Thursday, May 15, 2008

Question Time

John McCain is proposing that as President he would adopt something similar to the "Question Time" for the Prime Minister used by parliamentary democracies like the UK, Canada and Australia.

While some of the logistics will need to be worked out, I think that this is an excellent idea and I applaud McCain for suggesting it.  If done properly, it could provide a more effective way for the legislature, specifically the minority party, to interact with the Executive Office.  It would also put some pressure on the President to be well-versed enough in the issues to take on adversarial questions.  That would be a pretty big benefit.

He has also pledged to hold weekly press conferences, unlike Bush, who has tended to have them only once a month.

McCain has started to lay out his vision of how he would run the Executive Office and I like what I am hearing.

2 comments:

Tony Alva said...

This is a good idea... McCain should have been taken seriously a long time ago. I'm afraid Jackson may be right about the no chance factor.

Dave Cavalier said...

It depends on two things, I think. First, McCain cannot afford to come off in the debates as old or befuddled. I also think McCain can crush Obama quite easily in a debate by saying, "You talk about uniting and being bi-partisan, but I've watched you in the Senate for the short time you've been there and you've done nothing to unite. Meanwhile, I have an actual, long record of reaching across the aisle."

Second, Obama needs to somehow get through the next five and a half months without too many of his nearly constant rookie errors (e.g., Austan Goolsbee, Samantha Powers, Rev., Wright, Bill Ayers, "talks without conditions with Iran, "clinging to guns and religion, etc., etc.) popping up.