Fox News Should go on Without Trump, Kasich, Host Town Hall Meeting with Cruz Instead

I’m not a political insider, so I don’t profess to know the secrets of what media outlet is in the bag for which candidate. But here’s what I do know: as a media outlet, it’s your job to do your homework on candidates and to deliver that information to me in a non-bias manner, so I can make an educated decision on who to support. Without the media, I don’t have much to go on. Doing my own research on candidates’ websites is one thing, but I rely on network coverage of events and candidates, and journalists to ask the right questions and get me good information.

Debate should go on without Trump/Kasich. Two empty podia with their names. Can hang symbolic empty suits from them https://t.co/RM6Dwb514O

— Mark America (@markamerica) March 17, 2016

Debates are key, as various networks host them, a variety of questions are asked, and you hear the words straight from the candidates’ mouths. These televised events are supposed to be an opportunity for voters like me to get some answers, to see where the differences among the presidential candidates lie, so that I can find my candidate.

I happen to be registered Republican, so for me, it began with 17 candidates. While it was good to see them all on stage, until everyone had a chance to speak over the course of two to three hours, not much was said. I could get a feel for how they presented themselves, but there wasn’t much substance when it came to policy. With seven to ten people on stage at a time, and only a couple of hours, an in-depth look at policy is next to impossible to do.

We started narrowing the stage, and we had the penis joke fiasco. While the number of candidates begin to decrease, we got a glimpse of some more policy, but were bogged down by arguing, insults and inappropriate jokes. The debates weren’t worthless, but I still didn’t find much substantial policy. The focus seemed to be on who could give the most epic rebuttals and one-liners.

The debate on March 10 was better. It was the most substantial coverage of policy from the candidates to date, likely as a result of narrowing it down to four candidates, combined with the negative coverage of the previous circus debate. Everyone on stage was calm, cool and collected. They didn’t focus on insults, but rather on their own policies and how they differed from other candidates. Wonderful! Finally we’re on the right path.

And then we hit a dead end.

Donald Trump told Fox & Friends he won’t be participating in the upcoming debate, because he didn’t even know there was another one (we won’t get into that). And he says he thinks there have been enough debates, so he’s going to attend another important event on Monday instead.

John Kasich announced hours later that the reason he was looking forward to the event was to show the differences between his plan and the GOP front-runner, Trump, so he won’t be participating, either.

I understand it’s easy to get stuck in your bubbles on the campaign trail, but I think you’re both missing the point. “We the people” use these debates to make an educated decision on which candidate to support. Your responsibility is to us.

Fox News then canceled the debate, because Ted Cruz would be the lone candidate on stage. And that’s crazy, right? He can’t debate himself, so just scratch the whole thing.

WRONG. That's SO wrong.

This isn’t about your money or ratings, Fox News; this is about “We the people.” You scheduled the time, you planned the event, and there are 50,000 people who are ready to attend. Give Ted Cruz a town hall meeting.

Set up a few microphones in the audience, monitor social media for popular topics and questions. Heck, include some of the debate questions – you’ve got yourself an event. More importantly, you are giving the people of this country a chance to get to know a candidate. If the other candidates don’t want to give us the time of day, there’s nothing we can do. But if a candidate is willing to take time out of his schedule to talk to us about where he stands on the issues and what his policies are, you should not be standing in our way.

So what do you say, Fox News? How about doing your job, and giving us a “fair and balanced” look at the lone candidate who has the courage to show up?

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