I’ve been reading the texts of the famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858. They were competing for one of Illinois’ U.S. Senate seats. Wow. They are amazing. Read them here.
A few thoughts:
- They are long. They look like they must have taken a couple hours each. And there were seven!
- As a consequence, not a lot of “soundbite” answers
- No questions from preening reporters, at least not in the bland style we have today. I’m often troubled by the fact that the media seems to think that the candidate “owes” them something.
- The audience interaction with the candidates is great! The responses of the audience are noted in the transcriptions: “Cries of ‘Yes, yes’”, “he answered that already”, “Rake him down”, “he can’t do it”. They add a realism so often absent from modern debates. The interaction between the audience and the candidate is much more rich and satisfying.
- It goes to show that politics then is not that different than politics now.