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Ditch Debates; Update With PowerPoint

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By TOM JACKSON

tjackson@tampatrib.com

Published: October 8, 2008

Joe the Attorney, a partner of a law firm with offices in Tampa and St. Petersburg and a friend of This Space, has had about enough of the campaign season, but not for the reasons one might expect.

Too much fussing? Please. I mean, he's a litigator. He likes an argument about as much as he likes fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and he likes that a lot. But, with fishing and disputing, his satisfaction derives from evidence of clarity. Did he catch his limit? Did his presentation satisfy the jury, the judge?

Yes or no, no or yes, at the end of the day, clarity prevails.

By contrast, political campaigns often seem to seek obfuscation by design. Even the events designed to lay the candidates bare are of scant help. Whether conducted under network television lights on a national stage or among intimate company on a community college campus, these pseudo-debates and town-hall meetings are tributes to stealth packaging consisting of talking points and well-rehearsed zingers passed off as spontaneous moments of genius.

Worse, when it's over, substance fades; images and one-liners enter the Debate Hall of Fame. George Bush the Elder glances at his watch. Message: I care. Ronald Reagan smiles. There you go again. Al Gore sighs. Lock box. Lloyd Bentsen tags Dan Quayle. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy. Sarah Palin winks. You betcha she winks. Joe Biden flashes his dazzling Britewhites and conjures another fairytale. When we ... kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon. ...

I mean, none of it is Lincoln-Douglas, exactly.

Show Us A Picture

That isn't what annoys Joe the Attorney. What annoys Joe the Attorney is, for all our technological advances in the area of communications sciences, we continue to rely on 19th century methodology to argue 21st century challenges. Let me stand up here and talk through the labyrinth that is the credit crisis, and hope like heck what I'm saying is what you hear.

Craziness.

Anymore, no sensible advocate would pitch an argument of any significance unaided by a PowerPoint presentation. Whatever the arena, from governmental or corporate boardroom to courtroom to convention center ballroom, illumination and persuasiveness are more readily achieved when the pitch is accompanied by our era's ubiquitous, animated visual aid.

Joe the Attorney, who expects clients would fire him if he went to court without a PowerPoint, would like to see political candidates held to a similar standard. Ditch the debates and the town halls. In the same handful of prime-time slots, invite the contenders to make PowerPoint presentations on assigned topics. First week, domestic issues; second week, foreign affairs; third week, candidates' choice.

A Modest Proposal

Provide 30 minutes for presentation, another 15 to defend, expand, extend, amend or revise under questioning from nonaligned experts. The first half-hour would reveal whether the candidate can explain, meaningfully, the positions and programs he/she favors. The latter quarter-hour would suggest depth of conviction and how he/she thinks on his/her feet.

At the conclusion of the event, both presentations, plus video, are released on the Internet. Studies ensue. Clarity, to the extent that it ever is possible, prevails.

Compare this simple educational update to the winding-down of a campaign debate season virtually guaranteeing we'll have a resolution long before we have clarity.

Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

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