Please answer the question during tomorrow’s debate

What struck me most about the presidential debate a few weeks ago was that the candidates left almost as many questions unanswered as they actually deigned to answer.

These evasive actions were reminiscent of a brilliantly clever comment by Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of State. As he arrived at a podium to begin a press conference, he asked the assembled reporters, “Does anyone have any questions for my answers?”

Our current standard bearers might as well have started their debate with the same question to the moderators. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump pretty much said what they planned — or, in some cases, scripted — to say all the time, regardless of the questions asked.

I now cringe at the possibility that the upcoming debate between vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance will produce the same sideshow.

I know something about training leaders and others to be interviewed by the media. Over my thirty-plus years as a public relations strategist, I have prepared CEOs, university presidents, federal agency administrators, heads of major nonprofits, and A-list A-list athletes and entertainers. I even went to the Pentagon to tutor military officers and to the New York Stock Exchange to coach a billionaire investment manager.

So I noticed all the examples in the Trump-Harris debate where the moderators asked a simple, straightforward question and received an answer that didn’t qualify as an answer.

Harris was asked whether Americans are better off now than they were before the Biden administration. She never answered. The vice president was also asked whether the tariffs the Trump administration introduced into the policy were still in effect. Again, no answer.

Trump was also guilty of dodging questions (though, for my money, to a considerably lesser extent).

He was asked how he would deport the millions of migrants who entered the US illegally. He never obliged us. Trump was also asked: “Do you want Ukraine to win this war?” The former president responded, “I want the war to stop.” Then came the question: ‘Do you believe it is in the best interests of the US for Ukraine to win this war? Yes or no?” He only said it would be best to “end this war.” A clear non-answer.

My working method as a media trainer was usually simple and short. I conducted a pilot interview of about 15 minutes with a client, posing as a reporter or correspondent, and then provided feedback on his or her performance. We often went through the exercise two or three times, depending on whether the client needed further practice.

My first tip to clients during all these sessions was to make sure they answered the question, preferably with a clear answer: the more direct, the better. I regularly urged my clients to immediately respond to a question with a yes or no, or at least a qualified answer perhaps. Clients who did not follow this advice had to be reminded repeatedly.

To be clear, my media training had occasional successes, but also regular failures. I was responsible for preparing “American Bandstand” legend Dick Clark to reveal his diabetes diagnosis for a public health awareness campaign on “Larry King Live,” and it went off without a hitch. On the other hand, I grilled a university spokesperson before her live interview on the “Today” show, but she neglected – despite my practice – to mention the school by name on air.

In my experience, clients I try to prepare for a big media moment have a strong tendency to say exactly what they want to say, regardless of what you advise. So as far as I know — and I strongly suspect this is the case, especially with Trump — the behind-the-scenes strategists advising our candidates are meeting the same resistance.

Of course, this slippage in so-called tackles is nothing new, certainly not in politics. Tap dancing around questions and providing answers with descriptions, over-contextualization and other digressive maneuvers and rhetorical conjuring tricks are reminiscent of ancient Greek and Roman statesmen and emperors.

Yet debate moderators serve as self-appointed proxies for the American electorate. As such, they must reflexively call out the candidates to avoid dodging punches. Imagine how refreshing it would be for a moderator, faced with a candidate who is dodging a question—whether by design or just plain absent-mindedness—to say, “Excuse me, but the question we asked was so-and -Like this. Did you mean for this to be your answer?”

Candidates have every right to say what they want to say. I recognize that. But I believe they owe us clear answers. No exceptions should be made. In any case, answering the questions asked is a matter of courtesy and respect for the American voter.

Bob Brody, a public relations consultant and essayist, is the author of the memoir “Playing Catch with Strangers: A Family Man (Begrudgingly) Grows Up.” He was senior vice president and media strategist at Powell Tate in Washington DC for twelve years

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