A few of us watched the kids' debate earlier this afternoon, but the main event (starting in less than an hour!) will have a lot more interest, so rather than clog up the Republican candidates thread (currently at 69 pages and counting), I thought the debate could have its own thread. Mods, feel free to merge this back into the candidate's thread if you want. From watching the kids' debate, I did not see any disagreement on actual policy between the candidates - George Pataki got labeled the "pro-choice" candidate, but he still came out in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood. The kids' debate was mostly about who could slam Obama and Clinton in the most entertaining way possible. However, the main event could be different, and you all know why. Hint: starts with a T and talks out of his rump. Left Blogistan is certainly looking forward to this debate. Matt Taibbi over at Rolling Stone put together a set of rules for a drinking game, and Daily Kos put out Bingo cards. There should be a number of entertaining live blogs and tweets during the show. So here's our place to discuss!
Somebody do something with those mikes! The echo is enough to make me want to goback to watching the Canadian debate on C-Span.
First difference from the JV debate - there was only a minimal crowd for the JV debate, so the candidates could put out a zinger or slam Hillary and there would be no crowd reaction. There's a big crowd for the big boys debate.
Yes, I too feel dirty for watching a channel which didn't run a single negative story about the candidate it favored in the last Presidential election. This pre-game is embarrassing. Hopefully the actual debate is better.
OK, the Fox News hosts can't decide if they want to be sportscasters or moderators. They're making comments like sportscasters, but those comments are going out to the whole arena. The candidates just kind of standing there listening to this stuff, like show ponies or beauty pageant contestants.
The fact that Donald Trump (or anyone) running as an independent could elect a Democrat is because our electoral system is a disgrace, but no one will point that out.
How about a simple debate: ask a question about substantive policy like criminal justice reform, foreign policy, or whatever, pick a candidate to start with, and then proceed left or right with the same question.