I am conflicted. We all have the fantasy of our guy making the other guy look like Captain Queeg, and Ron the Good came pretty close to that. But then, x42 did wonders with debates, too--for people who like slime on toast.The format of "objective" journalists moderating the "discussion" which is actually parallel press conferences allows the "objective" journalists to more-or-less subtly channel the "discussion" in a way that allows the Democrat to make his points more freely than the Republican can. So any debate should be the real thing--moderated only by a chess timer controling the mikes.
More importantly, even the chess timer debate wouldn't show you what you really need to know--the honesty and governing philosophy of each candidate. They are after all competing for a job in which debating skills are of limited utility, and negotiating and other leadership skills are crucial.
And fundamentally, broadcasting exists only because Congress, via the FCC, created it. The government-favored licensees are given clear channels to broadcast in, and the rest of us are censored to allow that. Broadcasting politics--and
journalism is politics --is therefore illegitimate.