Friday, July 24, 2015

Let All 16 Candidates Debate





What happens when you try to rerun the last election? Answer: You lose.



Curt Anderson, a consultant to Bobby Jindal's 2016 presidential campaign, has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal arguing that all 16 major candidates should be on stage at the first Republican National Committee-sanctioned debate on August 6 in Ohio. He writes, in part:
The Republican Party should be looking forward instead of backward—and seeking every opportunity to feature its roster of excellent candidates, rather than trying to find ways to constrict the field. The voters will do that, as is their prerogative. The simple truth is that competitive primaries usually make a party stronger, not weaker.

It’s also true that whenever the smart guys in Washington get together and try to shortcut the democratic process by imposing a candidate from the top down, it generally goes poorly. Whatever happened to the idea of freedom? Or democracy? Or robust argument? As a Republican, I wonder: When did we start fearing debates? And if we do fear debates, what business do we have trying to win elections?
...A debate with 16 participants just doesn't work. It's not feasible. That's a hard reality...
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