The second of twelve DNC scheduled debates is set to convene this week between twenty Democratic presidential hopefuls. The candidates have been divided into two ‘teams’ of ten and will take the stage in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday night to eloquently debate the moral and crucial concerns of our time. These dignified US politicians will certainly refrain from speaking out of turn, deliberately ignoring the moderator’s questions and aimlessly attacking one another to score a prime-time CNN soundbite.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what these debates will most likely consist of. Each debate is scheduled for two hours, excluding commercial breaks and moderator questions, that gives each candidate twelve minutes of speaking time. Obviously this isn’t the case, but it points to the ridiculousness of trying to squeeze debates into cable television’s allotted prime time viewership. These types of structured debates don’t offer candidates the opportunity to sufficiently detail their policy platforms. Only two candidates (Harris and Biden) in the June debates surpassed the twelve-minute mark. Their purpose is to introduce the candidates to a wide audience and hopefully reach voters whose daily schedule doesn’t include the latest campaign updates.
Why the DNC doesn’t shrink the size of each cluster of candidates to allow for an actually intelligent debate is unbeknownst to me. Is it because they believe the American audience is too uninterested and lazy to sit down for a couple extra nights? Do the candidates themselves not wish to have to intelligently walk us through their policy decisions? While the debates may not perfectly detail each candidate’s policy platforms, there are some things I expect to see.
The first night of debates consists of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the two far-left leaning progressive candidates. While these two senators share many of the same policy decisions, and have refrained from attacking each other thus far due to their friendship, I doubt we’ll get any steamy rows between the two of them. Instead, I expect Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke to poke jabs at the either Sanders or Warren, whom they both trail in the polls. O’Rourke’s campaign already seems to be slipping away from him and he needs to find a way to bring it back to life. Buttigieg on the other hand, can use this opportunity to convince centrist Democrats that he’s possibly a safer choice than Biden to quell their fears of a Sanders/Warren White House.
The second night has the makings for a much more exciting performance. Senator Kamala Harris has been paired next to former Vice President Joe Biden. It was only a month ago when the two sparred over issues of school busing, and Biden’s blundering past involvement with segregationist senators. In the last week leading up to this debate Senator Harris has released her plans for eliminating student debt, implementing affordable health care and tackling climate change. Look for Biden to certainly mention these policy developments.
What I’m most excited for however is my expectation for Andrew Yang to receive a bump in his speaking time. If the spatial arrangement of candidates tells us anything, it’s that being in the middle matters. Yang, who received the least amount of speaking time in the first round of debates, – partly due to his microphone being deliberately turned off unless specifically called on – has been positioned directly right of center, prime debate real estate one could say. I assume this gestures that the moderators are planning to make Yang a much more integral part of this debate. I’m not watching to learn to each candidate’s ten-point plan on how they’re going to save the United States. I’m watching to simply because it’s entertainment. These debates are sure to offer great political theater and I will have my popcorn ready.
HOLD -UP 