Obama did so well today at the Republican House Retreat, perhaps he should consider instituting an American Version of the British tradtion of Question Time. Maybe a little less contentious than the Brits, but still.
Advantages? See below.
The initial advantage is that Obama is better at this than any of the Repubs. We win. But in the long run there is another, better advantage. We will have another Repub president. It's bound to happen. That's okay. But what we want is a president who understands the issues and can demonstrate that. We had a president in Bush who clearly wasn't up to the job but his incompetence wasn't demonstrated to the American people until Katrina. We had a president in Reagan who, by the end, wasn't up to the job. We have a right to know that too.
It becomes a new check on the president, one that the American public can tune into every month and make their own judgements, whether those judgements be on policy, personality, or competence.
One final point. Possibly more even than the lobbyists, the handlers have taken over our politics. Issues are messaged to within an inch of their lives. We're sold politics the same way we are sold hamburgers and that is what the American people are really sick of. Make our leaders go on TV to answer questions. We're getting rid of the lobbyists, now let's get rid of the handlers.
Sorry for the short diary, but I was excited by the idea.