Rick Scott interrupted Alex Sink more than a dozen times during their CNN debate Monday, but not as many times as she was interrupted by the moderator, John King. Throw in the tough, deadpan questioning of St. Pete Times political editor Adam Smith, and you’ve got the recipe for television that very closely approximates three men bullying a lady.
It’s not that Alex Sink was smooth. She wasn’t. Her delivery was often halting, she seemed nervous and uncomfortable on camera, and clearly wasn’t up on the whole “red light indicates which camera is on me” thing. But Sink’s debate performance versus Rick Scott — their final meeting — illustrated the difficulty of debating women, even in the modern era of “mean girl” politicians like Sarah Palin.
Putting aside their actual answers to the moderator and reporter’s questions, none of which frankly were likely to move many voters, since it’s all been heard before, the Scott-Sink debate was most remarkable for its stutterish quality, and for the divergent visual styles of the candidates.
Scott sat hunched in his chair, looked grim faced, often pointed at Sink, and grew visibly testy over questions about his former company, Columbia/HCA and its now legendary date with the FBI. When he hit Sink over the operations of her former bank, she leaned back, smiled, and often broke into nervous? mocking? laughter. His response to Sink’s incredulous laughter was to scold her, repeatedly, with lines like, “oh, you’re gonna laugh about that? You don’t care about seniors? Is that the deal?”
In short, Scott came across like a peeved father telling the girls to stop playing around in the back seat, or he’s coming back there.
Maybe that works in family road trips, but it comes across really poorly on television.
Likewise, the constant interruption of Sink, by Scott, but also by moderator John King (who lost control of the pace of the debate at about the second minute, and never got it back…) had a Tim Russert and Rick Lazio versus Hillary Clinton debate circa 2000, when Lazio’s menacing over Sink, combined with the 2 versus 1 feel of the grilling of her by the candidate and moderator, made Mrs. Clinton seem softer and more sympathetic by the hour’s end.
Russert’s repeat performance in the October 2007 debate between then-Senator Clinton and then-Senator Barack Obama was another reminder of the perils of seeming to gang up on a woman candidate — for her male opponent and the media.
And who can forget the over-preparation that marked the lead up to the match between Joe Biden and Sarah “can I call ya Joe?” Palin. Biden seemed so starched, so prepped not to seem to demean or insult Mrs. Palin, that many analysts came away thinking that, in part because she beat some very low expectations, Palin emerged victorious.
It may not be fair, but in the media age, the atmospherics of debating a woman matter. Male candidates have to walk a fine line between being tough and taking her seriously, and looking like a jerk. Women carry the disadvantage of having to look tough enough to govern, without coming across as shrill. So any unfairness that may aid the one, is balanced by the unfairness that aids the other.
News outlets can mitigate against the cringe factor by mixing the panel — CNN would have been wise to add a woman questioner, to balance the two guys. Not doing so was probably a mistake. But the biggest mistake was whoever prepared Mr. Scott for the face-off.
He didn’t come across well.
(As a contrast, I think of all the candidates this cycle, Chris Coons of Delaware has found the right tempo for debating a female opponent — dismissing her facts without seeming to mock her, and seeming — pretending maybe, but doing it well — to take her answers seriously, while reframing them, and her bizarre quotes, as not funny or stupid, but “bad for Delaware…”)
On issues, meanwhile, I’m expecting the big “news” of the Sink-Scott debate, to the extent their was any, to be on abortion — also an issue important to women (and evangelical voters.) On that score, Mr. Scott said that as governor, he’d sign a law outlawing abortion beyond the 20th week, while Sink said she would not, and would “follow the law” as written.
That one will likely resonate beyond tonight.
Beyond that, it’s kind of disturbing that neither of their teams prepared them for the gotcha question of 2010: “what is the minimum wage.”
Get the CNN liveblog of the debate here.
And the St. Pete Times write-up here.
