The Presidential Debate Should Be Conducted With The Candidates Enclosed In Isolation Booths
Relics from the 1956 quiz show, 21, should be resurrected to guarantee that this time the candidates will follow the rules
By David Grace (Amazon Page — David Grace Website)
From 1956 to 1958 one of the most popular network TV shows in America was the quiz show Twenty-One. Contestants would be asked wide-ranging questions with each correct answer helping the participant pile up more dollars.
Will s/he get there? Will they answer correctly? Will the reigning champion keep their crown or be deposed by a slip of the tongue or a failing memory?
Everyone was on the edge of their seats.
To insure that the participants were not coached and that no one in the audience might shout out the correct answer, the player was sealed in an “isolation booth” (pictured above) that would block out all sounds except those transmitted from the host’s microphone.
Everyone believed in the integrity of the competition with the winner succeeding only by reason of their intelligence and memory, until it was eventually revealed that it was all a scam; that the producers had furnished the current winning contestant with the answers and coached them on body language and facial expressions that might increase the suspense by making them appear confused, worried, thoughtful or confident.
In 1994 Robert Redford directed and produced a pretty good movie about Twenty-One called Quiz Show.
I was always struck with the tactics that the producers devised to make the fraud seem real. One of their most effective schemes was the concept of the isolation booth, a device based on the clever idea that the audience would have to believe that the show must be legitimate if, once locked inside the booth, the participant could only hear the voice of the show’s host, and the audience could only hear the contestant when s/he was supposed to speak.
Why would they go to all that trouble if the player already knew the answers in advance, the audience was supposed to think. Well, to fool people into believing that it wasn’t rigged in the first place. Genius.
And on September 30, 2020 after the first Biden-Trump so-called debate, I thought, “Isn’t an isolation booth exactly the necessary and proper equipment for the current participants in a Presidential candidates’ debate?”
And I answered myself, “Yes, of course!” No more talking over each other. No more interruptions. No more going beyond their allotted time.
Sure, if you had decent, honest, adversaries who believed in abiding by the rules and in fair play, people who, in a more physical contest would never hit below the belt or throw a punch after the bell, then isolation booths and the like would not be needed.
But that’s not the character of at least one of today’s Presidential candidates. Do I really need to describe the level of That Person’s honesty, character, integrity, fairness, good sportsmanship and willingness to follow the rules? If I do, then this column is going to mean little to you, and I will add, you are a terrible judge of character.
A partisan comment? No, not at all. I think Mitt Romney and John McCain, both conservative Republican candidates for President, were decent, honest, honorable, fair, truthful people of high integrity.
It would have been an insult to even suggest that either of them needed an isolation booth to insure that they debated fairly and in accordance with the rules.
Today, it’s an expression of colossal stupidity to suggest that candidate Donald Trump does not require an isolation booth if the goal is to conduct a debate with any semblance of the participants properly taking turns in speaking.
I note that it seemed obvious to me after Trump’s egregious and multiple violations of the debate rules during his first encounter with Biden in 2020 that Trump, and Biden as well, should have had their microphones deactivated when it wasn’t their turn to speak.
Why has it taken four long years for the debate sponsors to realize such an obvious requirement and include it in the 2024 debate structure?
But, after Mr. T’s conduct over the four intervening years, it’s also obvious to me that just turning off his mic when his time is up will not be enough to keep him from speaking out of turn. Not even close.
I have zero doubt that the first time Mr. T wants to interrupt, shout out, speak out of turn, or the like and discovers that his microphone is dead, Trump will very loudly shout out whatever comments he may wish to make.
The dead mic will do little or nothing to preserve the debate according to the agreed-upon rules. The more he shouts, “They can silence my microphone but they CANNOT silence me!” the wider will be his smile and the more the MAGA cult members, racists, gun nuts, religious fundamentalists, GOP sycophants, and socialist-fearing patsies will love it.
BTW, people living paycheck to paycheck who vote Republican because they think they are keeping the country from socialism are like turkeys who cheer for Thanksgiving.
So, it seems to me that the only way to actually have a debate where the parties will follow any semblance of the rules will be through the use of 1950s-style isolation booths, but with one modification.
Each booth will need an electronic lock so that once inside, barring a medical emergency, neither Trump nor Biden will be able to leave its confines until the debate has officially ended.
Given their history and natures it only seems prudent.
— David Grace (Amazon Page — David Grace Website)
