Mastering the debate game
Reading Time: 3 minutes – RHETORIC REFEREE – Donald Trump knows how to play the game to win. Now you can, too! Follow along see if you can spot these debate tricks and traps.
The Trump effect
Reading Time: < 1 minute – DEBATE TRICKS – Why not write about Trump? Everybody writes about President Trump. Especially Trump.
The Curious Kavanaugh Case
Reading Time: 4 minutes – DEBATE TRICKS – The public doesn’t get excited over judicial philosophy. It does get excited over partisanship, and much more so over sex. Sex is, well, sexy.
Changing the Subject
Reading Time: 3 minutes – DEBATE TRICKS -People don’t understand legal procedures or judicial policy, but they do understand the drama of politics. When the Kavanaugh nomination process seemed to be proceeding smoothly, opponents changed the subject at the to something more dramatic.
Bork you!
Reading Time: 3 minutes – DEBATE TRICKS – Ad hominem, Latin for “to the man,” means smearing a person’s character instead of arguing the facts. A classic example turned a man’s name into a verb.