In that old Monty Python sketch the statment "An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition" is far removed from what we normally engage.
In the 'everyone has a soap box' day we are free to post opinion as fact, contridition as soul proof and ridicule for not accepting a premise, flawed or not. Yes, I too am one of those opinion spouters.
So a buddy of mine recently deconstructed an opinion as fact editorial blog in such a sublime manner I was made to think more on what a debate is .vs. what it seems to become.
Debate, in political arena, is not a debate at all rather a posing and soundbite compitition with aftermath of spinning it as a victory reguardless of what actually occured. So style over substance and perception over reality.
Public debate are two teams of two. Each team is given their topic with the side at the beginning. The teams are given 15 minutes to create an outline before they begin. The topic of the debate is unknown until the start of the debate, it requires little planning and a wide knowledge of topics.
I would love to see a couple of Prez .vs. Prez nominee teams engage in this kind of debate.
4 comments:
Formal debate does rely on knowledge of a wide range of topics. More importantly, it depends on having prepared statements of fact and briefs that can be brought out as supporting documentation during the debate.
The general topic is known ahead of time, but each debate team selects their own specific area of that topic. When a debate is about to start, the "offense" team reveals their specific topic and the "defense" has a short time to prepare by pulling relevant facts and briefs that they may have in their possession. In the preliminary rounds, each team gets at least one turn each on offense and defense.
As an example, the general topic might be "Resolved: The United States should significantly decrease it's foreign military commitments." A particular team might select a specific case about Iraq or Strategic Air Defense or whatever.
A winning team will have both a well prepared debate on their "offense" topic and a wide range of defensive facts about anything that falls into the general category.
Finally, the winner is determined by an impartial judge or team of judges based on the quality of the arguments that must be built on supporting facts.
This will never happen in the political arena. In fact, few people will get a chance to participate or even view such an event. The closest thing most people will see is a court case.
Rob---I'm fairly certain Lee was referring to your response to my response to Bob's blog. Your response was so well written it got printed and posted in the most public of places, our refridgerator....
I believe McCain could invite an open press conference with completely unscripted answers and do OK, to demonstrate his relatively wide range of knowledge. His opponent would do well with any questions regarding a socialist agenda, but I think he'd falter on other issues.
Rob, looks like Steve V. has a mancrush.
McCain does handle off the cuff questions much better then Obama. That can be for many different reasons.
In a debate setting, as described is not off the cuff. It allows for formulation of a complete defensible position statement.
I prefer reasoned answers rather then spewed ones.
When the Pope met with Castro, there was comment on how John Paul II would take his time before answering, and asking questions. Fidel did the same, very measured concise and thoughtful words from both men. Both VERY political savvy and obviously respectful of the others intellect.
To me thats preferrable to sound bites.
"There you go again!"
"Where's the Beef?"
"Voodoo ecomomics"
"Read my lips, No new taxes"
"It's the economy, Stupid!"
"You sir are no Jack Kennedy"
I'm secure enough in my masculinity for a good Bromance!
Regarding soundbites, there may not be much content to them but they are still fun.
Regarding which Prez-candidate would handle unscripted questions better, I have to admit that I have not studied that much. I appreciate hearing the opinions of people that I trust though!
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