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bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)
Wed Oct 17, 2012, 09:01 PM Oct 2012

Is there something about the town hall debate format that inherently favors the Democrat?

We have had the town hall debate format since 1992. Look at the history of town hall debates.

1992: Clear Clinton win. George Bush looks at his watch.
1996: Clear Clinton win.
2000: Clear Gore win. His only win of the 3 debates.
2004: Arguably a tie. Both candidates get their moments and hold their ground.
2008: Clear Obama win. McCain's "That one!" wisecrack.
2012: Clear Obama win.



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Is there something about the town hall debate format that inherently favors the Democrat? (Original Post) bluestateguy Oct 2012 OP
Democrats actually relate to real people. Republickers cannot stand being around common folks. muntrv Oct 2012 #1
When your policies favor regular people, annabanana Oct 2012 #2
They care about the people of this country - not just the corporations Awknid Oct 2012 #3
Humans not on the payroll upi402 Oct 2012 #4
Yes, it's called empathy. n/t arthritisR_US Oct 2012 #5
No, Gore did not win the town hall debate w/Bush. Honeycombe8 Oct 2012 #6
Yup. I remember it pretty clearly magical thyme Oct 2012 #8
what if the republican had been someone like Huckabee or Santorum JI7 Oct 2012 #7
The inherent advantage Wildcat1955 Oct 2012 #9
There is something about facts that favor Dems. morningfog Oct 2012 #10

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
6. No, Gore did not win the town hall debate w/Bush.
Wed Oct 17, 2012, 09:16 PM
Oct 2012

That was the one where the talk the next day was how orange Gore looked, and how Gore was too alpha, had walked into Bush's space while Bush was still answering a question. Bush noticed, looked at him, humurously nodded his head, audience laughed. Bush's personality won the day. The substance didn't matter so much. That's how I remember it.

 

magical thyme

(14,881 posts)
8. Yup. I remember it pretty clearly
Wed Oct 17, 2012, 09:21 PM
Oct 2012

Gore took on the look of a robot or zombie and walked over into W's space. W looked up startled, made a humorous head tilt (like "whu? ya want something?&quot and continued on. Frankly I was embarrassed for Gore. It was like he tried to use a high school level debating tactic, trying to throw W off by physical intimidation. To me, he lost that debate in that moment. It's the *only* thing I remember about their debates.

JI7

(89,250 posts)
7. what if the republican had been someone like Huckabee or Santorum
Wed Oct 17, 2012, 09:19 PM
Oct 2012

i think they would do better. even if you disagree with every single thing they said they might come off better.

in the case of most of these republicans McCain had turned into the grumpy old guy and Romney is the worst in terms of relating to people.

Wildcat1955

(69 posts)
9. The inherent advantage
Wed Oct 17, 2012, 09:37 PM
Oct 2012

Last edited Fri Oct 19, 2012, 11:00 PM - Edit history (1)

It seems to me that the inherent advantage is that the Democrat seems to be able to connect with the audience. I don't know if it's intuitive or experience or what, but the
the Democrat just relates better.

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