Debating the debates
We need to think about whether debating skills of a President, as done during this campaign on television, are more important than other skills needed to be the next leader of the free world. As it presently stands it is these skills that will play the largest role in selecting our next leader. 1960 Debate Between Kennedy & Nixon I cannot remember ever seeing a sitting President engage in a formal debate with anyone other than maybe his wife, and then most likely he lost. As debates have gained such prominence we are at risk of sending the wrong person to the Whitehouse for the wrong reasons. I interviewed a successful college debate coach having 20 plus years experience at the highest levels who brought up the point that there is more than one style of debate. He suggested that an interrogative style debate, where each candidate is interviewed separately with one or two interviewers, would be more beneficial to an audience trying to decide who they support. He is right.