Thoughts On The First Clinton/Trump Debate

This evening, Trump and Clinton will face off in the first republican/democratic debate of this election year.

 

Yippee. So thrilled. Really.

Disclaimer: Offically, CWOTI as an entity doesn’t endorse any candidate. Personally, I think it’s stupid for newspapers or any other organization to endorse anyone. Who cares? A newspaper can’t vote, so what difference does it make who they say they endorse?

And I have own opinion about who to vote for. But that’s not the point of this post. The point is the debates. And how pointless they are. Especially now.

Trump said he didn’t think debate moderators should fact-check the participants. And the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates agreed. It remains to be seen what the moderator of tonight’s debate or any other will do, but the ground is already laid for claiming that a moderator is biased against one candidate or the other if they fact-check ANYTHING.

As a result, tonight’s debate, and any that follow are pointless. If the candidates can say whatever they want without being held accountable IN THE MOMENT, then why bother?

Seriously, why even freaking bother? Oh, sure you can watch the debate while also following someone that will be fact-checking, but if you follow a Trump supporter, they won’t really fact-check Trump, and a Clinton supporter won’t really fact-check Clinton, so if you follow different people, you can get multiple “facts”.

But here’s the thing:

Facts are FACTS – facts, by definition, aren’t debatable. They aren’t things to argue about. Truth is truth. Reality is reality. These aren’t things our Presidential candidates, let alone anyone with half a brain, should be debating.

But that is exactly what will happen tonight and in the following debates. Facts won’t be presented, they’ll be argued. Worse, they won’t even be argued fairly. There will be a lot of hand-waving and interrupting and lots of wink-wink nudge-nudge to their supporters, but in the end, nothing will change.

Trump supporters will still support Trump, Clinton supporters will still support Clinton, and few, if any, undecided people will decide. (And honestly, who is still undecided at this point? The campaigns have been going on for years already.)

Bottom line is this: It doesn’t matter. The debates between now and election day don’t matter. Because you won’t learn anything, your opinion of your candidate won’t change, and both sides will declare that they won and that the other side broke rules or that the moderator didn’t do his job or blah blah blah.

Will you be watching? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.