The Process Debate

Friday, December 16, 2011

Kathie Obradovich

DesMoinesRegister.com

"GOP Debate: Gingrich Skates Past Attacks"

After hours of heated debates and uncomfortable confrontations, Fox News gave its audience something a little different: a bland debate. Gingrich avoided fire from Perry and Romney in part because neither seemed to have the energy or grounds to challenge the current front runner. Obradovich, a reporter for the Des Moines Register, hypothesized that the consequences of attacking Gingrich could overwhelm Romney and backfire to hurt his campaign. The most heated discussion was between Bachmann and Ron Paul who are both polling at insignificant levels. Ron Paul worked himself into a passionate rant about Iran while Bachmann stumbled over retorts. As the Iowa caucus draws nearer, Iowans need to hear about the policy plans of the different candidates, but this debate did very little to distinguish Romney and Gingrich's policies. The blame for this lies in part with the questions Fox News asked the candidates. Many of the questions in Thursday's debate were "process" questions, rather that "policy" questions. A "process" question asks what a candidate would do in a certain situation, while a "policy" question asks more generally about beliefs. This distinction dictates the tone of the debate; the tone of Thursday's debate was fairly agreeable and vague. Obradovich writes that it was a generally strong debate--Gingrich avoided attack, and everyone else kind of got a little better. But will this be enough to sway Iowa? A debate should get to the center of issues and inspire intellectual discussion which was greatly lacking in Thursday's GOP debate.

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/15/gop-debate-gingrich-skates-past-attacks/