Presidential debate formats eyed for TV appeal

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Former Bill Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry is taking over as the Democratic representative to the Commission on Presidential Debates, and he takes office with a goal – retool the debate formats to get more people, particularly young people – in front of their television sets watching them.


McCurry said that the debates have to be enjoyable to watch, and part of achieving that goal will be to make them more relevant.

According to Politico, he will be using the internet to get public input on just what they would like to see in the debates. “I encourage people to actually participate, give us ideas and talk about how could the web make the presidential debates in 2012 more accessible to you,” he said.

McCurry is replacing Paul Kirk, currently the temporary Senator from Massachusetts, occupying Ted Kennedy’s old seat pending results of the state’s upcoming special election to fill out the remainder of Kennedy’s term.