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Posted
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:43 PM
| By
Chadwick Matlin
Usually, it’s the process questions that produce sparks at
debates. Networks rely on questions about flag pins, VP picks, and radical
hippie friends, because they reveal differences in character rather than
policy. So in a primary like this one, where there aren’t many discernible policy
differences (besides social security payroll taxes, obviously), process
questions are the choice du jour if you want some made-for-TV fireworks.
The problem is, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton went for the bait. Unsurprisingly, both
candidates said the other could beat John McCain. Both said the Democratic Party
would unite around the nominee. Both delivered stump-speech pitches to
hypothetical superdelegates at the end of the debate.
Even when things had the potential to get dicey, they simmered down
quickly. Obama explained away his
“bitter” remarks, and Clinton said
she merely called his comments elitist—not Obama himself. Clinton
started to get huffy puffy about Rev. Wright, but Obama reiterated the same
defense that helped him wriggle out of the ordeal in the first place. On Clinton’s
Bosnia misspeak,
Obama was somnambulant while he hoped Clinton
tripped herself up trying to explain the gaffe away.
But after the first hour, ABC seemed to run out of process questions and had
to turn to (sigh) policy. It wasn’t until 9:04 p.m. that a question was asked about the economy—the
issue that half of all Pennsylvanians care about most (PDF). Once
we finally got around to hashing out the issues, we lingered on an obscure
stipulation involving old people, tax ceilings, and a bunch of stuff the
American people—and, to be honest, your humble blogger—doesn’t fully
understand. Iraq
was barely touched, and when it was, neither moderator pushed Obama on Samantha
Power’s comments that he wouldn’t actually pull out troops if the generals told
him not to. Fringe(ish) issues like gun control and affirmative action were raised instead of the heartier (and, frankly, more pressing) issues mentioned above. The
climate crisis once again took a back seat, even though a question was asked
on rising gas prices. Last time we checked, they’re sort of intertwined.
ABC should have realized its mistake before Charlie and
George sat down in front of those wooden lecterns. As they reminded us, it’s
been five weeks since the last primaries, six since the last debate. Since
then, all we’ve heard are process stories—Rev. Wright,
Bosnia, and small-town
embitterment. Those issues were hashed out beyond the debate floor, and it was
time to turn the attention back to policy. Debate after debate, the candidates
have shown they’re more comfortable debating policy than process. The moderators should have followed suit. Sure,
policy questions don't lead to fireworks—but
at least you don't get duds like tonight.
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