ABC and NBC New Hampshire Debates Suck- No Discussion on Ndaa
by ABC and NBC had Presidential debates 12 hours apart in getting ready for the New Hampshire primary. There was no discussion on the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act which end habeus corpus and trial by jury.
I did not watch all of both debates. However, I watched enough of both of them and heard commentary to speak intelligently on them. Please review my previous two articles on the NDAA which critcize Lindsey Graham, my senior senator, as co-author of the bill (http://trifter.com/usa-canada/lindsey-graham-should-be-disbarred-for-writing-ndaa/) and Mittens Romney for accepting the endorsement of another author of the bill, John McCain. (http://socyberty.com/politics/mitt-romney-supports-ndaa-and-detainment-john-mccain/) I attended a Mittens Romney rally in Charleston, SC on Thursday and hoped he would speak about it. (http://socyberty.com/politics/people-watching-at-mitt-romney-rally-charleston-sc/). Unfortunately, he did not talk about it, nor did he take any questions from the audience. Romney activists made sure only his supporters heard him speak while he kept dissenters outside, away from the cameras.
The ABC moderators seemed to be overly concerned about ”social issues”, gay marriage, abortion and contraception. Social issues are important, but not as much to the New Hampshire voters who are more libertarian than voters here in South Carolina where the primary will be on January 21. In addition, the ABC people were more concerned about what the candidates would be doing on a Saturday night if they were not running for President.
The moderators of both debates were more interested in getting the candidates riled up at each other rather than a thoughtful discussion of the issues of the day. This was especially true in both debates with Paul vs. Santorum, Hunstman vs. Romney and to a lesser extent Gingrich vs. Romney. These candidates do not like each other. We know that. Tell me something I do not know.
In the past, Ron Paul has been ignored by the moderators and by his opponets. We all remember the “debate” CBS did in November where Paul was given 90 seconds in 90 minutes to speak. ABC and NBC know they cannot ignore Paul as he finished 3rd in Iowa and is running 2nd in New Hampshire. So Paul does get to talk. However, they ask Paul about things like whether or not he will run third party instead of the issues of the campaign. In addition, the moderators ignore the legitmate issues that only Ron Paul brings up. These include issues like audting the Federal Reserve and the NDAA.
For these reasons, I was very disapointed in both debates. I found them to be a collosal waste of time, especially having two of them in 12 hours. I do not think they helped the voters of New Hampshire decide. This is further evidence that the old media is dying a slow and painful death.
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