A Debate over A Debate

The first official debate between the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain was scheduled for this Friday (9/26/08). However John McCain announced that he wanted to suspend his campaign and go to Washington to work on the economic crisis, and he called for Obama to do the same. Obama however, said that he would show up at the debate site regardless and if McCain didn't show up he'd have a town hall meeting or do something by himself depending on what the moderators for the debate wanted. So he tossed the ball back onto McCain's side of the court and now people are waiting to see what McCain will say.

Today I also read an article in the Star Tribune about what high school debaters think of the presidential debates (at least these particular high school debaters).

"Our presidential debates are media events that are forums at best, with the candidates primarily seeking a sound bite that will play out on the news the next few days," said Chris McDonald, whose Eagan High debate program is a perennial state tournament powerhouse.

It does seem like the candidates say the same thing over and over again when you listen to them making speeches and talking to reporters. But then again, don't people ask them the same questions over and over again? So they couldn't really give different answers. But I do think that they have some set word for word answers that they give out in response to the questions.

High School debates differ from the presidential debates in having only one topic for the entire year. Well you could say that the question, "Who is the best person to be president of the United States?" is also one topic but it covers a wide range of subjects. For the 2008-2009 school year, the topic is alternative and/or renewable energy. Wayzate High coach Gail Sarff thinks that the kids know more about this particular subject than any of the candidates because they research the issue, argue one side of it in the first round of debates, then argue the other side during the second round.

I think having high school debate teams is a good idea. While it seems strange at first to have groups of people come together and argue with each other, I think it makes people more aware of both sides of any issue and more aware of issues in general. That being said, I'm not sure I would want to be on one. I'm not very happy arguing and I have trouble seeing how I would argue for a position I didn't hold myself. It seems strange to try and promote say off shore drilling if you didn't agree with it yourself.
That's where I think it would be really strange to be a lawyer and try to argue for your client even if you didn't really agree with them. Hopefully most lawyers try to get clients that they actually agree with. . .