Adam Boulton Diary – defending the presidential debate
It was the dignified and cool Barack Obama who first put the word “shitshow” into general circulation. As his term drew to a close the President was reflecting on the situation in post-Gaddafi Libya. One President later most onlookers agreed that the word was even more apposite when applied on CNN to the first US election debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. After all the President had even stooped to playground scatology sniping “you’re a number two” at his opponent.
“That was a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck” Jake Tapper, the network’s White House correspondent declared only to be trumped by anchor woman Dana Bash: “That was a shitshow,” she retorted, “we’re on cable, we can say that.”
America’s proprieties have been offended by what The New York Times dismissed as “the chaotic and often incoherent spectacle – in which a pugilistic Mr Trump relentlessly interrupted opponent and moderator alike.” Even the debate’s moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday, said afterwards that he was “disappointed for the country.”
Liberal voices from MSNBC, Slate, The New York Times and Washington Post are calling for the next scheduled debates to be cancelled unless the rules can be changed. The unworkable and partisan suggestion of cutting the microphones of interrupters has been suggested.
I disagree. I enjoyed the debate. I hope the other scheduled encounters are not called off because of the Trump couple’s Covid infections. There is already talk of doing the next debate virtually which would certainly cut the President’s ability to interrupt or send spittle in the direction of Biden.
But back to Cleveland. It was a rough diamond but still an ornament to the democratic process. No, it wasn’t an elevating discussion of the higher politics, but it did what such television encounters should do. It exposed the personalities of America’s would-be leaders and their policies, such as they are, to the greatest possible number of voters. As a result, the electorate will be better informed to choose between the two men.
It remains a blot on British democracy that we have rarely managed to stage equivalent events – the only occasions being the General Election of 2010 and Corbyn v Johnson in 2019. I fear that the heated exchanges in Cleveland will be cited as a reason that “we don’t want that sort of thing here.” If so, it would be our loss.
The 72-year-old Chris Wallace was the third septuagenarian white man on the stage in Cleveland. He is the nearest thing the US has to a Dimbleby. His father was the legendary CBS 60 Minutes inquisitor Mike Wallace, played by Christopher Plummer in the Hollywood movie The Inquisitor. His stepfather was the president of CBS News. With his bully’s instinct for the soft underbelly Trump likes to chide Chris that he’s not as good as his dad. During this week’s debate the President targeted his spite at Biden’s son Hunter and his opponent’s alleged record at college 60 years ago.
Chris Wallace went to Harvard and was a star on NBC and ABC before moving to Fox News Channel in 2003. Until the take-over of Sky by NBC Universal Comcast in 2018 we used to work out of the FNC office when in Washington DC. It was Wallace’s base, but he was noticeably not part of the pro-Republican diet of “fair and balanced” news served up on the orders of the late Roger Ailes. Scrupulously impartial as a journalist Wallace is a registered Democrat. The FNC office had a strange oppressive atmosphere but Wallace along with the excellent reporters serving Fox’s regional network on Radio and TV tended to stay out of the way in their own corners.
Before chairing one of the Trump-Clinton debates in 2016, Chris Wallace catechised the number one rule for a moderator: “It’s not about you.” I agree with him. Chairing the second Brown-Cameron-Clegg debate in 2010 was the proudest moment of my career even though it was largely a technical task of keeping the show on the road.
Speaking after the Cleveland show Wallace admitted to soul-searching: “I never dreamt it would go off the tracks the way it did.” He should not be hard on himself. He never lost control even though the President was out of control. A moderator should not conspire to make the debaters look good. If they want the world to see them behaving badly that is their choice – and to a certain extent the point of having debates.
Trump is a devotee of WWF wrestling and knows that the villain is often the most popular player. The Biden camp can console themselves that he seems to have held his position leading the polls after the debate. On the-any-publicity-is-good-publicity metric Biden also spoke for 43 minutes compared to Trump’s 38 minutes including interruptions.
Thanks to the establishment of the Committee on Presidential Debates (CPD) the Americans have a robust organisation capable of riding over bumpy moments. Two more Presidential Debates are due this month, as well as a Vice Presidential encounter next week.
The CPD also takes the responsibility for the rules and conduct of debates away from individual broadcasters and TV networks. In 2010 Sky, ITV and BBC co-operated with each other to establish a common set of rules. Since then the channels have gone their own way resulting in debate-style entertainments rather than direct live debates between the main candidates – in spite of the commanding discipline of Julie Etchingham, ITV’s main moderator. Incumbent Prime Ministers Cameron and May both suffered little opprobrium for ducking out of debates with feeble excuses at election time.
The US commission is stricter against audience participation – stipulating silence except at the beginning an end. Steve Scully of the public service channel C-span will be sorely tested if the planned Presidential debate in Florida on 15thOctober goes ahead as “a town hall event”. In my experience as a guest on both men’s shows Steve is milder mannered than Chris. He would be an excellent moderator however for the online event which now seems more likely to go ahead, assuming the President is not seriously incapacitated by the virus. The CPD has the authority to sort out this unexpected crisis fairly.
Before that next Presidential clash, it’s Kamala Harris v Mike Pence next Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, Utah. Both are more polished performers than their bosses. She is an attorney and the candidate who most riled Biden during the Democratic primary debates. He was a talk radio host. Harris is also the first woman of colour to compete at this level. It is likely to be a more orderly show, but it will also be highly revealing especially of the gaping contrasts in US politics this year.
Chris Wallace’s verdict on the show he moderated? “To quote the President, “it is what it is.”” Or, as Barack Obama remarked in another lapse of decorum about Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, “you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig.”
After this season of presidential debates, American voters cannot complain that they don’t intimately know the candidate they will be voting for. That sounds like a job well done by the the Debates Commission.