The Bulwark

Debates Can Have Consequences, William Kristol

For all the hoopla that surrounds them, presidential debates usually come and go to little effect. The political world pays attention for a day or two, but the public little notices, nor long remembers, what is said there. One of the candidates may get a little boost and the other take a bit of a hit, then memories fade and the impact dissipates. The campaign caravan moves on.

This is true not just of debates but of many other occurrences in our public life. Things can seem like a very big deal when they happen. Then they fade. That’s the normal course of seemingly dramatic events.

But we don’t live in normal or standard times. For better or worse, in 2024 we seem to be on Lenin Non-Standard Time: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” In such a time, there are moments whose repercussions reverberate and whose impact grows. The aftershocks are even greater than the original disturbance.