I\u2019d also like us to live blog the 5:00 p.m. debate featuring the seven candidates that didn\u2019t make the top ten.\u00a0 But I doubt that I will be back from work on time, and the same will be true for most viewers.\u00a0 This adds injury to insult.<\/p>\n
The Fox network scheme of breaking the debates into two tiers, the prime time show for the top 10 most popular candidates according to an average of polls, and a non-prime time show for the remaining 7 candidates is just not fair.\u00a0 Let me tell you why after the jump.Most people do not really know whom they want to support at this extremely early stage of the campaign season.\u00a0 They can answer a pollster, but few have been paying attention yet.<\/p>\n
The purpose<\/em> of the debates is to acquaint the public with the candidates and their positions.<\/p>\n For the TV network conducting the debates to artificially create a top tier and a bottom tier may create a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the \u201ccool kids\u201d in prime time get all of the attention, and those who haven\u2019t polled so well as of yet get the aura of \u201closers.\u201d\u00a0 But the difference in poll numbers between the top tier and the bottom tier is miniscule.\u00a0 Christie made it into the top 10 with 3% of the electorate, while Jindal and Perry missed the cut with only 2%.\u00a0 So only 1% separates the top tier from the bottom tier!<\/p>\n Fox should have hosted three debates\u2013they are a 24 hour news station, with plenty of time in their schedule\u2013randomly sorting the candidates into groups of five or six.\u00a0 That would be a better forum anyway, if the purpose is to hear from candidates in any kind of depth and to see how they interact with each other.<\/p>\n Or, if Fox really wanted to go with the top tier and bottom tier, schedule the two debates so that both groups have the chance to be heard and to pick up viewers.\u00a0 Schedule the top 10 at 9:00 p.m., and the rest of the field at 7:00 p.m.\u00a0 Of course, more people would probably watch the earlier show and be tired of listening by the later debate, so reverse it.\u00a0 Or hold the two on different nights.\u00a0 But don\u2019t deliberately give those lower in the polls an impossible time slot.<\/p>\n One of these candidates might be the best choice and might take off, once he or she gets better known.<\/p>\n Anyway, if you watch the 5:00 p.m. ET debate, please post your comments here as things unfold.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019d also like us to live blog the 5:00 p.m. debate featuring the seven candidates that didn\u2019t make the top ten.\u00a0 But I doubt that I will be back from work on time, and the same will be true for most viewers.\u00a0 This adds injury to insult. The Fox network scheme of breaking the debates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,36],"tags":[3457,860,3968,3969],"class_list":["post-21966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-politics","tag-2016-presidential-election","tag-fox-news","tag-presidential-debates","tag-republican-presidential-candidates"],"yoast_head":"\n