"I will release my tax returns," Donald Trump said on Sept. 26, "when she releases her 33,000 emails." "Yeah!" a man screamed from the audience, setting off a round of cheers and applause.
This was not a scene from one of Trump's tumultuous campaign rallies, but from the first presidential debate of the general election. Inappropriate, partisan audience disruptions marred all three debates, which, despite Trump's probable wishes, should be more dignified than a reality television season finale.
Why have audiences at all? The first televised presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960, took place in a television studio, not a grand hall. The honchos at the Commission on Presidential Debates say that the audience serves an educational mission.
Well, maybe, but then why let the campaigns fill large sections of the hall?
If the commission does not ditch debate audiences entirely four years from now, it should at least eliminate the cheering sections.
Editorial on 11/02/2016