On Wednesday morning, Ted Lina convened his regular American Government and Politics course at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. It’s the same class that for the last 36 years has conducted the Annual St. Joe’s Debate – a thoroughly researched and professional affair that has become a mainstay of the Western New York political calendar.
The bet here is that Lina began his lecture with the same observations he shared with the Politics Column following the Tuesday evening debate (or maybe debacle?) between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
“It was the worst debate I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I can’t find words to describe how angry I am. They were like two little kids arguing on the playground.”
Lina has always instilled in his students the idea that politics and government are important – that they are studying something that will inspire them to maybe even devote future careers to participating in the process. Indeed, former students like State Sen. Tim Kennedy, Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, State Supreme Court Justice Emilio Colaiacovo, Delaware Council Member Joel Feroleto and U.S. District Judge John Sinatra have all gone that route.
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But the wild melee broadcast to some 67 million viewers on Tuesday may have had the opposite effect.
“It really was an insult to the American people,” Lina said. “Why would anyone want to watch another debate? Or even vote?”
This week, Lina’s guys will begin preparing for the 2020 St. Joe’s debate between congressional contenders Chris Jacobs and Nate McMurray, set for Oct. 21. They have already delved into famous debates of the past – Lincoln/Douglas, Kennedy/Nixon, Reagan/Carter – to study the successful techniques that helped shape our history.
Lina said he knows exactly what to convey to the class following the Tuesday affair.
“I’ll use this in the future to explain what not to do,” he said, pointing to Trump’s constant interruptions and attempts to drag his opponent down various “rabbit holes.”
Biden did not exactly distinguish himself, he said.
“ ‘You’re a clown,’ ‘shut up,’ ” Lina said in quoting the Democratic nominee. “He tried to talk over the president, and nobody can do that.”
So now his attention and that of his students turns to Oct. 21 and the debate between Jacobs, the newly elected Republican congressman, and McMurray, the Democrat making his third try for the 27th Congressional District.
It should prove interesting. The two squared off prior to the June special election won by Jacobs in a debate sponsored by Channel 4. McMurray, according to most observers, conducted himself in a Trumplike manner with shouting and constant interruptions. Lina called that affair “poorly moderated.”
After Tuesday’s presidential debate, Lina said the St. Joe’s students now face an extra responsibility to rein in any candidate straying beyond the boundaries to which they previously agreed.
“When their time is up, the microphone will be turned off,” he said. “I will not allow the candidates to unilaterally dismantle the debate. If they do, I will call them aside and tell them to follow the rules or I will call the debate. I wouldn’t hesitate.”
Some say that’s what should have taken place on Tuesday; that Fox News moderator Chris Wallace should have halted the proceedings, warning the tots in front of him that they either behave or pick up their toys and go home. The view here is that Wallace was a forceful as he could have been in managing an event that CNN observer Dana Bash described in terms too strong even for the Politics Column.
Lina said the Commission on Presidential Debates must revisit its own rules and procedures, which it said Wednesday it plans to do.
“The commission can’t allow it to continue,” he said. “It was a disgrace to our system.”
Maybe the commission ought to drop by the St. Joe’s gym on Oct. 21. It could be a wild and woolly affair, but you can be sure Ted Lina and his crew will keep it very much under control.
