For many questions the correct answer would be: "This is a difficult question which no easy answer, I would have to spent a few hours thinking about the issue and then come back with an answer that doesn't fit into the 1 minute time slot that the debate gives me to address the point."
I don't think that deep and meaningful debate happens in a hour of TV. It's the job of journalists to ask candidates and their parties questions on issues. If a New York Times reporter asks for an on-the-record answer and doesn't get one in a day he should simply write in his article: "John Smith from the Green party had to say X while nobody from the Blue party was willing answer the question on-the-record."
If that would be the standard of the way New York Times reporters write their stories it wouldn't take long till they would nearly always get answers. Even if the Green party would generally answer and the Blue party wouldn't, that would be important information for voters.
The hours of thought should have occurred before the debate. Its not like the debater has been chosen at random from the audience.
The New York Times has published many articles where they have a comment from one and state they could get no comment from the other. There is nothing new here and any change that was going to happen because the NYT was going to do this has already occurred.
ALL political debate and interview is presentation of ideas, not the place where ideas are born and develop in real time. Any candidate who is evolving his response in real time is unprepared, and if she is any good at all, will be prepared every time after that that she is asked about this same issue.
See this Newsroom clip.
Basically, their news network is trying to change the way political debates work by having the moderator force the candidates to answer the questions that are asked of them, not interrupt each other, justify arguments that are based on obvious falsehoods etc.
How big of a positive impact do you guys think that this would have on society?
My initial thoughts are that it would be huge. It would lead to better politicians, which would be a high level of action. The positive effects would trickle down into many aspects of our society.
The question then becomes, "can we make this happen?". I don't see a way right now, but the idea has enough upside to me that I keep it in the back of my mind in case I come up with a plausible way of implementing the change.
Thoughts?