FYI: Debate Rules

[radfringe]

Rules of debate: No asking each other questions
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/193069_rules30.html
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE -- Thursday, September 30, 2004

Excerpts from the "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by President Bush's and Sen. John Kerry's campaigns before the debates:

--Each debate shall last for 90 minutes.

--No opening statements, but each candidate gets a two-minute closing statement.

--The candidates may take notes during the debate on any sort of paper they prefer, using the type of pen or pencil that each prefers. But the candidate must submit the paper and pens to the Commission on Presidential Debates before the event.

--Candidates may not ask each other direct questions, but may ask rhetorical questions.

--Candidates are barred from addressing each other with proposed pledges.

--Tonight's debate will focus on foreign policy and homeland security. The Oct. 13 debate shall focus on economic and domestic policy. The Oct. 5 vice presidential debate and the Oct. 8 presidential debate shall not be limited by topic.

--The Oct. 8 "Town Hall" debate will take place before a live audience of between 100 and 150 people who will be seated and who describe themselves as "soft" Bush supporters or "soft" Kerry supporters. The number of "soft" Bush supporters must be equal to the number of "soft" Kerry supporters and will be picked by the polling organization Gallup.

--Presidential candidates will enter the stage after the moderator announces them, go to center stage, shake hands, and go directly to their positions either on stools or behind podiums. They'll be behind podiums tonight and Oct. 13 and on stools on Oct. 8.

--TV coverage, in general, shall be limited to shots of the candidates or moderator. In no case shall any television shots be taken of any member of the audience, including candidates' family members from the time the first question is asked until the closing statements.

--The camera at the rear of the stage shall only take shots of the moderator, not the back of the candidates' heads.

--No reaction shots of one candidate when the other candidate is answering a question.

--Each candidate may use his own makeup person.

--The color and style of the backdrop will be recommended by the commission and mutually agreed to by the campaigns.

--The podiums, used tonight and on Oct. 13, shall be 50 inches from the stage floor to the outside top of the podium. No risers or other devices to create an impression of elevated height. The podiums will be 10 feet apart.

--The commission shall maintain an appropriate temperature according to industry standards for the debate.

[lazarus]

1. The podiums will be 10 feet apart.

What's the chimp scared of?

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[VOX]

2. "So, go out there, and just be yourselves!"

Jeez, was anything ever so canned as this? Sound-bite City, here we come.

[TaleWgnDg]

3. uuummmmm, does this mean that only Dumbya's

eyebrows and hair will show above the podium? LOL

edited to add photo:

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . photo taken looking up onto stage; Lehrer will be the moderator and have a desk in front of the podiums on stage w/ his back to the audience . . .

[radfringe]

4. Networks Not Playing by Debate Rules

Networks Not Playing by Debate Rules
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=televisionNews&storyID=6371885
By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The TV networks are balking at some of the rules that the Bush and Kerry campaigns have hammered out in advance of Thursday (Sept. 30) night's first presidential debate.

At issue is a 32-page agreement between the campaigns on the structure of the debate, which lays out the ground rules on everything from camera angles to what kind of paper the candidates can use to take notes during the debate. It's the rule prohibiting shots of Bush or Kerry while the other speaks that has irked the networks.

Network news executives said Wednesday they would not abide by that agreement, arguing that it amounts to an editorial decision and that each network should have the right to make the call on how the event is presented to viewers.

==================

there are several other stories regarding "not playing by the rules".

the Commission, networks etc. have NOT signed off on the debate rules and there are other stories which 'advise' Kerry to 'waive' the rules. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/29/115235/551

Another suggestion advises Kerry to imply that bush* is a coward -- ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/29/12240/5027 ) Kerry should turn questions into statements and use the restriction on questions as a chance to show that Bush is a coward.

Example of a possible rhetorical strategy:

Question: What do you think about terrorism?

Kerry: I think x, y and z. The debate rules prohibit me from asking the President about x, because he was so afraid of the idea of me asking me questions, but I hope one of you reporters asks him about that. After all, he did (some stupid Bush action).

By the way, despite what the radical smear machine wants you to believe, I served in Vietnam and was shot at. With bullets. Questions don't scare me.

=========

do you think Kerry should follow the rules or waive them? During one of the 2000 debates - Gore asked bush* a question directly, bush* ducked the question by saying "that is not in the rules" -- it was later used as a "highlight" by talking heads as well as the 'eye-rolling' and 'sighing'

[fishface]

6. "supporters will be picked by the polling organization Gallup"?

With Faux News running the cameras and Gallup choosing the 'supporters', it's starting to sound like a stacked deck.

[LiberalPersona]

7. Gallup?

It sounds to me like they're purposely trying to stack the deck against Kerry in numerous ways. I hope he's up for a challenge against the media's bullcrap.

[DebJ]

8. must submit the paper and pens to the Commission ????

that one is really bizarre! are they checking the pens to insure they are not really WMD's????

[lazarus]

9. notes

making sure W doesn't have his notes from Karl written down.

[TaleWgnDg]

11. I would guess that the return of the pens and pencils has to do . . .

with making sure that they do not contain radio transmitters/receivers or wifi or whatever devices. I'd say that's damn clever of the drafters of this agreement. Of course the paper return is to make sure that notes contain ONLY the note-taking of the debater.

[SHRED]

10. I wonder...

if the canidates know the questions already?