Town Hall Replaces TV Presidential Debates

The Republican Party street car to find the right man or woman, to field as its 2024 presidential nominee chugs along. Donald Trump has removed some of its normal stops, like TV debates. I can imagine him saying:

“I don’t do TV debates. I do only-me, town halls.”

Nikki Haley, the last woman standing had her own condition: no Donald Trump, no debates. This should be on record. We shouldn’t accuse her in future, of killing that election tradition. Trump did. I posted a piece about election debates last year.

Below is old post 24 August, 2023

There were reasons for political debates then. Are they still valid when technology has changed the debating arena and active players?

There is a garden of issues that makes us vote for A and not B. Jobs for example. If candidate B says he will shut down all coal mines, miners won’t vote for him. If he says he’ll increase taxes for the rich that close factories and move them off-shore, billionaires won’t vote for him.

Some voters don’t care about a political party’s platform. The leader decides their vote. They might vote for him because he’s a man’s man, doesn’t take nonsense from those ‘communists’ and puts women in their place.

What voters want from a leader is purely subjective. Voters and their families know why they won’t vote for a particular party although they like its stand on most issues. It’s something that is not discussed outside the home, and the media knows it’s out of bounds.

Election television debates are a relic but they are a good example of how we vote for  leaders’ faces and not what they stand for. A leader might do well in the election debates, but that won’t entice voters. His face, who he, is already a strike-out. I can’t see him as my mayor, president or prime minister, voters say behind closed doors.

Debates are a relic because of Twitter. They reinforce the bitter truth that elections are stage plays. The best showman wins, but it doesn’t mean that he is more knowledgeable. How could he? You cannot do justice to issues like immigration or climate change in a few minutes. The showman had the most hypnotic sound bites.

The leader’s face, who he is, who she is, determines the vote, not the party’s manifesto.  

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.