I have watched or listened to both of them and I have one question: Where is the debating? All I saw was alternating stump speeches.

Yes I debated in High School and I wouldn't expect regular people to even be able to follow one of those debates. The participants speak at breakneck speeds attempting to get the most information out in the alloted time. In these debates you are actually supposed to use evidence to back up what you say. I know it's crazy, but you actually had to use FACTS to prove that you were right, and then the other side had to use more facts to prove that your plan isn't a good idea.

We carried huge tubs of information regarding the topic at hand. It can't be that hard to have a slip of paper that says how many troops were in Iraq at various times. That way when Palin claims that we are back at pre-surge levels Biden could say, “no we still have 13,000 more then we did pre-surge.” Or Palin could tell Biden that McCain didn't refuse to sit down with the government of Spain, he just didn't commit to anything. Would that be so hard?

Sure we can go to places like FactCheck.org and get a summary of what information was correct and what wasn't, but most people don't. People just hear the soundbytes.

The first debate between Obama and McCain was supposed to involve the candidates addressing each other. Jim Lehrer, the moderator kept trying to get them to do that, but they both went back to the camera.