[nomad]

The idea is as follows: Drudge gets the GOP and it`s candidates to agree to a purely internet debate, it then arranges a studio, the moderators are chosen from approved and REAL conservative ranks like talk radio,(Rush anyone?) then the questions bank is established based on agreed upon CONSERVATIVE values, they are then picked from that bank by a simple lottery basket and asked equally of all the participants of the debate.

[justlurking]

The idea is as follows: Drudge gets the GOP and it`s candidates to agree to a purely internet debate, it then arranges a studio, the moderators are chosen from approved and REAL conservative ranks like talk radio,(Rush anyone?) then the questions bank is established based on agreed upon CONSERVATIVE values, they are then picked from that bank by a simple lottery basket and asked equally of all the participants of the debate.

Leave out the moderator altogether. Just pre-record the questions with a voice actor, and play the right clip according to the lottery basket.

You may have seen my posting on this subject:

The debates are a farce, anyway. It's nothing but a series of rehearsed statements.

My proposal:

• Set a time limit on the total speaking time for candidates. Let's say it is 120 minutes.
• Divide it by the number of candidates. If there are 10, each gets 12 minutes. Six candidates get 20 minutes each.
• Each candidate gets a clock. It is displayed on both sides of the podium. When it is their turn to speak, their clock starts. When they hit the button, their mike is shut off and their clock stops.
• Interruptions out of turn impose a 1 minute penalty.
• Each candidate is allowed an opening statement, during which their clock counts down.
• Questions are pre-recorded by a voice actor. I'll explain the questions at the bottom.
• A random question is played, and each candidate gets to answer, in random order. Or, they can pass.
• If a candidate's clock hits zero, their microphone is shut off, and they have no more opportunities to speak until their closing statement.
• Additional questions are asked, and the candidates with time remaining get to answer.
• Repeat until all clocks are at zero.
• Finally, every candidate gets 1 minute to make a closing statement.

Note: there's no moderator. The questions are recorded in advance, and all it takes is a technician to press the appropriate button.

The questions are submitted by the candidate. They are free to submit any policy questions they want to be asked (and presumably want to answer). However, you can't ask another candidate a direct question.

The questions are then chosen at random. To prevent abuse, the list of questions and their origin (which candidate submitted it) will be published after the debate. An accounting firm will be hired to select the questions at random from something like a bingo drum, and a technician simply plays the question identified by that number.

kidd subsequently suggested that each candidate should submit a single question for each of a pre-announced set of topics, and then during the debate one candidate's question would be chosen at random for each topic. I actually like that idea better than mine.