DEBATE FORMAT….Taegan Goddard summarizes the rules for tonight’s “town hall” debate:
The questions will “be culled from a group of 100 to 150 uncommitted likely voters in the audience and another one-third to come via the Internet.”….”An audience member will not be allowed to switch questions. Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking — not reacting.”….McCain and Obama are not supposed to ask each other direct questions.
This is ridiculous. Why bother with a human audience or moderator at all? You might as well just select the questions, project them on a screen via PowerPoint, and televise the results. Wire the candidates up to received increasingly intense electrical shocks if they exceed their time limits and you’d be all done. Anybody got a problem with that?
