This review was cross-posted from GoPoli.com, with additional commentary.

The Democratic debate on CNN tonight was entertaining and informative. However, I still think that the fundamental flaws of the format are:

• Too Many Questions
• Unequal Time Per Candidate
• Lack of Rebuttal Time

The 1-minute responses simply encourage more sound-bite politics. Also, I think the candidates need to begin to chip away at the Republican opposition. This will be one of the ways the Democratic candidates show whether or not they deserve the nomination to confront the Republican nominee.

A very good philosophical question came from a Baptist minister from North Carolina who asked John Edwards why it was ok to use religion to justify discriminating against homosexuals. The minister’s point was that religion had been used to justify slavery, oppression of women, and other things which we now know to be wrong.

One of the more “fun” moments was the closing question where each candidate was asked to give one positive and one negative about the person to their left. The best joke was when Representative Kucinich pointed out that no one was to his left and Anderson Cooper said, I don’t think we could find someone more left (paraphrase). It was hilarious.

I think Anderson Cooper did a much better job than Wolf Blitzer. He seemed a bit more fair about time allotment, and was better about making the candidates stick to the time constraints. I also like that CNN teamed up with YouTube to give ordinary Americans a chance to speak out. Anyone who tries that now is just a copy-cat. I’m glad CNN took a leadership role instead of trying to always be like Fox News.

One thing I do find curious though is the fact that in both debates so far the Democrats go first, followed by the Republicans. The lead debate should be rotated between parties because it gives whichever party follows the ability to hone their message and their responses. If something didn’t work out too well for a Democrat, the Republicans can be sure to avoid it. Additionally, it gives them an opportunity to make comments and snipe at the Dems.

Overall, it was fun and interesting. I look forward to the Republican debate.

***

Thank you to our friends at Real Clear Politics for adding this article to their REAL CLEAR BLOGS – Tuesday Morning Edition roundup -

MemeOrandum has a fantastic blogger roundup on this event — check it out

Thanks also to our good friend Pamela Leavey of The Democratic Daily for linking in -

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