With four Presidential debates scheduled over the next month, now is the time for citizens to let the moderators know what should be covered by the questions. This post is inspired by a call to action on the FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) website: ACTION ALERT: With Planet at Stake, Moderators Must Make Climate a Focus of Debates. Sample messages can be found in the article’s comments.
We already have a tentative list of topics for the first debate, and although it covers some important ground, the climate crisis is not among them — not too surprising given that the moderator is Chris Wallace of Fox News.
Below is a list of the dates, moderators, and moderators' email addresses as listed in the FAIR article. Of course, if you have other issues or suggestions, send them along too!
I have to wonder if there’s a way to administer a cognitive test, or at least ask a few questions in real time on live TV, that might demonstrate a difference between the candidates? Or maybe show their grasp of geography or history? “Please explain the importance to the US of each of the Central American countries to the south of Mexico” — asked when Trump answers first. Betcha he winds up talking about Venezuela and Brazil, maybe even Cuba. Or maybe mine old episodes of Talking to Americans for questions about Canada. One of many collections of clips can be found here (warning: high hilarity).
Chris Wallace, Fox News (September 29, Cleveland)
fns@foxnews.com
@FoxNewsSunday
Susan Page, USA Today (October 7, Salt Lake City--VP debate)
spage@usatoday.com
@SusanPage
Steve Scully, C-SPAN (October 15, Miami)
sscully@c-span.org
@SteveScully
Kristen Welker, NBC News (October 22, Nashville)
kristen.welker@nbcuni.com
@KWelkerNBC