r/neoliberal • u/dubyahhh Salt Miner Emeritus • Oct 02 '24

⚡⚡⚡THUNDERDOME⚡⚡⚡ ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE THUNNNNNNDAHDOME ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

NO MODS

NO GODS

HIDE YOUR COUCHES

THAT'S RIGHT

IT'S TIME FOR THE VP DEBATE

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '24

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u/fragileblink Robert Nozick Oct 02 '24 edited Oct 02 '24

I think the prep teams overload them with facts and figures that journalists pretend to care about, but not regular people. There's definitely more of a purity view on that side, which leaves less room to speak freely. When I hear them speak it is like an awkward mixture of what they would naturally say and what they are supposed to say.

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u/p-s-chili NATO Oct 02 '24

This is 100% what's happening. If you look at them speaking normally and then speaking at a debate, you can literally see them trying to balance all the various facts and figures while weaving them into a narrative on the fly. Once they get past their first couple of answers, they tend to shake off all the stuff that's been packed into their head and instead focus on crafting a narrative, which leads to them finding a groove and speaking well.

I've participated in debate prep on a much smaller scale (congressional and lower), and nearly every democratic operative I've ever worked with was hellbent on filling the candidate's head with as many snippets of facts and figures as possible. The people prepping our candidates are so up their own asses about proving they're smart that they're actively setting up our candidates to stumble out of the gate.