NPR: Debating the Debates...

Debating the Debates...

This show was a crazy salad today. It all worked and it all made sense, but the separate ingredients -- your lettuce, your croutons, your ranch dressing -- well, they all came from different food groups. We had some politics, some international chinwag...dished about gas prices.

But I want to talk about the presidential debates. Tell the truth. Are you watching them? In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess I (along with Barbershop regular, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette and columnist Dwayne Wickham, also a syndicated columnist) am one of the questioners for a debate to be held June 26 and aired live on PBS, among the Democratic Presidential candidates. Tavis Smiley (former NPR host!), of PBS and PRI's The Tavis Smiley Show put it all together; he's the moderator. Our goal is to raise issues of particular concern to the African American community. The Republicans have accepted a similar invitation; their debate is in September. Don't know if I'm involved in that one (not that I'm lobbying).

Univision has also issued an invitation to the candidates to participate in a Spanish language debate in September, which got us to thinking...what's up with all these debates? Is anybody even paying attention?

We were delighted to have Dallas Morning News writer Macarena Hernandez join us. She just stopped writing her opinion column and is doing news writing again. We also hope to have her on next week for a piece she did about...no, I'm not going to tell you...you'll just have to listen. And Marvin Kalb, of CBS and NBC fame (he was a longtime Meet the Press moderator), now at Harvard's Shorenstein Center, joined us for his long view. He has an interesting proposal for how the debates should be conducted once the nominees are picked.

Boy, that seems a looong way away...

Have any of the debate formats made more sense than others to you? Any topics you think need to be discussed...that haven't been? Let me know...

Michel Martin

7:36 PM ET | 06- 7-2007 | permalink

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7:36 PM ET | 06- 7-2007 | permalink

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Oh yeah, and by extending the electoral cycle for many more Americans, the mainstream media also is encouraging political candidates to pander more to their party's base, which is not representative of the rest of us. By doing this, the candidates are in a position where they will make more promises and take more stances that they'll have to resend or adjust when and if they campaign in the general election. This makes them seem even more like scum bags. Way to go mainstream media!

Sent by Steve Petersen | 10:28 PM ET | 06-09-2007

I've been keeping an ear open for any shocking statements or dumb gaffs, but mostly I have not been watching the debates. It's way too early.

Sent by Scott K. | 10:16 PM ET | 06-15-2007

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'Tell Me More' with Michel Martin

"Nothing is assumed." That's the unofficial motto of Tell Me More, the new Monday-Friday talk show with host Michel Martin. Grounded in lively interviewing and compelling storytelling, the program seeks to present diverse new voices, cross borders, challenge conventional wisdom and discover how other people think.