Will Hillary get another excellent debate bump?

[MADem]

8. Why is the Saturday night before Christmas a showstopper?

Most people I know don't get wrapped up in "Oh shit-Christmas!" until the day before Christmas eve. And that's only if they haven't bought any presents!

Office parties will be on FRIDAY, not Saturday. The people who go out on Saturday night are the young, the single, the "in crowd." They're technologically savvy--they can figure out how to go to the ABC website and watch the magical recording (oh, these modern times!!!) of the debate at a later time-- if they are truly interested.

Granted, we don't have a clown like Trump to liven things up, so we won't get the numbers that the GOP gets. But watching with the anticipation of a train wreck just doesn't provide the OOOMPH that watching to actually learn about the nuanced positions of the candidates does. So, yeah, we'll probably get fewer watchers--but so what? It's not like once they speak, the material is gone forever. You'll be able to watch this pretty much FOREVER, if you'd like. That's the 21st Century for ya!

What you can't do, though, is make a quiet and adult discussion into a cage match. And that's what a lot of viewers want.

GOP viewers aren't going to vote for any Democrat. They're certainly not going to Feel anything resembling a Bern--because they don't like "socialized medicine" and they aren't convinced by any arguments that ANY Democrat makes on that issue. A more rightward slant on guns isn't enough to overcome that. So count them out--they'll watch some other show and be proud of themselves.

We had some Nose In The Air types here who "refused" to watch the GOP debates because they didn't want to learn which candidate was the worst -- or the best -- of that bad lot, too. I think most Democrats take a more adult POV on that score and aren't afraid to hear what those dullards have to say--I watched the last GOP debate with five other "Hillarians." They were not moved or convinced by any of the arguments those dunces made--they were enormously amused at the scrabbling and fighting, though. It made the evening worthwhile, and we've all formed ideas about which of those idiots is the worst, and why.