A Series of Debates

So McCain has proposed a series of 10 town hall-style debates, and Obama is receptive. While Obama is still a bit busy pulling the blue team together and hasn't fully responded, it's clear that there's some disagreement on how the debates should be formatted.

McCain wants them to be 60-90 minutes long, have an independent local moderator (not, presumably, a journalist) with very limited moderation, and leave the question-asking to the audience. The Obama campaign's preliminary response is that they would prefer something closer to the original Lincoln-Douglas format.

To me, this is fascinating, and I can't help but let it stir my imagination. Each candidate wants the format to play to his strengths. McCain is great at shooting off answers that seem to come off the top of his head. It gives the impression that his instincts are well honed, that he shoots from the hip, and that he knows what he's talking about. Obama's less good at this -- he often ends up seeming thoughtfully hesitant, almost professorial in his consideration of the question, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing, but I suppose for many people thoughtfulness is an elitist quality. Anyway, Obama's stellar oratorical skill blows away his more terrestrial Q&A abilities.

The original LD debates were structured as follows: 7 debates, one in each district of Illinois. First one of them would speak for an hour, then the other would go for an hour and a half, and then the first would get a 30 minute rejoinder. So three hours long. They would alternate who would go first. The debates were almost completely about the big issue of the day, slavery.

Now, the Obama campaign surely can't mean it wants three-hour long debates. But they could be resized to 2 hours: 40-60-20 minutes. That's no longer than the debates we've become accustomed to. Instead of all of the debates being on the same issue, the two candidates could agree to focus on a different issue at each debate. Instead of 10 shorter debates, 7 longer ones. But what would the issues be? And where would the debates be held? Swing states? Oh boy, is this exciting.

1) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- Economy
2) Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq War
3) Durango, Colorado -- Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment
4) Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- Health Care
5) Las Vegas, Nevada -- Immigration
6) Madison, Wisconsin -- Civil Liberties /Civil Rights
7) Charlotte, North Carolina -- Foreign Policy

There, how's that? It's 4states Bush won in 2004, 2 that Kerry won. Swing states all. Some of them can even be conducted outside, with magnificent backdrops. I've given it the best geographical diversity I can muster, while also sticking to the biggest centers of electoral votes up for grabs.

But think about the potential of these debates! What an opportunity to rise above the dominion of the soundbite and the comeback and bring about some intelligent discourse in this country! I'll be rooting the concept on.