America Could Use Series Of “Lincoln-Douglas Debates”

There is no way, in spite of the recent and most fluid polls of anchor-less conservatives, that Newt Gingrich will gain the nomination for the Republican Party.  While that is good news for almost every public policy  issue, and certainly for the ethical quality of government service, there is one aspect to his non-nomination that I regret not being able to see.

In a recent CNN debate, Newt Gingrich announced that he was interested in debating President Obama in seven, three-hour long debates in the style of the  famed “Lincoln-Douglas debates”.

Someone asked me this fall what I felt was the most pressing need in the nation.  While there are countless themes that could have been offered from education, environment, health care, tax reform, job creation for not only next year but also next decade, and increasing investments for new ideas for economic vitality I stated a rather strange response.  (Or so the facial expression staring back led me to believe.)

I answered that we need, first and foremost, to have a full and robust dialogue about the systemic problems that have placed the nation where we are today, and what must be done to move to the goals that I think are not well thought out.

As such I applauded when hearing Gingrich wants real debates that would allow for great latitude and time to expound on the issues and ideas that need to be grappled with by this country.

While many would pay no attention to such debates, I am confident an ever-growing segment of the nation would tune in and start to wrestle with concepts and ideas that go light-years beyond slick campaign PR and canned sound bites.  The unrest and unease that has been demonstrated on both sides of the political divide over the past years would insure each of the presidential candidates would need to present well-reasoned and in-depth plans along with the background and facts to buttress their proposals.

Part lecture, part debate.

It could be  the most intellectually challenging political campaign since the original “Lincoln-Douglas Debates”.  America needs to get past the notion that public policy issues can be crushed into a 45-second news story or four paragraphs in USA Today.

Image the following during one of the debates–

President Obama could debate on the downside of austere budget cuts, and how tightening government spending furthers the chances of an economic slow down.  The President could challenge the simplistic notion that no new tax revenues are ever needed or justified.

In this fantasy debate Gingrich could talk about why government is a ruthless master and needs to be tamed while orphanages should be brought back into existence.

The debates as outlined by Newt Gingrich are worthy of attention, even if he is not the nominee.

The point I am making is that for the most part, in spite of all the media outlets and avenues to gain insight into the issues, our nation is not overly engaged or informed on the issues that should be central to a presidential race.

Perhaps like no other time this nation could use a series of “Lincoln-Douglas debates”.