Debating the Value of Debates

Today over at Campus Progress I have an article about the debates, and why we probably shouldn't expect them to be very exciting:

The first of the general election debates tonight will be very different from the long series of multi-issue, multimedia, multi-candidate debates viewers saw during the primary season. Instead, the audience will likely see two candidates in a very controlled environment. The CPD sounds very official and independent—its title suggests an organization dedicated solely the important role debates play in our democracy. But the organization is little more than a sham.

For years, debates were conducted by the League of Women Voters (LWV). Now, under the CPD, the debates have essentially become “bi-partisan press conferences,” according to George Farah, executive director of Open Debates and author of the book, No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates. “[The two major national parties] did not like that a women’s organization was telling their boys what to do,” Farah said.

Read the whole thing here.