The GOP Primary season is shaping up to be a total disaster for that party, as has been discussed in previous diaries. One of the most pertinent examples of this is the televised debates; based on current developments, the TV networks such as Fox News will have the unenviable task of sorting through the broad field of GOP candidates, just to decide who gets a space in front of the cameras.
It’s an ungainly consequence of new debate rules handed down by the cable television networks in their effort to manage a candidate field that could swell to as many as 19 candidates. With national polling averages serving as a key determinant for inclusion in the Aug. 6 presidential debate in Cleveland, candidates with higher name ID have the advantage — even if it was built by working the network green rooms rather than the grass roots.
One can only imagine the type of theatrics we will soon see as a result.
However, I do not want to talk about the GOP's TV debates problem. Rather, I would like to use their problem to highlight a suggestion I have for structuring our party, the Democratic Party's TV debates.
Specifically, I think the debates should feature several regular citizens participating throughout the debates.
I think if we as a party are having our sights set on the long-term goals of the General election, having primary debates that focus as much on regular citizens as they do the candidates will have lasting effects well into the campaign season.
Whether it is simply Hillary vs. Bernie, or even if the crowd opens up to 5 or 6 Democratic candidates, there should be ample room for average citizens to be the ones asking the questions, and we could find other ways to get them participating in the debate process.
What better way to remind Americans, that while the Republican Party fights over who is the best at sounding Presidential, the Democratic Party is the one best trying to work together with the people.
What better way to remind Americans, that while the Republican Party only ever listens to their wealthy campaign donors, the Democratic Party only ever listens to regular Americans and what they care about.
What better way to remind Americans, that while Republican candidates gave up meeting and greeting directly with citizens so they could boost their profile to make it onto the televised debates, the Democratic Party found a way to make it another way to reach out to citizens, rather than at their expense.
Furthermore, it is the perfect platform on which to showcase all the disparate groups hoping to be heard and to be represented, and to remind those groups which Party is really the one who speaks for them, who will listen to them.
For example, we could have an American who might be uninsured if Obamacare is repealed, ask the candidates what they would do to make health care even more accessible and affordable.
We could have one of the DREAMers ask the candidates how they would improve the immigration system and ease the process to citizenship for them and their friends and relatives.
We could have a veteran ask the candidates what they would do to help our returning servicemen and women, to improve their access to both health care and jobs once they are back from overseas.
We could have a recent college graduate saddled with tens of thousands of debt ask the candidates how they would address the student loan debt crisis.
We could have a police violence protestor ask the candidates how they will address the accountability of police and the racial undertones affecting much of the systemic abuse of innocent citizens by the police.
Not only would we have these Left-leaning issues being addressed on a televised stage, but they will be coming straight from the mouths of people, people who better represent the viewers at home than any one of the network moderators ever would.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, we will be hearing much of the same, cutting taxes and spending, and likely Hillary-bashing and Benghazi-spouting, that we have already been hearing ad nauseum, where the issue is just who can be louder and more obnoxious about it.
Finally, speaking as an American citizen and not an expert on this kind of political strategy, seeing regular people as vital parts in the candidate vetting process would only increase the pride I have in the party, and interest in helping these people get elected. As much as I want to hear the candidates making bold statements, having the men and women we interact with on a daily basis there too will be a reminder for all who are watching, that it is the Democratic Party most closely intertwined with regular decent Americans, not the party that sends out candidates largely supported by a handful of billionaires.
I know that ultimately, the primaries are about choosing the best candidate for the Democratic Party, and the tv debates are themselves an important factor in that process. But at the same time, part of me feels that we should always be looking for ways to engage more people and get them involved throughout the political process.
The Democratic Party's TV debates should be about the candidates, but at the very least, they should also show how our candidates are unequivocally better than Republicans at including regular Americans in our political process.