Politics: Bush scared of partisans

The Bush camp is saying they don't want to do the St. Louis debate, the one to be in a 'town-hall' format, because "there might be partisans in the crowd." The Gallup people pick the town-hallsters from undecided voters, so the probability of having blatant partisans would be not that significant.

I wish we could get rid of all the commercials, period, and have eight (arbitrary number that I like at the moment) weeks of debate. Theme debates. One week national security issues, the next week economic issues, etc. And then, people would have no excuse for mis-understanding the positions of the candidates, and the candidates couldn't hide behind this ignorance. People in my hometown newspaper write letters to the editor all the time claiming that Kerry is pro-gay marriage, when this isn't true. The majority of the electorate are ignorant of current events and rely on hearsay from church, their buddies at work or school, etc. And I don't mean ignorant in a perjorative sense, I think many people just prefer to fill their minds with other things, the things of their daily lives, the things of family, religion, or whatetever. So my statement is not meant to be elitist, but when people vote not understanding the implication of their vote, democracy isn't particularly served. I blame inadequate public education, and not those who are victim of it.