Nine Dems on a SC stage

The political junkie in me wants to get excited, but it's not happening. All nine announced Democrats have agreed to participate in the May 3 debate in South Carolina.

The debate will get live coverage in pretty much all of SC, as well as Iowa, New Hampshire and Arizona. So by all means this should be a seminal moment in the 2004 elections, right?

But like the CDF debate on April 9, having so many candidates is everything but a debate. First of all, the candidates have to share 90 precious minutes with each other and the moderators (leaving each with what, nine minutes?). Second of all, you can't "debate" eight other people simulatenously. It's a ridiculous concept.

At this point, it would be better to go with the Cattle Call format -- let each guy have 10 minutes to give his stump speech. Save the debates for later on in the process when some of the candidates have been culled from the field (or the public is at least starting to pay attention).

The only thing worth seeing in this "debate" will probably be Al Sharpton's trademark evisceration of Bush and his administration. The rest of the field should look tame in comparison.

We shall see.

Posted April 21, 2003 03:19 PM | Comments (45)