Anybody think these are going to be helpful?
The details regarding the highly-anticipated presidential and vice presidential debates of 2012 have been released. There will be four debates this election cycle – 3 of which will be presidential debates and 1 will be a vice presidential debate.
I know it's unrealistic to expect any kind of Lincoln-Douglas format in which we could really see how the candidates think and put together their positions. But surely they can come up with something better than these 90-minute exercises in sound-bite recitation. The candidates no longer even pretend to be responsive to the questions actually asked, and the moderators haven't been very good at pushing them into unscripted territory.
The only good thing I can see about the debates is that there will be a chance for some focus. One debate will cover both foreign and domestic policies, and there will be one session each devoted to domestic and foreign policy alone. All things considered, it might be nice to have one focused solely on economic issues, wouldn't you say?
