2012 Presidential Debates

[Reaganfan]

When all the balloons fall on the GOP nominee, and the curtain drops following the President's convention, it comes down to the final stretch, the 2012 Debates.

Which Republican candidate do you think could ace against President Obama in the debates? One that comes to mind is Governor Huckabee, as clearly without television, his 2008 campaign wouldn't have even come close to what it was. I can picture an aged, serious Obama and see Huckabee smile and tell and joke and have the American people eat it up.

[Skill and Chance]

Obama's style is pretty dead serious.  You would want someone who is good with humor but won't be a big risk of making a fool of him/herself.  Huckabee would be a good debater, as would Pawlenty or Gingrich most likely.  Romney is also dead serious in tone, which would hurt him.  Daniels also seems to be a little too serious.  Palin would probably end up mixing up California and Florida or something similar. 

[Reaganfan]

Obama's style is pretty dead serious.  You would want someone who is good with humor but won't be a big risk of making a fool of him/herself.  Huckabee would be a good debater, as would Pawlenty or Gingrich most likely.  Romney is also dead serious in tone, which would hurt him.  Daniels also seems to be a little too serious.  Palin would probably end up mixing up California and Florida or something similar. 

I think Thune, Santorum, Huckabee, Romney and Gingrich would all be strong debaters. Especially the last three.

[Skill and Chance]

Obama's style is pretty dead serious.  You would want someone who is good with humor but won't be a big risk of making a fool of him/herself.  Huckabee would be a good debater, as would Pawlenty or Gingrich most likely.  Romney is also dead serious in tone, which would hurt him.  Daniels also seems to be a little too serious.  Palin would probably end up mixing up California and Florida or something similar. 

I think Thune, Santorum, Huckabee, Romney and Gingrich would all be strong debaters. Especially the last three.

I think Romney would do a good job, don't get me wrong, but I think his style is very similar to Obama's so someone like Huckabee or Gingrich or Thune might be more effective because they all have that "folksy" side.

[California8429]

1. Gingrich due to his brilliance and ability to control any situation on air pretty much.
2. Thune. He took on daschle and looks good on TV.
3. Huckabee, but I doubt he'll run.

At the moment, I can't see anybody else coming close to Obama.

Palin gets the lowest spot out there

[You kip if you want to...]

Remember Palin's VP debate performance? I want to see that repeated, for the comedy value.

[Whacker77]

I cannot believe any Republican would even consider Mike Huckabee as a potential nominee.  I know this thread is about debating ability, but Huckabee is no conservative on financial issues.  I know he is talking a good game right now, but his time in Arkansas was anything but conservative economic.

I think Jeb Bush, since I'm hoping he runs, would be the best debate opponent.  Most importantly, he is a policy guy.  Second, he doesn't use "um" 42 times in a two minute answer.

[Keystone Phil]

Ok, I know my appreciation for Christie is going to become a new forum joke but, hey, he'd be the best at debating Obama. If I think about Christie as a Presidential candidate, I always picture him in the debates. I could see him tearing it up.

I think Huckabee, Santorum and Gingrich would be/have been great debaters.

[California8429]

I cannot believe any Republican would even consider Mike Huckabee as a potential nominee.  I know this thread is about debating ability, but Huckabee is no conservative on financial issues.  I know he is talking a good game right now, but his time in Arkansas was anything but conservative economic.

I think Jeb Bush, since I'm hoping he runs, would be the best debate opponent.  Most importantly, he is a policy guy.  Second, he doesn't use "um" 42 times in a two minute answer.

Huckabee's stances on the issues have nothing to do with him deciding a run. It's about clemency and how that will be dragged through the whole entire race. Romney is a moderate and he's running, same with Pataki.

[Poundingtherock]

Uh...you do know that Palin's debate performance was very strong according to the Pew Research Center?  Her "excellent" rating was higher than Obama's "excellent" rating in his debate performance and about the same as Biden's "excellent" rating.

http://people-press.org/reports/questionnaires/459.pdf

Of course you didn't know....you are probably part of the 10% who thought she didn't do an excellent job in her convention speech, unlike 60% of the rest of the country.

[Yelnoc]

Uh...you do know that Palin's debate performance was very strong according to the Pew Research Center?  Her "excellent" rating was higher than Obama's "excellent" rating in his debate performance and about the same as Biden's "excellent" rating.

http://people-press.org/reports/questionnaires/459.pdf

Of course you didn't know....you are probably part of the 10% who thought she didn't do an excellent job in her convention speech, unlike 60% of the rest of the country.

Why are you so combative?  Are you insecure about something?

[Poundingtherock]

I'm not a fan of spin or talking points.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

I liked Huck's performance in the 2008 primary debates.

[feeblepizza]

Newt or the Huckster could certainly wipe the floor with Obama during a debate any day.

[Inmate Trump]

Chris Christie could take him out.

Huckabee might be good in a debate against the president.



Who knows?

[California8429]

I'm not a fan of spin or talking points.

...so you're in politics?

[paul718]

Gingrich

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Ron Paul won all the primary debates last time, so I doubt Obama's teleprompter would be able to keep up with him either.

[California8429]

Ron Paul won all the primary debates last time, so I doubt Obama's teleprompter would be able to keep up with him either.

interesting that he didn't win any primary or caucus states then

[Lincoln Republican]

Newt or the Huckster could certainly wipe the floor with Obama during a debate any day.

Gingrich and Huckabee may be good debaters, but it is unrealistic to say that they would wipe the floor with Obama.

Obama is super intelligent, can be most charming, and is one of the most effective speakers, possibly debaters, in public life today.

No one wipes the floor with Obama.

[Phony Moderate]

Ron Paul won all the primary debates last time

No one objectively wins any debate, no matter how much your solipsistic mindset deludes you.

[dmmidmi]

Newt or the Huckster could certainly wipe the floor with Obama during a debate any day.

Gingrich and Huckabee may be good debaters, but it is unrealistic to say that they would wipe the floor with Obama.

Obama is super intelligent, can be most charming, and is one of the most effective speakers, possibly debaters, in public life today.

No one wipes the floor with Obama.

This, pretty much.

In terms of "winning" a Presidential debate, haven't most of the winners come off as amiable, knowledgable, and calm and collected? Basically, it seems that the most important strategy is to 1) not come off as abrasive or cold (see: Gore, Al and Nixon, Richard), 2) display knowledge of current issues and set forth a semi-clear agenda, and 3) not screw up (see: Dukakis, Michael and Ford, Gerald). If one is looking to deliver the proverbial "Kill Shot" during the debates, I just don't see that happening. It's not likely that anybody will look much better than Obama (who doesn't look all that different from JFK in that setting) in a debate format--at least not to the point that voters will change their minds based on the debate performance.