Lets Have Our Own Presidential Debate!

[smockers83]

I thought it would be interesting to really bring out everyone's individual and own viewpoints on different issues in one thread. What this would mean is a list of issues and only original thought. That means absolutely no saying Obama thinks this, McCain said that. This is all original thought and your very own opinion and way to go about them. You are the one running for President of the US. You may adopt the candidates' views, but provide original thought only, meaning put it into your own words. Some quick rules I came up with and I would be willing to moderate and direct the discussion through asking questions to both sides, ending discussions on issues and moving onto the next one, and not participating in the debate itself:

1. A list of issues and subsequent sub-issues will be provided and the debate will work through them one by one, not jumping around.

2. If one considers him/her self to be liberal, they will have one day to voice their own opinion and how they would work on the issue. Then those on the right have one day to say what they believe. The next day the left will be able to respond. Then the next, the right can respond. Each main topic will be given two (2) days for each side, so we'll spend four (4) days on each topic. If it is not your day to be speaking, you are not allowed to speak, no ifs ands or buts. Such posts will be asked to be deleted.

3. There will be absolutely no attacks whatsoever. 100% no tolerance. If you disagree, simply state you disagree and why while providing a coherent rebuttal. Now, you can direct your disagreement towards a single person, but you cannot attack him/her or anything under the rules of this forum. If anyone is found guilty, in order to keep a civilized debate going, I would like to ask NICO moderators to delete such posts.

4. Moving to different topics won't be allowed until the current topic being discussed is over.

5. Each post should be limited to 500 words. That may not sound like a lot at first, but I think you may be surprised. If you aren't sure, copy and paste into a word processor. Posts will be checked for length. If one is too long, I will ask NICO moderators to cut it off at exactly 500 words whether your post was 501 words or 600 words.

6. One post will be allowed by each person per day. You may post again if someone from the same side as you asks you a question or challenges you. You may also post again if I ask you a question or to further elaborate. Again, all posts should be limited to 500 words.

7. Do not make unnecessary posts. That means no one liners with the icons. If you're going to post, it better be meaningful of the discussion.

8. If you want to quote articles, statistics, or any other type of data needed for your argument, post only the relevant pieces and try to keep it to a very minimum as original thought will be highly stressed. And provide the link in which you found it in parentheses immediately after the quoted material.

9. All other rules as stated in the Forum Rules shall be followed.

Anyone game or have some additional ideas/concerns/rules? Let me know or email me.
Modified by smockers83 at 11:45 AM 10/1/2008

[marlin29311]

I'm in! I think someone should make a template (sorry, im at work and don't have time to template things) of questions to be answered and we can all move forward from there.

Sounds like a fun idea, should bring up some interesting discussions!

[dusred]

So which side gets the opening remarks in this debate? Also, what about 3rd parties who are running?

[smockers83]

Ah, yes 3rd parties can speak up for sure. I was just generalizing everyone into either liberal or conservative, not Dem and GOP. Opening remarks will be given in the first issue to the side in the White House, so the conservatives. The next issue would go to the liberals. Notice that I don't mention parties, I don't want this turning into party politics either, just straight up original thought whether it agrees with traditional liberal/conservative views or not. I know I cross political lines on some issues, so if that means you cross the line, go all out, don't be afraid of what others may think of you. So if you do cross the line on an issue, that means you debate during the designated day for the side you cross with, don't stay on the same side. Voice your opinion because that's what will make it interesting!

I will start creating a list and put it up tonight around midnight Eastern and will open the debate up then. Conservatives will then have until midnight Eastern the following day for opening remarks.

This would be your guys' debate, so it would be up to you guys to stick to the rules, particularly when its your turn to post. Just as in a normal, civil debate, you don't want to interrupt the person(s) speaking.

[HashiriyaS14]

I think that the debate needs to be moderated.

Not like "NICO mods", but like moderated in the traditional debate sense. We can't just let discussion continue until it "needs to end".

Proper debates are structured in very hard-and-fast terms. Strict rules, time limits, et cetera. These exist for a reason and we would have to find some way to approximate them to have a meaningful debate, or to have this debate be any different from a normal thread.

Maybe have two parties go back and forth on email, with word-number limited responses, moderated by someone in the middle, and then post the whole, finished conversation when it is done.

[marlin29311]

I feel like if we did it over email and then posted everything up as a final product, it would lose the spark of a debate. It then just becomes sending emails about your ideas, values, morals, etc....

I agree with regulation though. If we were to limit each person 1 post per day not exceeding a certian word count or something, that would work well. We need to keep it open for everyone to see so that rebuttals can be properly formed by the opposing side. I don't think that you can have a "traditional" debate on a web forum, simply because you don't know who's going to be on and when they are going to be on, but it is important for everyone to have their opinion's heard.

[smockers83]

Yeah, time limits would be a good idea. Maybe I'll limit each side to two days each per issue. Came up with a list last night, but didn't get a chance.

[Jesda]

[smockers83]

Alright, so here's the list. My first post with the rules will be edited as well to lay down the rules, so please read it again. If ideas for rules come up, those can be added, as we're not exactly sure how this is going to work. For the first couple of days is going to be trial and error, but still play by the rules. We will go through the list one by one in the order of the list. For each topic I will also list subtopics that I would like people to touch on. For the sub topics, I will also direct the discussion to and away from them and others may even come up which is fine.

1. Foreign policy -- The War on Terrorism (Afghanistan and Iraq); Iran; Russia; China; Venezuela; Israel; Africa; preemptive war or imminent threat as a basis for war; our role in the world and how do you see us in that role 5, 10, and 15 years down the road.

2. Domestic policy -- Education; immigration; wire tapping; the Patriot Act;

3. Economy -- the first bailout plan (for/against and why); the passed bailout plan (if one exists by the time we get to this topic), otherwise the current plan being debated; tax policy; loss of jobs; how to create/keep jobs jobs; the mortgage business and the financial situation and how you plan to fix it besides some sort of bailout, whether that's through more regulation, investigations, etc; Social Security. Some of these topics stretch into the international economy, so bring those into your arguments as well.

4. Health care -- this could be a difficult one as it is a very complicated issue, so for now we'll keep it whether you're for/against the government taking over health care insurance wise. Medicare/Medicaid, illegal aliens in the system.

5. Energy -- to drill or not to drill; alternative sources; reform of the transportation industry(?); futures trading of oil and dealing with speculation; investigations and if so, of who and why; expansion of oil refinery capacity nation wide; nuclear power.

The debate may not start until 12 noon Eastern (time will be determined by an actual clock, not the time on NICO). That is about 45 minutes from now. Opening remarks go to the conservatives on Topic 1, Foreign Policy. Touch on areas of the topic with a focus on Iraq and discussion will be directed from there. Good luck and I'm excited to moderate this discussion in a debate sense and see what comes out of it.
Modified by smockers83 at 11:46 AM 10/1/2008