I don’t think I am alone with my disdain for the way politicians “answer” questions. How many times in the debates did we see the moderator ask a question that required a “yes” or a “no” or even a specific number that was never answered? I can’t even count how many times. I really hate the convoluted language used for answering questions so here are the rules I think should be instituted for a debate:
- Each candidate gets 30 seconds to thank everyone for being there before the first question is asked.
- The moderator asks a question and each candidate gets the opportunity to answer.
- Each candidate will be allowed 60 seconds to answer the question. After 60 seconds their microphone is automatically turned off.
- When the candidate is answering the question they are only allowed to refer to their platform. They may not speak in any way about their opponent or their platform.
- If the candidate does not answer the moderators question the moderator will allow them 10 seconds to deliver the answer. If the answer is still not received they lose 30 seconds off their next answer.
- After each candidate answers the question they will both have 1 minute to counter their opponents statements. This is the only time they are allowed to refer to their opponents platform.
- Time penalties add up and carry over until all penalties have been served.
- Each candidate will get 2 minutes to deliver their closing remarks. In this time period they are allowed to counter any statement the other candidate made but only the statements they made.
Scoring
- For each violation of speaking about their opponent 15 seconds will be removed from their next answer.
- Fact Checkers will verify each statement and give +1 true statements or -1 for false statements.
- For every 2 points deducted the speaker will lose 15 seconds off their next answer.
- Time deductions can carry over into closing remarks.
I think this would be a good format as it would allow the candidates to speak about their stance and their platform without wasting time refuting what the other candidate says about them. They are also compelled to be frank about the issues due to the short time they are allotted. With fact checkers in place they would need to avoid making false claims because they would be penalized.
I know this isn’t perfect but I get frustrated watching the debates (thank God they are over) and would like to actually hear more about the issues instead of each candidate delivering blows or covering their ass.
