I agree with your ideas.
I also think the debate format needs to be overhauled. I would prefer a Parliamentary style debate that allows interruption for points of interest addressed to the moderator. Without official scoring, the moderator could simply announce which points of interest weren't addressed. The deference given to the participants by most moderators is vomit inducing. Time limits are frequently ignored and there is no interjection when participants stray off topic to ensure they cover all their talking points.
The internet makes possible measures to make debates more meaningful and productive. Let the moderator post the debate questions a month in advance. The candidates have two weeks to respond to the moderator. The candidates' policy positions would then be simultaneously published two weeks prior to the debate. The subsequent internet chatter and media conversation would then have an impact on the debate content. I think this would reduce the tendency for these debates to become sound bite generators with everybody talking past one another. I remember one Obama/McCain debate with each vaguely promising to cut spending; one with a hatchet, the other with a scalpel. This type of cheap rhetoric needs to be done away with.
I also think the debate format needs to be overhauled. I would prefer a Parliamentary style debate that allows interruption for points of interest addressed to the moderator. Without official scoring, the moderator could simply announce which points of interest weren't addressed. The deference given to the participants by most moderators is vomit inducing. Time limits are frequently ignored and there is no interjection when participants stray off topic to ensure they cover all their talking points.
The internet makes possible measures to make debates more meaningful and productive. Let the moderator post the debate questions a month in advance. The candidates have two weeks to respond to the moderator. The candidates' policy positions would then be simultaneously published two weeks prior to the debate. The subsequent internet chatter and media conversation would then have an impact on the debate content. I think this would reduce the tendency for these debates to become sound bite generators with everybody talking past one another. I remember one Obama/McCain debate with each vaguely promising to cut spending; one with a hatchet, the other with a scalpel. This type of cheap rhetoric needs to be done away with.
