Claire Is Hurt by Opposition Research in Modern Family Debate
From Modern Family (Season 3, Episode 13)
Categories:
Run time: 1:59
Clip Description: In this clip from Modern Family, Claire (Julie Bowen) struggles during her debate for City Council against Duane Bailey (David Cross), as her personal life is brought into the debate, highlighting why it is vital to research your debate opponent, as well as the importance of messaging and public image in election campaigning.
American Politics Concepts Discussed/Connected To: This clip can be used to discuss the shaping of public opinion through debate, as well as the use of opposition research in elections.
Possible Uses in Classroom: This clip can be shown in the classroom to bring dialogue surrounding debate and research within elections.
Discussion Questions
- Opposition research has a bad name and an obvious defense: what it turns up is usually true, and voters may reasonably want to know it. Where is the line between a fact about a candidate’s private life that voters are entitled to weigh and one that works purely by embarrassment? Whatever rule you propose, remember who will be applying it — the opponent, in public, under deadline. Does your rule survive that?
- Local council races turn on very few votes, and turnout in municipal elections is routinely a fraction of presidential-year turnout. In a race that small, one bad night on a stage can plausibly decide it. Argue both sides: that this makes local democracy unusually responsive, because a handful of engaged neighbors who live with the consequences are deciding, and that it makes it unusually easy to swing, because a small and unrepresentative electorate is cheap to move.
- Watch your own reaction to the candidate losing control of the exchange, and be precise about what you were judging. Her position on anything? Or her composure? Then decide whether composure is a frivolous thing for a voter to weigh or a reasonable proxy for how someone will handle pressure in office — and whether you would apply that standard the same way to a candidate you already agreed with.
Clip hosted on Critical Commons.