It’s Unlikely That Town Halls Will Happen
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, Democrats, McCain, Republicans
McCain wanted 10. Obama proposed 1 plus an additional debate.
To say the least, I’m disappointed in the Obama camp.
And so the campaigns do battle…:
“We fear that our negotiations over joint town hall meetings are turning into a debate about process,” McCain campaign manager Rick Davis writes to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. “That is exactly what we have always hoped to avoid, and why we proposed a town hall format that would render many of these process issues moot. As Sen. Obama has said, he is prepared to meet ‘anywhere, anytime’ for a town hall.”Plouffe responds that “it’s disappointing that Sen. McCain and his campaign decided to decline this proposal. Apparently they would rather contrive a political issue than foster a genuine discussion about the future of our country.”
Now, there’s a reason why McCain proposed these town halls, and it isn’t because he thinks it would be good for the country. McCain has been doing this type of open format for years and he’s incredibly adept at it. Still, his campaign has done a great job of positioning it as a grand, transparent gesture, and in many ways it could turn into that if Obama agrees to the format.
That’s why I think Obama and company are making a big tactical mistake by turning down the town hall format. Sure, it would limit their campaigning, and I get why they wouldn’t want to do that, but it makes it seem like he’s afraid of going toe-to-toe in an unscripted format with McCain. And do know that his campaign is afraid. Obama has done many unscripted town halls in this campaign cycle, and it’s apparent that he doesn’t necessarily shine in this type of venue. But is that a good enough reason to deny the American public a conversation they deserve? Not by a long shot.
However, this isn’t decided quite yet. Right now we’re seeing the expected war of words and there’s still a chance that they’ll come to some sort of compromise. For everybody’s sake, let’s hope that happens.
More as it develops…
This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, Democrats, McCain, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Well, in every Town hall debate there are plants. It just seems Obama doesn’t want to be questioned by McCain’s plants, because he doesn’t want to have to deal with Rezko, Wright, or jungle bunny comments. So yeah, try not to be TOO naive justin. These Town Hall things are really scripted choreographed dances between two competing campaigns. At least the news media has to TRY to appear fair. Town hall debates have no such compunctions.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
McCain stacked the deck at his “town hall” the other day, why should Obama walk into an obvious trap, just so McCain can have more airtime?
Most obvious rules of warfare are, don’t walk into an obvious trap, and don’t surrender your advantage to the enemy
June 14th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Neither candidate strikes me as a man who’s particularly fearful, so I don’t agree that Obama is afraid to do the town hall. There has to be some quid pro quo. So far, McCain’s requested they do things his way. It’s unwise for Obama to agree to that.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Bawk! Bawk bawk bawk. Cluck.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am
McCain stacked the deck at his “town hall” the other day, why should Obama walk into an obvious trap, just so McCain can have more airtime?
Most obvious rules of warfare are, don’t walk into an obvious trap, and don’t surrender your advantage to the enemy
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I have a feeling that if Obama actually committed to going to a townhall, some Obama supporters would show up. Just a guess.
You can’t complain about the deck being stacked when you never say you want in to the game.