Debater Moderators

While tensions were certainly high between the GOP candidates during the third Republican Debate, in an unexpected twist, the GOP candidates launched most of their attacks on the CNBC moderators. What started out as a cordial affair gradually broke down as candidates began by accusing the moderators of asking malicious questions, and then eventually took the role of moderating into their own hands. Throughout the various moments of this candidate-led moderation, a few trends appear. The GOP candidates achieved this moderation through shaping their responses to the moderators’ questions as an attack on the media and by interrupting each other’s responses, drowning out the voice of the moderators.
Towards the latter half of the debate, after multiple candidates had aspersed the moderators, the GOP candidates began to self-moderate the discussion evincing the trends mentioned above. Harwood’s question about tax policy bubbled into such a moment. Harwood and Rubio engaged in an aggressive back and forth. Rubio discredited Harwood’s question on The Tax foundation, claiming Harwood had written a story on it, and “had to go back and correct it.” When Harwood insisted that this was not the case, Rubio spoke over Harwood, “Yes, you did. No you did.” winning over the applause of the audience.
During this same back and forth, Senator Rand Paul intervened only to be shut down by moderator Quintanilla. However, Paul questioned, “What are the rules on who gets to follow up?” and demanded to speak. Quintanilla acquiesced.
Then, just as Paul finished, Cruz immediately intervened ignoring the moderator. Quintanilla tried to take charge of the conversation by hushing Cruz and trying to redirect the question. However, a determined Cruz spoke over Quintanilla, drowning out her voice. Quintanilla’s audible interjections, “Oh, no, no, no…” and “We’re going to go to…” were to no avail. Thus, Cruz managed to push an entire answer about tax policy over moderator Quintanilla’s best attempts to stop him, an answer that even won him great applause from the audience.
Bush and Christie were also seen taking charge of the debate. After the guest speaker, Epperson, finished asking Fiorina a question about the limits on federal government intervention, Bush seized the brief moment of silence to explain his own views on the matter. Moderator Quick tried speaking over Bush, asking a question about higher education, but was dismissed by Bush’s monologue answering the question originally posed to Fiorina.
A few moments later, when Bush was asked about fantasy football, Christie passionately interjected, “Are we really talking about getting government involved in fantasy football?” Christie openly questioned the substance of the discussion and insisted on focusing on ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the trade deficit. In this instance, not only did Christie ignore the moderator’s control over who gets to speak, but he also tried making substantive changes to the moderator’s line of questioning.
While the majority of GOP candidates took charge of the debate, there were a few who stayed relatively more in line. Notably, Huckabee on multiple occasions requested for extra time to speak, as opposed to outright taking it. Huckabee even checked with moderators when it was appropriate for him to interject, “Since he brought me up, do I get to respond?” Carson is another example of a candidate that did not engage in the crosstalk. He rarely entered discussion unless he directly received a question.
On the whole, however, these moments of civility were infrequent. It will be interesting to see how this debate and the subsequent complaints of the GOP influence the next the debate. The role of moderators is under scrutiny, and it remains to be seen how future moderators adapt their methods to maintain order. But the moderators can be sure that if they are perceived as incompetent, the GOP candidates are unafraid to take the reins.