What should a moderator do when a debater flagrantly and unfairly ignores the rules? I wanted Lehrer to step in (and if not Lehrer, then the seemingly helpless Obama) when Romney, after insisting on closing the first topic because Obama opened it, proceeded to insist on rebutting Obama's closing when Romney had opened the topic.
Maybe in future debates, the moderator should use the only tool at his or her disposal: the microphone. It should be made clear at the outset that a debater talking out of turn or beyond his alloted time limit will be talking to a dead mike.