• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, September 6, 2024

Prospective rulers Trump and Harris are now going to have to abide by a set of debate rules announced this week by ABC News.

It is a list of 16 rules, some wordy and some not. These guardrails aimed at reining in the potentially childish behavior of these two grownups are now in place for next Tuesday’s presidential debate sponsored by ABC News.

I love the ones that are granular in detail such as this one: “Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.” What, no crayons and a juice box?

But enough about me and my snarky comments. I might as well publish the whole list right here, as written by ABC News:

The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.

A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, September 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; former President Donald Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements.

The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).

Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.

The candidates enter upon introduction from opposite sides of the stage; the incumbent party will be introduced first.

No opening statements; closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.

Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.

Props or prewritten notes are not allowed onstage.

No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.

Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

Candidates will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

Candidates’ microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.

Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.

There will be no audience in the room.

Any reaction? Well, I have some. One is that the wording of the “rule” near the bottom of the list about enforcing the debate rules seems a little shaky.

“The moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.” Good luck with that last thing -- the civilized discussion part.

Plus, “enforcing” rules and agreements is not effective without sanctions. I see nothing in this list about the existence of corners in the debate venue where the offending candidates can be directed to sit if they engage in uncivilized behavior.

I also liked the rule prohibiting “props.” Kinda makes you wonder what sort of props were being contemplated by the candidates to bring onstage. As far as I know, Carrot Top is not a candidate for president this year.

This is a long list of rules, but shouldn’t there have been more? What about making funny faces or distracting noises such as idly drumming one’s fingers on the podium, humming, whistling, clearing one’s throat or cracking one’s knuckles while the other candidate is speaking?

Here is a rule whose omission ABC News might live to regret: No shoes, no shirt, no service!