Improving Presidential Debates

General consensus is that there is plenty of room for improvement in the format of presidential debates. Let’s hope that changes are made before the 2012 campaign.

One item I would addressed is the selection of the debate moderators. Nothing against those who handled the task this year. But between them, Jim Lehrer, 74, Tom Brokaw, 68, and Bob Schieffer, 71, have a combined age of 71. If we’re trying to engage more young people in the electoral process, it would be nice to see at least one moderator who was born after FDR was president.

While we’re at it, let’s also take into consideration how people get their news and information these days. Fewer and fewer of us are relying on traditional news outlets, where journalists such as Lehrer, Brokaw and Schieffer honed their crafts. Having a moderator from the world of new media also would be a welcome addition.