I’d be in favor of something along these following lines, although I’d like to see more open format town halls.
From McClatchy…
The Commission on Presidential Debates proposed the less formal, more conversational talk-show format for two of three 90-minute debates it’s seeking this fall. The third debate would be a town hall-style session in which the [...]

McCain wanted 10. Obama proposed 1 plus an additional debate.
To say the least, I’m disappointed in the Obama camp.
And so the campaigns do battle…:
“We fear that our negotiations over joint town hall meetings are turning into a debate about process,” McCain campaign manager Rick Davis writes to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. “That is exactly [...]

(UPDATE: Both campaigns rejected the offer because they don’t want to limit it to just one network. Hmmm…)
Now this is a pretty brilliant move…
The guy who has some of the deepest pockets in the world, and could be a VP for either candidate, wants to use that leverage.
From Politico:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and [...]

He broke the news today on Fox News. No debates between now and May 6. It’s at the very end of the video.

Here’s the thing…she isn’t getting out of this thing anytime soon, so he’s going to have to agree to a debate at some point in the next month or look like he’s just [...]

Hillary Clinton has asked for it, but this style of debate is apparently being characterized incorrectly.
TPM provides some perspective…
This is not in fact the format used by Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas — which in turn would be anathema to a modern viewing audience. In those famous debates, one candidate would speak for a [...]

Listen, I’ll say right off that this is complete fluff, but it’s the coolest pop culture reference I’ve ever seen by a presidential candidate…especially following that “debate.”
It happens around the 2:20 mark.

He just had to get that dirt off his shoulders (warning: profanity and harsh language).
Anybody else know of fun pop culture references by candidates [...]

Want to now?

As I watch it again, it’s even uglier when condensed.
Also, it gives you a sense of how much of a free ride Hillary had in the first 45 minutes. All she really had to do was respond to attacks on Obama…because that was the only issue. Yeah, she had to address the Bosnia [...]

Media critic Tom Shales lays it out…
For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely [...]

8:59
Worst “debate” ever. ABC really botched this one. I could actually feel myself getting dumber with each passing minute in that first hour.
Good night folks! More tomorrow.
8:55
HAHA! They’re going to Jake Tapper? WTF?
He talks specifically about the Obama character memes. Not the issues in the second half, just the dirt. Thanks for the “insight” Jake.
The [...]

Hillary accepted a debate in Pennsylvania first. Obama and his team subsequently said yes to that one and added North Carolina into the mix. No word on whether or not Hillary will accept North Carolina, but my guess is she’ll accept a debate in a laundromat at this point.
TPM has the details:
Today, Barack Obama accepted [...]

First he kept cutting Clinton off and asking her if she’d agree to something that Gore said in the early 90s? Then he asked Obama that inane Farrakhan question AND repeated that idiot’s anti-Semtic slurs? Tim Russert, seriously…WTF?
Also, was it just me or did Brian Williams seem like he didn’t even want to be there?
As [...]

This podcast covers (1) the CNN debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Texas; (2) John McCain’s lobby friend that the New York times decided to write about; (3) and more…
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Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for next week’s podcast (you can also email an audio file of [...]

I just got done watching the debate. Another wash, as usual and an additional debate in Wisconsin wouldn’t have changed the fact that most of us who’ve been following this election know exactly what these people are going to say before they say it.
So what does that leave us? The attacks of course. And Hillary [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
7:00 PM: Greetings! The debate kicks off an hour from now, live on CNN and CNN.com. It’s being broadcast from the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas. Clinton will continue her assault on [...]

Well, this isn’t unexpected, but it does put a sad punctuation on the Ron Paul phenomenon.
And yes, you read the title correctly. The man who demanded to be included in any and all debates even though he was only consistently garnering support in the single digits, is now refusing to debate his opponent for his [...]

And not only more, but one every week?
Honestly, I wonder why. It’s only going to open her up to more moments where she has to dissemble on her Iraq and Iran votes. And as we saw in the last debate, Obama does well when he’s one-on-one.
Still, this is the word from Politico…
Debates have, generally, been [...]

Obviously, I’ve thrown my support behind Obama for the Dems (and McCain for the Repubs), but I haven’t really been impressed with his debate performances before tonight. Because as I was watching the debate last night I saw a different guy on stage. This wasn’t Primary Candidate™. No, the guy I saw was General Election [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
6:36: Tonight, it’s not about hope, it’s about hype.
The final scheduled debate of primary season is here. Finally. After 19 Republican debates and what will be tonight be the 21 debates for Democrats, [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
Tonight is the CNN/Los Angeles/Politico Republican Debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. It will begin at 8pm est and will air on CNN and will stream live at [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
7:30: Time Russert and Brian Williams (henceforth, Bri-Wi) are moderating this debate, and participating are John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul. I’m looking for Huckabee and Giuliani to [...]