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Author Topic: Do the debates matter?  (Read 601 times)

Offline myelo

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #15 on: October 13, 2004, 09:09:36 AM »
How much these debates will matter remains to be seen.

But there's no question that they CAN matter greatly:

Nixon-Kennedy 1960.
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Offline AKIron

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #16 on: October 13, 2004, 10:11:18 AM »
They only matter if there are a significant number of undecided voters. Certainly the networks would like for us to think so, ratings and all.
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Offline Ripsnort

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #17 on: October 13, 2004, 10:37:43 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by myelo
How much these debates will matter remains to be seen.

But there's no question that they CAN matter greatly:

Nixon-Kennedy 1960.


Well, I wouldn't say the debates were the sole reason for JFK's win.. there are the mafia-union payoffs that led to the unprecedented ballot box stuffing in Mayor Daley's Chicago giving JFK his razor thin, winning margin over Nixon in 1960's general election. The scandal is so infamous that there is now a standard joke on the rubber chicken circuit for candidates that goes, "I want to be buried in Chicago so that I can stay politically active after I die."
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Offline Sabre

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #18 on: October 13, 2004, 02:06:18 PM »
People who wait to see these debates to make up their mind are a waste of voting power.  If you haven't bothered to stay informed yourself, these debates will not give you any real information on where the candidates truly stand, or how they will govern.  A good public speaker does not make a good leader, and vice versus.  All they really do is give the uninformed the ammuntion to say, "Dang! He lied to us during the debates!"  Look at their records, not their words.  If they have stayed true to their beliefs, if they have shown true leadership in crisis and in day to day life, if they've shown moral courage to stick with their convictions, regardless of polls or circumstance, they are a leader.  If you haven't made up your mind already, you don't deserve to exercise the ultimate political power our system offers.
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Offline myelo

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #19 on: October 13, 2004, 02:15:29 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Ripsnort
Well, I wouldn't say the debates were the sole reason for JFK's win..  


Neither would I. My point was they mattered.

Quote
At election time, more than half of all voters reported that the Great Debates had influenced their opinion; 6% reported that their vote was the result of the debates alone. Thus, regardless of whether the debates changed the election result, voters pointed to the debates as a significant reason for electing Kennedy.
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myelo
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Offline GtoRA2

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2004, 03:32:32 PM »
I am all for Cali giving up some of its electoral votes.


With the Nutters we have in this state we should not have so much influence. :D
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Offline midnight Target

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2004, 03:36:12 PM »
Ripsnort does it again! That article you quoted was from 9-2003! We kicked the Governor out for that little fiasco... remember?

Never happened, yet Rip uses it to make a point. sheeesh!
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Offline FUNKED1

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #22 on: October 13, 2004, 03:38:22 PM »
I don't think the average American voter is very smart, but they seem to be learning that actions speak louder than words.  Debates are just hot air.  And the exclusion of all but DNC/GOP candidates ensures there will be no real discussion.
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Offline Urchin

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #23 on: October 13, 2004, 03:57:24 PM »
I'm voting for Nader... I hate everyone.
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Offline vorticon

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #24 on: October 13, 2004, 04:01:00 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by FUNKED1
I don't think the average American voter is very smart, but they seem to be learning that actions speak louder than words.  Debates are just hot air.  And the exclusion of all but DNC/GOP candidates ensures there will be no real discussion.


maybe we should hold the debates in a hot air balloon.
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Offline Sabre

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #25 on: October 13, 2004, 04:15:52 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by midnight Target
Ripsnort does it again! That article you quoted was from 9-2003! We kicked the Governor out for that little fiasco... remember?

Never happened, yet Rip uses it to make a point. sheeesh!


As I recall, it did happen, but Arnold overturned it.  Do I remember incorrectly?
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Sabre
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Offline AWMac

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #26 on: October 13, 2004, 04:23:12 PM »
Skuzzy '08  :aok
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Offline midnight Target

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #27 on: October 13, 2004, 05:28:23 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Sabre
As I recall, it did happen, but Arnold overturned it.  Do I remember incorrectly?


Overturned before it went into effect.
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Offline Halo

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Do the debates matter?
« Reply #28 on: October 13, 2004, 05:31:56 PM »
Most every inclination can find a poll somewhere that supports it.  I'm inclined to agree that 8 or 9 of every 10 people already have decided who they're going to vote for no matter who "wins" the debates.

Main problem is the difficulty of finding the whole truth, the absolute truth, and nothing but the truth no matter who's speaking.
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Offline -MZ-

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Re: Do the debates matter?
« Reply #29 on: October 13, 2004, 07:34:46 PM »
The purpose of debate.....




... is to catch de fish.
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