
Also it’s vital to being involving third party candidates in debates as a two party system often times leaves Americans unsatisfied with their options. With the addition of third party candidates it would at least allow for more alternatives for voters.
Some of these are ideas that shouldn't only be implemented in presidential debates but in primary debates as well as they are just as important during the early portions of the election.
