Lack of Thought in NBC’s questions

Mostly, I found the questions inane at points, annoying at others, and downright stupid during far too many sections of the debate. But more than that, I think many questions were designed specifically not to be answered–I’ll give examples of that a little bit down the page.

But the main thing is this: asking questions about Edwards’s haircut, or who our top three allies are, or asking them to raise their hands if there has been a gun in their household was just plain silly. I’m not a Hillary fan (though I was actually quite impressed with her at this debate), but asking her, “Why do you think Republicans are looking forward to running against you with so much zeal?” basically means, “Why do you think you’re unelectable?” But it’s not just insulting to Clinton, it’s insulting to the American people because they had 90 minutes to introduce the candidates for President, and they squandered that time with inane questions.

This wasn’t limited to the top-tier candidates either. To Biden the moderator pointed out fomer gaffes — perhaps an appropriate thing to ask about — but then asked, “Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, Senator?”

Exactly what did he expect the answer would be? ‘No’? Biden’s response — a one word “Yes,”  was perfect. What more does this moderator want? “I am not a hothead?”

They were asked to answer in one sentence, “While sitting in the Oval Office on the first day of your administration, name the first thing that you want accomplished by the end of that first day.” This has the appearance of a decent question, but it’s really not. Why? Because it implies that what is done on the first day is the number 1 priority of the new President–but anything substantial simply can’t be done in the first day, and everybody knows this. Pulling out of Iraq, fixing health care, any of the answers given by Richardson are so obviously long term that they don’t answer the question. But if the candidate said anything less than something major, it would seem like his priorities aren’t in the right place. Politicians are trained not to answer questions. This question was practically designed not to be answered. So it’s a waste of time, which was all too limited.

Edwards was asked, “Russia has been in the news of late. Just today, they suspended an arms deal over a squabble. Simply, do you regard them as a friend or a foe?”

This made clear to me that the question makers have a completely binary view of foreign policy. Again it’s designed to have the candidate rephrase and answer a question of their own choosing, which Edwards did by making his answer a new, more broad question, “how does America change the underlying dynamic of what’s happening in the world?”

So how could they have done better?

Instead of asking whether Russia is a friend or foe, they should have asked, “What can be done to improve relations with Russia?” Or perhaps, “What steps would you take to ensure that proliferation from ex-Soviet states is thwarted, and how can you work with Russia to solve this problem?”

Instead of asking whether Biden has the discipline to be President, they should have asked what qualities he think he has to be President, and allow Americans to see if discipline is one of them.

Instead of asking what should be accomplished by the end of the first day, they should have asked  Richardson what his top priority is, because I think that’s what they were trying to ask.

I’m not, as of yet, supporting any candidate for President. I do, however, support a candid and open discussion on the issues. What we saw tonight didn’t change my opinion to lean towards any candidate because this wasn’t a real forum, it was a failure of the media to ask decent questions.

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