Rule Negotiators For The Biden-Trump Debate Almost Got It Right

Mad magazine used to have this featurette called “Scenes We’d Like to See,” where they lampooned a famous movie scene in their inimitable style.

The new debate structure agreed upon by our two top presidential campaigns comes close to something I’d like to see, that perhaps many of us would like to see. It could be even better.

For the longest time, I have complained that our debates have been more circus than substance, more a television event than a public service. They’ve hardly been thoughtful. They’ve hardly even been debates. They’ve been so much closer to laughable that they’ve hardly even mattered. Instead, they became about zingers, applause lines and the occasional high-five moment for your guy or theirs.

Like NASCAR, you waited for the crash. It’s what we talked about the next morning: who had the best witticism, who tanked like a bag of hammers. It fit neatly with our short attention spans and our need for affirmation. That is not a debate. We should be watching debates to be informed, not entertained.

There’s promise we might get more of the former and less of the latter if the new and improved structural elements crafted by the campaigns are finalized: a TV studio rather than a large venue; no audience; alternative turns to speak without interruption; microphones automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit has elapsed.

Nevertheless, President Joe Biden’s campaign and former President Donald Trump’s brood have agreed on two debate dates: June 27 and Sept. 10. The June debate will take place at 9 p.m. EDT in Atlanta. The Sept. 10 debate is still being decided.

It’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Here are some other rules I’d like to see:

Accountability. A structural feature that assures the