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Show The Right Way Debates Cloud Issues By DUANE CARDALL While in the midst of another general election year, much has been said about the possibility of once again presenting the major presidential candidates before the people via television. The purpose of presenting pre-senting the candidates would be to allow them to debate de-bate their views on major political questions and give the American people the opportunity to evaluate the candidates. The American people of today in general are more concerned with politics than ever before in the nation's history. It is important that the people have the opportunity op-portunity to become as familiar as they can with the candidates. There is not a better way to reach more people in our nation than via television. So it is logical that candidates be presented on television to the public. pub-lic. That's Entertainment But, the question arises, if the candidates are presented pre-sented to the people for a half hour or an hour, will it be their purpose to merely entertain and present a pleasing personality or will they really debate? And if the candidates are serious in debating, will the American people be wise enough to judge by the real meaning of what is said rather than judge the person by his apparent alertness and wit? Can they discern between the candidate who has a sharp tongue and can make quick, often rash decisions and who appears sharper to the people because of this or the candidate who answers more slowly because he evaluates problems prob-lems and has a very discerning and penetrating mind. Little Was Said In reflecting on the Kennedy-Nixon debates of the 1960 election we can see where a direct confrontation of candidates in a "debate" accomplished very little other than give the younger of the two candidates possibly more supporters because of his youthful ap pearance and pleasant personality. The actual "debating" "de-bating" accomplished very little because very little was actually said. The questions discussed were often superficial and the candidates were attempting more to woo the voters rather than convince them of the importance of their particular stand on any one topic. Two Hour Debate I would suggest that if television is to be used during dur-ing the campaigning period to present the candidates before the people, it be used in a fair and purposeful manner. Numerous suggestions have been made as to what way would be the most fair and give the people the best opportunity to evaluate the candidates. The suggestion that I favor the most has been made by David Lawrence, a noted newspaper columnist and magazine editor. He suggests that two hors of an evening be set aside during prime viewing time sometime in the fall. Each of the two candidate." would be given on hour to express his thoughts comprehensively com-prehensively on a particular subject. The following night the candidates would once again go before the cameras for an hour each but this time they would be questioned by a panel of newsmen. By so doing, important issues could be discussed and the candidates specific views would be presented to the people. This would give the voters better opportunity to judge the candidates and decide for themselves which would be the best. Television is a tremendous aid in communication and when used effectively can greatly help the American Am-erican people to be unified and informed. It is certainly cer-tainly important that in this election year, television be used in the best possible way and I hope that before be-fore the November election, the American people will be given the chance to fairly evaluate the men who are vying for the leadership of this nation for the next four years.! |
