I have an idea I'd like to propose. You might find it crazy and you might be right, but I think that living in an age where information is available and updated every second requires a change in how we actually have debates. Not the topics of debate per say (although that is certainly worthy of discussion) but how we debate and how our potential future leaders debate.
We look at Presidents as leaders; knowledgeable and informed as well as decisive. But we've seen time and again that immediately after an answer is given in debate that some spin takes place. Some correction takes place. It happens just because debate happens within the confines of the brains of the debaters. I don't mind spin per se, but the whole thing tends to come out as "well what he/she meant to say was this" as opposed to what he/she just said.
I don't expect my President to have all of the answers in his/her head. I do however expect my President to have that information at his/her fingertips. More below the Orange Croissant of the Cloud.
Remember back in 2004 when it seemed that George W. Bush had some sort of listening device under his jacket when he debated John Kerry? Now I have no idea what that actually was, but it planted a seed in my head. We expect Presidents to have the best people around them to actually implement policy. Why not have that access in a debate as well?
Here's the idea - each candidate in the debate has access to a tablet with a Wi-Fi connection. Whether or not they decide to use it is up to them, but they should have access to facts that they can use to help frame their ideas and rebuttals. If their answer is in their brain then that's just fine. But if they need to reinforce their argument I don't see why they shouldn't have access to source material. AS LONG AS THEY CITE THEIR SOURCE IN THE DEBATE AS THEY USE IT.
If they text someone and get a response that they use then they say who the person was that gave them the information they used. If they go to a website, the name the site. If they use a news article or opinion piece, they name the author even if it's just a pithy quote.
At the end of the debate the tablet is turned back into the moderating body and they publish all activity. Or more likely, the screen of the tablet is simulcast on the web. As long as the usage is made public.
Anyway, that's the basic idea. I'm sure it could stand considerable refinement, but I'd be interested in seeing what other people think. I don't think it should be seen as a crutch but instead it would be a great way to see where a candidate gets their opinions from - to see how they think and who influences that.
So do you think this idea is worthy of debate? Let me know. Thanks for your time.