Kairos in Presidential Debates

My topic of choice for this RCL post is kairos and how it applies to the presidential debates going on now. Many things have happened in just the past year that has greatly impacted the topics of interest in the debates. For example, the shooting in Colorado this past summer brings up a great time to talk about gun control, the shooting of Americans in Libya brings up a great time to talk about terrorism, and the current state of unemployment brings up a great time to talk about job creation.  There are many more instances that have introduced kairos into the debates, but I would like to focus on one for now, which is the shooting in Colorado. The problem of gun control has been avoided for a long time now, because people are very split on the topic. While the south tends to be against gun control, the north tends to be for it. This has made it hard to address the topic because there really is no in between, but now that there was a tragedy in which many were injured and killed, more people feel more sympathetic and lean more towards gun control in some cases, therefore making it a good time to talk about the situation. As a politician, it is extremely important to know when is the right time to talk about certain issues, because if you let too much time pass, you will miss the time during which more people want to hear about the situation at hand. I think that for the most part the candidates have done a good job taking every opportunity they can to talk about certain important issues when appropriate, but it is obvious to point out when they do not use the right time to bring up certain topics, such as when Romney randomly brought up having children without being married and confused many in the process. An important part of kairos is knowing when is the perfect time to talk about something, but it is also important to know when an opportunity to address a situation is not available.