[Xantar]

The terms of the debate are negotiated between the two campaign groups. In my opinion, that's one of the major problems with election procedures in America today. Theoretically, if both sides agreed to it, there could have been just one debate in which the rules were "Do not actually discuss anything and just say nice things about each other." It won't happen because the people would never stand for it, but there's nothing illegal about it either.

That's also why debates look like a set of canned responses. The candidates don't want to be surprised and look like they've been caught in headlights (I suspect that this is a concern more for Bush than for Kerry. Bush has been showing difficulty putting his thoughts into words for this debate).