[SamAdams76]

Debates are so overrated. Usually the candidate who "outdebates" the other candidate is hailed by the MSM as the victor but what the people at home are looking for are intangibles, such as "can I picture this person as my president".

I still remember the 1988 debates. Mike Dukakis had every answer perfectly memorized and appeared that he was reading verbatim from policy papers. He came out of that first debate honestly thinking he "nailed it". But the way he so clinically and mechanically handled each question with precision - especially the hypothetical rape question - turned everybody at home off.

Nobody wants a policy wonk to be their president. They want somebody more charismatic with a commanding presence, somebody who sucks the air out of the room when they enter it. JFK had it. Ronald Reagan had it. Donald Trump has it in spades. When he walks into a room - he owns it.

[needmorePaine]

Debates are so overrated. Usually the candidate who "outdebates" the other candidate is hailed by the MSM as the victor but what the people at home are looking for are intangibles, such as "can I picture this person as my president".

I also think debates are overrated. They are a relic of a bygone era. Maybe they mattered in the Lincoln-Douglas era or the Kennedy-Nixon era. They really don't matter as much now. Candidates can reach the people with their message in an instant.