PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE FORMATS

[HairOfTheDog]

The Republican candidates are working together to gain more control over the debates.

They don't all share the same gripes, except for perceived media bias. Some of them are not happy with some of the question types, some of them oppose some of the moderators, some of them think there's not enough air time, some of them think all the candidates should be featured in the debates rather than having two tiers...

The candidates' campaigns met this weekend to address the issue. Here's the story and their ideas for the debates moving forward: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/...story.html

Ted Cruz kills me. He thinks a fair and balanced debate would be one moderated by Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity.

[Maggot]

I guess anything would be better than the last mess.

[Duchess]

Ted Cruz kills me. He thinks a fair and balanced debate would be one moderated by Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity.

I'll be getting a laugh out of that all day.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, the GOP candidates are no longer united against the media - they're divided again.

Snip:
Late Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours after campaigns gathered outside Washington to discuss the reforms, Donald Trump's campaign announced that the GOP frontrunner would negotiate independently with the media organizations, spurning the other campaigns who had hoped to make a unified effort.

John Kasich's campaign said it too was "declining to sign the letter." Speaking to reporters, the Ohio governor said he hadn't given any thought to the effort to overhaul the debates. "Whatever we're doing, that's what we'll do. Play it where it lies," he said.

Minutes later, in an email to CNN, the Chris Christie campaign said it would not be signing the letter either, a move that had been anticipated by the New Jersey governor's own remarks in an interview with Fox News Monday morning: "Stop complaining," Christie had said of his rivals. "Do me a favor, set up a stage, put podiums up there and let's just go."

And a spokesperson for Carly Fiorina's campaign sent an email to Ben Ginsberg, the Republican lawyer and author of the letter, announcing that it too would not be signing. "These debates are an important chance for voters to see conservative candidates under pressure and over time," a Fiorina spokesperson wrote. "We have consistently and successfully discussed our concerns with the networks and the voters -- and not behind closed doors like the political class seems to like to do."

The letter to the media organizations, which was drafted in the wake of Sunday's emergency summit, included a list of questions the campaigns hoped to use to ensure more fair and substantive debates. But above all else, it signaled a move by the campaigns to wrest control of the debate negotiations from the Republican National Committee, which has taken blame for last week's messy CNBC debate.

Barry Bennett, the Ben Carson campaign manager who convened Sunday's meeting, did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the Trump, Kasich, Christie and Fiorina campaigns' decisions to decline signing the letter.

But Bennett later dismissed the defections in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday night: "Some of those candidates, in the latest polls, wouldn't even make the stage," he said. "There are all kinds of egos in politics."

Full story: http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/02/media/go...te-revolt/

[HairOfTheDog]

President Obama mocked the GOP candidates' revolt against the CNBC moderators at a fund raiser in New York yesterday.

[Duchess]

Hehehe. Tis true!

[HairOfTheDog]

Fox News host Megyn Kelly on Monday dismissed a number of demands several Republican candidates have made on cable networks ahead of future primary debates.

Kelly read from the list of requests, which includes moderators "not asking hand-raising questions, yes-or-no questions, [or] allow[ing] candidate-to-candidate questions." "And then maybe, like, a foot massage," she joked. "Really?"

The requests ranged from the types of questions that could be asked to what temperature the debate venues should be (under 67 degrees, in case you were wondering).

"Approval of any on-air graphics aired during the debate? ... Can you imagine having to submit our graphics for approval to the candidates?" Kelly asked guest Chris Stirewalt, Fox News' digital politics editor. "Good luck with that."

The next GOP debate will air on Fox, but Kelly isn't slated to moderate. Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal will host a GOP debate on November 10, featuring FBN anchors Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo along with Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker.

Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/megy...f9b96a3a49

[Maggot]

Barry should use his own advice.