These two TV Judges could be doing a better job than the moderators in forcing the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to answer the questions that voters have.
Sure, every party in court gets to tell their story and be strong advocates for their side. But at some point, the judge gets to ask a question on a critical issue to help decide the case. Unfortunately, absent Katie Couric pouncing a bit on Gov. Palin, I haven’t seen a questioner at least forcing a candidate to answer a question before bridging.
On the other hand, the candidates sort of don’t care about this type of credibility. They know who is voting for them so their supporters won’t be upset when they dodge a question. They know who isn’t voting for them so there is no effort to be credible for them. The key question is how the failure to answer questions will impact the undecideds.
The point for most other communicators. Credibility means answering or telling a reporter why you can’t or won’t answer before bridging.
Written by Andy Gilman, president of CommCore Consulting.