• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

DAVID MARCUS: The Vance vs. Walz debate is best scored using boxing rules

by October 1, 2024
written by October 1, 2024

Live coverage begins today at 8 p.m. ET for the .

The first rule of deciding who won a major political debate is that nobody wins a major political debate. There is no final score as the buzzer sounds, no final wink to be tiddled, it is a purely subjective matter. And that will be true of the vice-presidential debate between Republican nominee JD Vance and Democratic nominee Tim Walz.

That having been said, I’ve recently adopted a method of scoring debates from the world of pugilistics, that I think actually gives a pretty decent assessment of what most American voters see. 

My advice in picking a winner is to borrow the scoring system of a boxing match. The basic rules are relatively simple. In each round the boxer who wins the 3 minutes gets 10 points, the loser gets 9, unless there is a knockdown or it is overwhelming, in which case the round is scored 10-8. A tie is 10-10.

Obviously, a knockout ends the fight.

I first tried this approach last month with the Trump vs. Harris debate. And I wound up with Trump winning 157 to 150. It wasn’t the only reason I thought and wrote that night that Trump won the debate, despite overwhelming media insistence that girl boss Kamala had kicked ass. But it was part of it. 

And with polling showing no significant bump for Harris since their face-off and the fact that we’ve even seen some Trump swing state surge since their debate, my ostentatious declaration of a Trump victory looks a little less crazy today.  

The legacy news media, who wanted any excuse to hand Harris a W anyway, viewed the tête-à-tête as a kind of Lifetime movie in which Harris had finally spoken truth to power, but I find in most of America that narrative doesn’t have a whole lot of purchase. The voters want answers.

That’s where boxing scoring comes in. If openings, closings, and each question, are the ’rounds’ of the debate, you wind up with about 15. See what I’m saying? The incremental 10-9 or 10-8 scores of each, mirror the nuance of how swayable voters watch the event.

The basic philosophy behind boxing scoring is that the primary job is to survive the round, so if you manage that, you get an automatic 8 points, winning the round, and can only bump that up by at most 2. 

One could argue there is a fundamental unfairness here, that if I am 40 percent better at landing punches in a round than my opponent, I only get a 10 percent point advantage in scoring, but that is also the beauty of the system. Fights aren’t just about math.

This actually tracks very well with how political debates work. 

The audience, which is to say the voters, do tend to see each question or issue as one round, and if Walz can get a 10-8 on abortion, or Vance can on the border, that goes a long way towards the kind of 7 point win I gave Trump over Harris. 

Another way to think of this is that 90 percent of Americans likely already know who they are voting for, only 10 percent can be swayed, and boxing’s unique scoring system almost perfectly corresponds to this. 

Eighty to 90 percent we are just scoring as a wash.

There is, of course, the chance of a knockout, but these days, that chance seems remote. Back when Reagan said ‘There you go again,’ or Obama, in retrospect wrongly, told Romney the 1980s wanted their foreign policy back over fears regarding Russia, the possibility of something near consensus on the question existed.

Those days are no longer with us, if they aren’t over forever.

Nobody really wins a debate, but we can still score them, we can still pay close attention to who is and isn’t actually answering the questions, and that has a lot of value. 

So give a shot, grab a pad and paper, if you still have those, and just jot down your score for each question, 10-10, 10-9 or 10-8. Like a Ouija board your political leanings might push the pen a bit, but even so, you might be surprised by the results.

As Mike Tyson once put it, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Let’s keep a close eye on the flying rhetorical hands of Tim Walz and JD Vance.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
Elon Musk compares Newsom to ‘The Joker’ after voter ID requirements banned in California
next post
US readiness plays ‘significant’ role in fending off Iranian attack on Israel

related articles

Essential workers left unpaid after Senate Democrats kill...

October 23, 2025

Democrats under fire as food stamp funds run...

October 23, 2025

Curtis Sliwa vows to be Zohran Mamdani’s ‘worst...

October 23, 2025

Vance visits church where Christians believe Jesus was...

October 23, 2025

New poll in key showdown for Virginia governor...

October 23, 2025

Americans could face airport chaos if Dems don’t...

October 23, 2025

Inside Trump’s ultimatum that forced Netanyahu to the...

October 23, 2025

Vance rebukes Israel on ‘very stupid’ vote to...

October 23, 2025

Top Republican slams Katherine Clark for admitting suffering...

October 23, 2025

Vance calls Psaki comments about wife Usha ‘disgraceful’

October 23, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Trump dares AOC to try to impeach him: ‘Make my day’

    June 24, 2025
  • Israel takes hard line against terrorists, allowing deportation of family members

    November 7, 2024
  • What you should learn from these 4 major challenges Trump overcame to win back the White House

    January 25, 2025
  • Immersive entertainment company Cosm lands rights to broadcast NFL games

    October 29, 2024
  • Scoop: Trump presses GOP rebels ahead of critical government shutdown vote

    March 10, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 3

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 4

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (6,509)
  • Investing (634)
  • Stock (941)

Latest Posts

  • Trump’s grand peace strategy is bearing fruit, in Middle East and around the world

    October 10, 2025
  • Dominican judge rules in Iowa witness’ favor in missing American student case

    March 19, 2025
  • Mother of missing Marine veteran calls Trump admin a ‘breath of fresh air’ as she continues 12-year search

    January 22, 2025

Recent Posts

  • Trump signs executive order ending ‘forced use of paper straws’

    February 11, 2025
  • Amid soaring threats from Iran, Russia against US homeland, Biden-Harris must focus on protecting us all

    October 2, 2024
  • TSA expected to end shoes-off policy at many airports across US

    July 8, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • Top Senate Republican ready to go nuclear, ‘roll over’ Democrats with rule change to confirm Trump nominees

    September 2, 2025
  • UK’s Crown Estate clears offshore wind expansion to raise energy output

    May 9, 2025
  • Vance previews US-Iran nuclear talks, says Trump ‘open’ to sitting down with Russians, Chinese in future

    May 7, 2025
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock