Tonight is the VP debate. Those of us who have been big fans of the hilarity that has been the Sarah Palin Media Tour are longing for more of the same. Unfortunately, I think we’re unlikely to get it. Footage of her 2006 debates in the Alaska gubernatorial race has emerged and she was sharp.
One other reason for this is that the rules for tonight’s debate have been pretty strictly drawn.
Negotiations between the McCain and Obama campaigns resulted in a 90-minute format that calls for the two candidates to stand at podiums and field questions in turn from moderator Ifill. Answers may not exceed 90 seconds, and two minutes of open discussion will follow each question. Each candidate will give a 90-second closing statement.
This is in contrast to the "two-minute-response, five-minutes-of-open-discussion format of the first McCain-Obama debate." Does this sound familiar? It should to regular watchers of The West Wing during its final season. To take you back in time, since President Bartlet is leaving office, Arnold Vinick and Matt Santos are vying to become president. Even though this story was told in 2005, Vinick is based on John McCain and Santos on Barack Obama. In the storyline, they’re trying to negotiate a debate, but they’re sticking in a bunch of rules and a rigid structure in order to avoid trouble. The whole episode is available on YouTube (written summary here) and you can see that the rules fly out the window quickly. The debate that follows looks a lot like the McCain-Obama debate of last week, down to Vinick pulling a pen out of his coat and threatening a veto on earmarks.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six
As further background, and just to draw a contrast, here are some clips from President Bartlet’s debate against Governor Ritchie, during his re-election bid.
- Bartlet and Ritchie square-off in a private moment.
- Debate Camp: Part One
- Debate Camp: Part Two
- Debate: Part One
- Debate: Part Two
Boy, that was a great TV show. The other night, I was up for hours, watching clips on YouTube.
Tags: West Wing, Debates, Obama, McCain, Biden, Palin