I am going to attempt to write a persuasive argument for the assertion that Fox News should host a Democratic debate.
Many here at Dailykos have expressed a desire to see more Democratic debates. We have also seen such calls for more debates from the candidates themselves. And now it is even appearing that many within the Democratic establishment want more debates.
But wishing will not make it so. For there to be more debates, there will have to be strong incentives for most of the parties involved, primarily the Democratic candidates.
I know that the route of having Fox News host an additional debate is obviously less likely than most other alternatives. Knowing that this is so unlikely, I want to argue in favor of this anyways. And I will attempt to do so in a way that explains why all parties involved should make this happen.
To begin with, in this post I want to explain why I think we (the Dailykos/larger Democratic community) would want to see a Fox News hosted Democratic debate. But obviously, for such a scenario to occur, the two most influential parties in making such a debate happen must see enough incentive in it.
So if there is interest, in subsequent posts I will explain why I think it would be in Hillary's interests to participate in such a debate, and why I think it would be in Fox News's interests to host such a debate.
To begin with, I wanted to start by arguing why I think we as the Dailykos community would want to see a Fox News Democratic Debate.
Of course I acknowledge that Fox News generally represents an entity out to tarnish and destroy the Democratic brand, and cannot deny the possibility that such a debate could devolve into a shitshow. But Fox News is also one of the widest avenues possible to reach the Fox News-characteristic audience. Although I do not like to paint with a broad brush, I think most here would agree that this is the type of audience that is especially prone to avoiding media and messages that do not already cater to their preferences. They are not going to go out and seek a Democratic message; they are not going to seek out objective commentary on the candidates; they are not going to watch the Democratic debates on any other channel. The only way to get these candidates to register in their consciousness is to go to their home turf.
Frankly speaking, I would argue that it is especially the Fox News demographic that needs to see the Democratic candidates firsthand. A lot of what they know about the candidates is flawed and biased, but a debate would give the candidates themselves a chance to show the Fox News demographic what they are really about. And, while one can imagine the extent to which Fox News would work to discredit all the Democratic candidates, the candidates will still have ample opportunity to sell their points and bring their message to the viewers.
No matter how hostile an environment Fox News would be, considering the Democratic candidates, I think all are capable of presenting themselves reasonably well even under the harsh scrutiny of Fox News; if anything, it would give us all the best chance to see how well they can withstand what would probably be the most severe criticisms any of them would face if they get the pick.
Not only would we get to see how the Democratic candidates fare under the treatment by Fox News, we would then have a sharp counterpoint to how the Republican debate on the same network fared. Comparing the Democratic field to the Republican field, how can one not get the sense that one is clearly playing with a far stronger deck of cards than the other?
I know that many here will find this line of thinking peculiar. After all, the Fox News audience is not going to be the ones voting for these candidates in the Democratic primaries; we will be. But that also means that by the time they do start to pay attention to this side of the aisle, which would be the General election, then the candidates they most need to hear from will already be out of the race. The primaries may be their only chance to get a glimpse of what Bernie Sanders has to say, for example.
But even if they can't vote for Bernie, if they can at least hear what he has to say, on income inequality and breaking up the big banks and climate change, or from Hillary on campaign finance reform or her platform on immigration reform, then maybe they will start to badger their own candidate on these important issues. Maybe they may even start to realize that the Republican does not necessarily speak for them on such issues.
It is true that a debate is an important chance for voters to get more concrete views of the candidates, and such a debate can be integral for undecided voters; but for a lot of us who have already picked a horse to back, these debates are more to get a sense of how politically savvy our candidate has become, and to gauge how far our candidate still has to go to perfect their political image. And one of the ways to gauge that is to get the candidates outside of their comfort zones.
Contrasting the tactics of Fox News compared to other networks, one might imagine that they would make it extremely difficult to craft an effective Democratic message, let alone one that speaks to Republican voters. Fox News moderators would not ask many questions on climate change, for example. So then the candidates would have to work that much harder to produce a message that is on point and can overcome such manipulations, to bring the issue into the conversation. That, to me, is a considerably important skill to develop in the shadow of the General election.
While I bring up all these points to try to make the case that there are a lot of reasons to want this debate, I also cannot deny that there are a lot of risks involved in such a move. Especially if our preferred candidate is not prepared for such scrutiny, for example, such a debate may end an otherwise-promising campaign. But if we really think our Democratic candidates our tough enough to weather the attacks - and I believe all are - then it will also represent the best opportunity these candidates will have to face their weaknesses head on, and show the audience that they are not weak candidates, after all.
In a world where Party-friendly debates have devolved into sterile messaging and scripted ordeals, perhaps it would be better for the political system as a whole to see the politicians, even the ones we support, outside of their comfort zones, finding ways to engage audiences that have long since tuned them out. I certainly would not be suggesting such a debate if I did not think it would ultimately help the Democratic candidates campaigns in some way.
Anyways, it's time I hear some of your thoughts on this idea.