by Jules Witcover

After nearly a dozen Republican presidential debates in advance of the 2012 election designed to inform the American people about their choices and possibly narrow the field, neither objective has yet been adequately satisfied. Eight GOP hopefuls who have taken part in most of the debates are still standing, with questions about all of them.

Beyond the obvious fact that hope springs eternal in the hearts of White House wannabes, the televised debates have kept the field intact by virtue of the free national exposure extended to all of them. Network, cable and print news organizations, as well as some partisan think tanks, have picked up the tab assuring the eight survivors wide public exposure almost weekly.

Most Americans are not yet glued to their screens breathlessly watching the 90-minute or longer walkathons, preferring the likes of "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" to heavy political chatter. But the debates have provided raw material for endless journalistic digestion that has made it likely the gist of them has filtered out to millions of voters by now.

The campaigns of the eight -- in alphabetical order Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum -- do have to shell out for their travel and hotels. But that's peanuts compared to what they would have to pay for comparable air time on the ubiquitous tube.

Before the serial television debates, the poorer candidates would have been hard-pressed by this stage to remain in contention, but the free ticket to national exposure now enables the least pecuniary of them to hang in. Most notable in this category is Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator badly beaten in his reelection bid five years ago and seldom heard from since -- until the free debates tossed him a political life preserver.

The complimentary ride on the airwaves for all eight Republican contenders may explain why their competition in fund-raising has seemed less significant so far in this election cycle. In any event, the GOP pack has been far eclipsed to date by President Obama's money machine, which is headed for a record-setting take, not to mention the daily free air time he gets by virtue of his heavily covered official events.

Also, while the Republican challengers are subjecting themselves to public and press grilling in the debates that often keep them on the defensive explaining slips of the lip or just plain gaffes, Obama as president pretty much controls the dialogue. But for those who want his job, the debates, no matter how politically perilous they may be, are irresistible.

Yet what questions have been most raised about them by the television confessionals? Has Romney's chief consistency been his inconsistency on health care and abortion? Does Perry's short suit in thinking on his feet trump his record as governor of Texas? Is Cain's obvious lack of depth on foreign policy a deal-breaker? Has Gingrich's confession of compassion for elderly illegal aliens facing possible family break-up rule him out as a true conservative?

All these revelations coughed up in the debates shed no light whatever on the primary pressing issue facing the country now and heading into next year's presidential election. How will any of the debaters, or Obama, get America back to work? Although the stagnant national unemployment rate clings to nine percent or higher, precious little of a constructive nature is expressed on this question as all the contenders vie for an edge in watchers' appraisal of their fitness to lead the country.

Not all the shallowness of the campaign can be blamed on the debates. Other issues not raised in them, such as the allegations of sexual harassment against Cain and Gingrich's lucrative "consulting" fees from a federal mortgage-lending agency, have intruded into substantive discussion.

But after 11 long airings of the views of the eight GOP candidates, little helpful can be gleaned from all the chatter about how to get the country out of the economic hole in which it finds itself. Not until the voters winnow out the field early next year can we hope to get more clarity on the most critical issue of all.

 

Receive our political analysis by email by subscribing here



GOP Debate Mania | Politics

© Tribune Media Services