Why do the presidential debates matter in the day of the Internet?

[Jay520]

badgenome said:

Jay520 said:

I don't think a lack of fluency is that big of a problem. Plenty of knowledgeable and insightful people happened to be terrible in face-to-face debates. Debates require quick, on-the-fly thinking, which some people don't have. That doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable on a subject though, it could just means they're poor at debates.

That's why I said it indicates a lack of fluency. If I ask you a question about something and you just stutter and stammer and hem and haw, it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't know the answer. But odds are, you don't.

I disagree. Some questions can be very complex and sensitive, requiring a bit of time to formulate a decent response. Of course in a debate though, if a person pauses or uses verbal fillers when trying to formulate their response, it would appear that they don't know the answer. In actuality though, they could just be ensuring they don't make a slight error resulting in an awkward response.