Debate Ideas Open Thread

I'm speaking with folks from Rock the Vote today about the youth debates. Here's what I plan on talking about. If you've got other ideas that you think need to be in the discussion, leave a comment.

1. Streaming live on the web as well as airing on network/cable television
2. Moderator that is representative of our generation.
3. Moderator who won’t tolerate bullshit responses – willingness to push candidates more than the traditional media does.
4. Leverage the expected high rates of turnout and future % of the electorate. After 2008, candidates won’t be able to ignore us, so don’t worry about offending anyone or be risk averse for fear of “loss of access.” Think about how that type of encounter between moderator/candidates might translate into viral clips on the web the next day.
5. Moderator who in the introduction addresses how bad these debates have been in the past and how this will be different.
6. Moderator who speaks less than the candidates. (Blitzer/CNN)
7. All footage of the debate creative commons licensed and available for remix/reuse the next day.
8. Conduct a debate between young representatives from within each campaign (avoid the personality politics and stupid fluff questions like “did you inhale” or “boxers or briefs”). This could happen concurrently with the “candidate” debate or soon after, and in another format (aired online?)
9. Fewer time restrictions on answer length and more follow ups to questions. Need to get beyond 60 second sound bytes and can’t let candidate get away with pat answers that don’t get to the heart of the question.
10. Incorporate voter-generated questions. Perhaps using YouTube or MySpace or FaceBook.
11. Make sure the process for selecting questions from those mediums for air during the debate is an open process with as much diverse and representative selectors as possible. This could include: allowing people to vote/rate questions online.
12. Allow those whose YouTube/FaceBook questions are selected the chance to ask follow up questions either through an online channel or live via satellite link.
13. Create a more participatory debate online. If FaceBook or YouTube are debate partners, find a way to create chatrooms or discussion boards where folks can follow along and comment on the debate, and incorporate that commentary back into the program (in a feedback loop). This could take the form of:
    • Airing comments in a “crawl” screen, or in a sidebar on TV.
    • Hiring a crew of youth vote advocates to follow along with that commentary and pull follow-up questions and original questions from the running commentary.
14. Involve youth advocacy groups in the debate (allow them to each ask a question). Make sure those groups are diverse – not just college and young democrats, but Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War, National Hip Hop Political Convention, The League, Punk Voter, etc. The people asking questions should be truly representative of our generation and they should look like our generation.