Don't forget, the CO-2 Online Debate is Tuesday next week at 7:00pm mountain time. AFAIK this is the only on-line debate (so far) for a U.S. House seat.
If you are a CO-2 voter and you have a question - click here to submit it.
We have a multitude of in-person debates where the candidates all stand up on a stage and answer questions, one at a time. We have a multitude of questionnaires where the candidates all answer questions submitted to them. But never before have we had an on-line debate.
The advantages of an in-person debate is it requires an immediate short concise answer. The disadvantages are that appearance and presentation sometimes matter more than content - and the candidate answering second gets to hear the other's answer before they answer.
The advantages of written questionnaires is that each candidate is answering equally and it gives time and space for long nuanced complete answers. The disadvantage is that in many cases the answers are reviewed and revised by the candidate's staff to the point that the candidates voice has disappeared from them.
With the on-line debate we combine the best of both approaches. They have 5 minutes/question so there is barely time for the candidates to write an immediate answer. The answers are in the candidates voice and from their gut as with an in-person debate. However, candidates answer simultaneously so they do not know the other's answer first. And candidate appearance and presentation is unknown - they may be in pajamas and bunny slippers while answering for all we know.