I just got done watching the first presidential debate of 2012. It was pretty much a disaster but I think it was the format of the debate that was at fault, not the candidates. I tried to think of a different format that might meet the needs of the American people more adequately and this is what I came up with.
I think it would be more beneficial if the debate were to take place in writing rather than on television. Both candidates could be in the same room and have a moderator pose a question that the candidates could respond to in writing (given a predetermined word count) without consulting their campaign staff for proofreading or ideas. Writing is a better medium for communicating and explaining ideas and would showcase a candidates political philosophy rather than their stage presence. The reason writing is a better medium for sophisticated discourse is because it allows time for critical thinking about the topic and writing and editing a response until it communicates exactly what a candidate wants to express whereas, giving two minutes to respond to a question a candidate didn't know was going to be asked is prone to produce miscommunication and gaffes. After the initial responses have been turned in the candidates would have the opportunity to read their opponents submission and pick it apart with another session of writing. After this round each candidate could read the others criticism and produce a closing argument for their ideas.
This process could be repeated for each topic that the moderator has chosen for the debate. A written format is sure to be more time consuming (for the candidates) than a traditional debate but it would at least give us more useful information to work with. As it is we are left trying to decipher political philosophies through a barrage of comedic one liners (ZING), emotional attacks and frequent interruptions from a moderator who expects the candidates to explain their position on healthcare and why it's better than their opponents in the span of two minutes.
Once completed the debate could be delivered to the public in a variety of ways. E-reader, PDF or print are a few that come to mind. As someone who enjoys reading, I'd love to see the candidates deliver their messages this way. And a quick disclaimer: Although I don't know if he ever advocated a written debate format I got a lot of the ideas in this blog post from Neil Postman in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
Thanks for reading.
