Lousy Format, Lousy Debate

08 October 2006 |permalink | email article

Saturday’s so-called statewide gubernatorial television clash between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Treasurer Phil Angelides at Sacramento State University seemed more like a pre-Halloween masquerade than a real debate - more treats, few tricks. A badly structured, sitting format never encourages serious exchange.
At least the governor wore a Kelly green tie.

Sure, the headlines focused on taxes and tuition and tried to suggest sharp contrasts between the candidates. But, in reality, the encounter produced minimum sizzle, no beef, no defining moment but rather a rehash of the usual uninspiring campaign rhetoric.

It did generate a few good laughs, though.

Schwarzenegger joked that spending time with the liberal Angelides was like “dinner with Uncle Teddy at Thanksgiving,” a reference to Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. Angelides replied, “He’s a great man. Thank you very much.”

Few thought Angelides could score a verbal knockdown against the governor who is prone to misspeak, and the challenger did not disappoint. In politics, a tie always favors the incumbent. 

The former actor often spoke directly to the camera. In stunning contrast, the seemingly awed treasurer for almost the first 40 minutes looked away from viewers and was the victim of awkward profile shots – a fatal perception on the tube.

The mostly tepid exchanges often seemed dwarfed by the candidates’ repeated references to their immigrant credentials and staunch love for family – notably the governor’s repeated bows to his Democratic wife-mentor Maria Shriver – during this forgettable public exercise.

Instead of a real exchange with reporters asking probing questions, the “conversational debate” format on a traditionally low viewership night, opposite college football and baseball playoffs, predictably fizzled.

At one early point, Angelides said, “Go Bears,” noting California’s football game with Oregon in Berkeley, a sublimal suggestion that the overmatched underdog sensed the public was otherwise engaged. They were. The #10 Bears won and the hapless Dodgers lost.

450