Talk isn’t always cheap, as former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s over half-billion-dollar self-funded multi-media campaign demonstrated. It is just one of several instances one can point to of something quite different about 2020 than the norm.
Whatever the cause of COVID19, the nation is in the grip of an increasingly broad shutdown that is blamed on the coronavirus. There are fewer and fewer places to go and things for Americans to do. This is an apt time to do something unconventional. Namely, start the presidential debates between the major party candidates early.
Typically, presidential debates begin after both major parties have selected their nominee, following their respective conventions. That can and should still occur.
While oddsmakers say Senator Bernie Sanders’ (VT-I, self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist) chances are looking slim, there have been other surprises in this cycle already. It is possible, of course, that after today one of the Democratic hopefuls might opt to drop out. But either way, President Donald J. Trump has said he is happy to debate and campaign against either Democratic candidate, who POTUS has dubbed “Sleepy Joe” Biden and “Crazy Bernie” Sanders respectively.
Of course, the Democratic candidates have used slurs aimed at the occupant of the Oval Office that include “pathological liar,” “xenophobe,” “misogynistic,” “racist,” and the like. Why not put those labels and allegations and more all on the table, as soon as possible? Put President Trump’s public service record up against the decades of service by Senator Sanders and former VP Biden.
This proposal could be an epic way to focus the nation early on the often widely different plans the leading candidates of the two major parties propose. MHProNews claims no influence with either of the campaigns, but hereby proposes something far more interesting than the narrowing alternatives that COVID19 responses are yielding.
Take the negatives and make this time of crisis into a positive. Find the silver lining in what is occurring.
Among the topics that could be debated are:
- the lessons learned from past pandemics, this current one, how should the economy be re-ignited once this current crisis has past.
- Healthcare,
- affordable housing,
- regulations,
- capital access,
- immigration,
- border policies,
- trade,
- foreign policies and international relations,
- the federal budget,
- the “Green New Deal,” energy, fracking and environment, etc.
- taxation,
- plus their respective visions for fostering opportunities to lift Americans of whatever background up.
Shake it Up!
There should be a shakeup in the debate format considered too. For example, allow each candidate to have an AV resource that allows them to play short video clips of themselves and/or their rivals.
It could be 2 hours, with two 5-minute breaks. Watch the cost of commercial time in that time slot soar, because the viewership would soar. 2 hours is long enough to leave people hungry to watch another robust debate. Something similar could be done by congressional and senate candidates at the local level.
If one or more of the candidates publicly made an offer to do something like the above now, as rapidly as possible, it would be an immediate news sensation.
Thousands of organizations have their workplaces shut down today, including some known in the manufactured housing industry, due to this declared public health and national emergency. Instead of panic, let those who desire the job of Commander in Chief or other public roles help the nation’s citizens ponder how we got where we are today and how as a free people can best move ahead.
That type of discussion or debate could be just the sort of thing that could make this national COVID19 pause an opportunity to enter into a broader discussion on what the direction of the nation has been, where we are, and where We the People of the American Republic want to go into the future. Let’s shake it up, take the lemons and make it into lemonade.
See the related reports below the byline for more insights and context on COVID19. That’s a wrap for this installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory built housing” © – MHVille’s runaway #1 news source, where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (News, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary.) Notice: all third party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media. 
Submitted by Soheyla Kovach for MHProNews.com. Soheyla is a co-founder and managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn here and here.
