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Since Trump, Political Debates Have Become Toxic [1]

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Date: 2022-09-12

source: wikipedia

Arizona secretary of state, and candidate for the race to be the state’s next governor, recently released a statement in which she declared that she would not be debating Kari Lake, because doing so would serve no purpose, and instead, subject her to, “constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling”. Her statement is a reminder that debates, although part of our great tradition of democracy, can be, when they involve conspiracy theorists like Lake, or before her, Donald Trump, forums of discord, where no substantive ideas are shared, and where conspiracy theories are spread.

The legend of the Lincoln-Douglas debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, has been held up to advance the reasons for having presidential debates. The debates involved some of the most profound debates the country has ever witnessed, centred around the issues of slavery.

The debates are noted for their depth, and for bringing attention to the slavery question, and for catapulting Lincoln to national attention. That model of a debate, which helped to make the case for abolition, has seldom been lived up to. It’s not possible to have every debate live up to that lofty standard, there are elections where there are very ordinary candidates on both sides, and the establishment has settled on a common understanding of major events. However, there are times, as we have experienced since Trump first descended down a gaudy, gilded elevator and announced he was running for president, when it becomes impossible and counter-productive to debate an opponent.

You just have to go back to the Clinton-Trump debates, between Hillary Clinton and Trump. Trump constantly interrupted Clinton, used childish name-calling, hovered over her, prowling like a predator, and constantly shifting the focus of the debate to the most pointless and poisonous conspiracy theories. Afterwards, Clinton spoke about how her “skin crawled” as Trump hovered. That was the worst debate in our nation’s history. A debate in which nothing of substance was debated, because one party had no policy, but only postures, threats, lies and conspiracy theories. While we would all love for a debate of the scale of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, today’s political reality, and the change of the Republican party into a party of childish name-callers and conspiracy theorists, means that debates, rather than forums of debate, are now toxic spaces.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/12/2122419/-Since-Trump-Political-Debates-Have-Become-Toxic

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