Ben Voth

This is a recent editorial I wrote arguing for debate as the key catalyst in reforming higher education.

Americans have lost faith in higher education — debate can help restore it Turn taking and equal time limits create the civic sensations necessary to slowly, but strongly, rebuild the American public sphere.

My latest editorial on ICE nativity scenes:

Using the Christmas Story to Demonize ICE Agents A recent survey of American Christian clergy found that a surprising percentage are Democrats compared to laity populations that are much more Republican. This ideological distortion is consistent with larger national patterns that imply the mor...

There is important public misunderstandings surrounding January 6. It was an important rhetorical focal point of the election this week. This is an editorial I wrote regarding the problem.

Deconstructing the Mythology of January 6 In the aftermath of the 2024 election, the certification of electoral votes at the House will stand as a looming civic impasse. There is a congressional process necessary to the certification of Presidential elections and the rhetorical interpretatio...

My thoughts on Cruz Allred debate

Senator Cruz Conducts a Candidate Fact Check Clinic in the Texas Senate Debate

More than 60 million dollars is being spent (https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4921553-colin-allred-fundraising-ted-cruz/) by Democrats to help House of Representatives member Collin Allred defeat Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Tuesday night’s debate was an important opportunity for Allred to perhaps upset the incumbent senator who is in a race that might be as narrow (https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4923620-ted-cruz-colin-allred-texas-senate-race-survey/) as three percentage points. The debate demonstrated Senator Cruz’s exceptional debate skills. In particulare Cruz demonstrated the potential for political candidates to conduct their own fact checking rather relying upon journalist moderators in these critical public debates.

Gallup recently completed an annual survey (https://news.gallup.com/poll/651977/americans-trust-media-remains-trend-low.aspx) once again showing that public trust in mainstream media is at all time lows. Since the 2012 Presdiential debate involving CNN journalist moderator Candy Crowley insisted on correcting Mitt Romney in his debate with President Barack Obama. In 2024, debates have swung back and forth between aggressive journalist moderator fact checking more restrained approaches like the CNN debate on June 27. The public is better served by journalists abstaining from these clear interventions. In the Vance/Walze debate, CBS moderators conducted (https://thehill.com/opinion/4889050-presidential-debate-collapse/) five fact checks of Vance with zero for Walz. A recent Harvard study of fact checking found that fact checking organizations follow a profound ideological pattern that excludes conservative fact checkers. The Harvard study (https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/a-survey-of-expert-views-on-misinformation-definitions-determinants-solutions-and-future-of-the-field/) found:

0% were very right wing or fairly right wing
5% were slightly right of center
10% were “center”
85% were slightly left, fairly left or very left wing.
Among that 85%— 14% were “very left wing

These are good reasons why journalist fact checking during the debates is a bad idea. Fact checking became an urgent consideraiton of left leaning journalists when Biden showed himself unable to rebut the aggressive assertions of Trump in the June 27 debate.

Cruz conducted a clinic on candidate fact checking that should be the norm going forward in political candidate debates. The Cruz team utilized an increasingly normative tool in political debates by having a live website (https://www.allredfacts.com) ready https://www.allredfacts.com/. This allowed viewers to immediately examine more in depth information about Allred’s position as a Dallas area House member. In his oopening remarks, Senator Cruz promised that he would examine Allred’s House record and compare it to his own Senate recrord and make a clear political case for his candidacy based on that distinction. Allred appeared genuinely surprised by the level of detail provided by Cruz in the debate.

In a particularly telling exchange, Cruz explaind that a public endorsement of Allred as “biparistan” was based on a group of Democratic governors who do not look at voting records for those that they categorize in this manner. Allred pivoted to say that he also won an award from the Chamber of Commerce which is not a radical group. Cruz in his response explained that this was true and the Chamber of Commerce has endorsed his campaign for the senatee seat. Allred appeared unprepared for a discussion of one of the most common Cruz assertions regarding Allred’s vote on male partcipation in women’s sports. When challenged by Allred for a bipartisan record by Cruz, the senators listed two specific infrastructure bills for Texas highways co-sponsored by two different Demcoratic seantors. Allred had not comparable details for his work in the House.

Political candidates face exceptional constraints in these debates because they are not allowed to bring notes to the podium. This means they must commit to memory any details they hope to deploy in journalist interrogations. Journalists do not face similar constraints and do have e
xtensive notes for their questions.

Cruz’s succesful fact checking of Allred and the relatively weak response of Allred demonstrates that journalist fact checks are not ncessary for poltical candidates settle factual differences. The pattern of favoring democratic candidates in debates and interviews is leaving these candidates weak and ill prepared to defend their ideas in free and fair debate. This is an important develpment for the potential of political debates that serve the public interest.

My thoughts on the debate were solicited by Newsweek so they can be seen here:

https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-outshines-donald-trump-debate-stage-1962532

Shout out to Aaron Kall who has done a great job of elevating debate voices into this realm of commentary.

How JD Vance outshone Donald Trump on debate stage Unlike the erratic energy that defined Trump's performance, Vance presented a more polished, substantive, and effective approach.

I will provide national pre-debate commentary on C-SPAN for the Walz/Vance VP debate from 7pm to 7:15 central time. Feel free to watch me there.

I will also be on campus at SMU by 7:30 to moderate and present for our VP debate watch party.

CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Preview C-SPAN’s preview of the ABC News presidential debate between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republi…

Feel free to join me next week for a debate watch party event at Dallas Hall on Tuesday evening October 1. I will give a pre lecture and then facilitate audience comments and balloting at the end.

My analysis in The Hill about presidential debate moderation.

Maybe I need to do another about the Cruz Alred debate too.

A lesson for CBS: Live fact-checking is incompatible with good debate moderation ABC News moderators Lindsey Davis and David Muir fact-checked former President Donald Trump during a presidential debate, raising questions about the impartiality of media network debate events and…

I actually thought Trump won the debate with Harris. Our student audience voted 18-6 for Harris as the winner. The moderators were poor. Here is my published essay on the debate.

President Trump Won the Debate with Harris It is not surprising that there was a surge of punditry opinions arguing that Kamala Harris won the September 10 debate with Donald Trump. The DNC desperately needed the validation of such a win and it was also evident that the ABC moderators felt th...

My CBS Dallas interview about the presidential debate Tuesday.

Jack Fink does great journalism.

SMU Professor Ben Voth weighs in on upcoming Harris Trump debate Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be squaring off for what may be their only time. SMU's Director of Debate and Debate Professor, Ben Voth, discusses what each candidate must do and avoid to win the debate.

I’m moderating an event at SMU hosted by Liberty in North Korea— US Special envoy on North Korea - Julie Turner. Hope you can join me:

Fireside Chat with Ambassador Julie Turner @ SMU Hosted by LiNk @ SMU and the SMU Human Rights Program. Join us as we have a moderated conversation with Ambassador Julie Turner!

My thoughts alongside other debate experts about forthcoming presidential debates.

Why Donald Trump debating Kamala Harris could be a disaster Newsweek asked three leading experts in presidential debates how the Harris vs. Trump debate might unfold.