Political Party Debates: Does it REALLY matter?
If any of you have seen the CNN Republican Debates throughout this presidential election, you may have noticed that the debate on January 30th, 2008, there was an instance where the debate turned the candidates,--more specifically John Mccain and Mitt Romney--,into little boys arguing over who was more Republican. As expected, the political experience card was pulled and shot between the two for what seemed like half of the debate, with at least more than half of the questions directed towards what McCain thought of Romney's response to a question and vice versa. Of course, the questions that were directed towards all four candidates were questions such as (and no, I'm not joking):
"What do you see when you look into the eyes of Russian president Vladmir Putin?"
It was probably one of CNN's most blunt set ups made, as though they were holding the marionettes of those debating so that they would speak and argue whatever the news station wanted. Of course, the issue of their biased behavior and why they are an unreliable source for voting in the elections is a completely different story. So, excuse me as I return to the subject.
Listening to these two debate over who fit the party more was really, really baffling to me. Does it matter?
When I asked several people (and I mean several) the point of political parties, the usual response was "Uh...I don't know!" HA!
For the more intelligible and detailed responses, they went something along the lines of:
"It helps you get an idea of what the candidate stands for."
and
"It's supposed to help the people who are registering to vote."
I usually just nod my head or say something like "I guess" in regards to these responses, but now that we all have the time to sit and think this through, let's try it.
I'm hoping that the above has basically summarized the pros of having political parties. If not, my most sincere apologies. I cannot help but be as biased as the major news stations that blare in the other room 24/7.
The problem I have with political parties is when candidates argue over it like Romney and McCain had and waste time during debates that could have been used to actually educate the viewers on what the candidates stand for. In the long run, being the most Republican or Democratic candidate will not matter. You may be put into a category where you allegedly share similar views, but that does not mean your opinions are actually the same (sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it?). John McCain and Ron Paul are both running for the Republican side, but when it comes to the War in Iraq, their opinions are the EXACT OPPOSITE. In my opinion, there really is no way to determine what the person's views are on all of the issues discussed throughout time simply by what party they are under. The only use of this is to categorize people into herds like sheep, and to be honest with you all, I find that it keeps the flame of prejudism burning alive and strong.
n my opinion, there really is no way to determine what the person's views are on all of the issues discussed throughout time simply by what party they are under.
That's what makes these debates so important, it allows you to see which candidate on which party you support. For example, health care seems to be very important to democrats this year, but Hillary and Obama have very different takes on it. Debates allow them to show this.
Sadly though I'd have to agree with you and say in the long run, they don't matter because American's just don't pay attention to them. Like you said, they watch biased newstations and they see bits and pieces of speeches and debates taken out of context and manipulated. It's kind of sad really. rad blog :D
Kurtni, February 26th, 2008 at 04:09:35am