Last week, Jack Shafer wrote that the VP debate wouldn’t be much of an actual debate, due to the format restrictions. That turned out to be true.  And now, Shafer considers tonight’s town hall meeting to be "more a dance recital than an honest head-to-head between the candidates."

In a genuine town-hall discussion, anybody can ask a real, unvetted question to inject sonic chaos into the proceedings. The crazy questions, the impolite questions, and even the left-field questions about such things as the price of a gallon of milk push candidates out of their comfort zones, away from their talking points, and to some uncultivated acre of their psyches where voters can observe their thinking processes. In the Nashville, Tenn., session, we’ll see almost none of that.

Likewise, an authentic debate demands more rigor from its participants than the Q and As the Commission on Presidential Debates like to stage. In our presidential "debates," candidates decant their two-minute sound bites, dodge the tough questions, and tell the best lies they can get away with. But real debaters observe rules of logic and persuasion. They stick to the topic, they answer the questions, and they talk to one another.

Also, the San Francisco Chronicle breaks down the town hall format, and CJR asks whether Tom Brokaw will be less passive a moderator than Gwen Ifill.