Why candidate debates are so awful — and how to fix them

This has been a big week for the midterm elections, as debates among Senate and gubernatorial candidates were held in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado. There has been plenty of discussion about which candidates won, who had the worst “gaffe,” what will show up in campaign ads and whether it will all affect the election outcome.

Which is exactly why candidate debates as they’re practiced are utterly terrible, both for voters and for democracy.

The best you can say about them is that when most voters see the candidates in only 30-second TV ads or...