Replies

Barring any new entrants to the race, he can still get my vote back, but I expected far better of him in his third debate than what I saw.

These are not "debates". They are soundbite factories. You get a loaded question from an adversarial moderator and you get one minute to respond. I don't watch these debates because they are counter-productive. In a real debate there is a limited number of questions and the participants are given the questions before the debates, all the participants are given the same question and the participants are given sufficient time to make their positions clear.

If given five minutes to explain his position instead of 60 seconds, I think Perry might not have had to make the error of an appeal to emotion. There are logical and economical reasons to support the Texas Dream Act. But you can't do it in a quick soundbite.

If given five minutes to explain his position instead of 60 seconds, I think Perry might not have had to make the error of an appeal to emotion.

These so-called "debates", that turn on cramming trite sound bites into 60 seconds, are part of the dumbing down of America.

These were real debates:

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE FORMAT

1.) The debates were held in seven towns.

2.) One candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then the other candidate spoke for 90 minutes, and then the first candidate was allowed a 30-minute "rejoinder."