The glass is half broken

Here's a nice essay by David Sedaris running in the New Yorker. 

You never can tell what's true and what's not, but somehow he finds a greater truth in the midst of distortion. 

A debate, sans podium

So the second presidential debate of this election cycle is supposed to be in a "town hall" format, I hear. 

This style is said to favor Republican Sen. John McCain, who we all recall hosted "town hall meetings" ad nauseam during the primary season, espousing his beliefs to those in attendance, riffing on the war and cleaning up Washington and all those other "mavericky" things he says he'll do as our next president. 

One may recall images of Mr. McCain holding a microphone close to his chest and milling around the stage, speaking in a very conversational tone to audience members. Many of is opponent's televised appearances have been from behind podiums, or up on raised platforms. 

Now I don't have any sort of empirical data on who's had more town halls and who's given more formal speeches, but the fact is Mr. McCain has more or less been characterized as the king of the town hall meeting and Mr. Obama as someone able to hold down a podium and read a TelePrompTer. Tonight we'll see how Mr. Obama does in a good ol' fashion town hall debate. 

Problem is, I'm not sure what that is. What exactly is the format here and what makes it that much different from the last one? I've heard Tom Brokaw, the moderator for tonight's festivities, will be asking questions submitted via the Internet and by those in the audience. The set I've seen includes two barstool-height chairs next to two small tables holding up water glasses. Sans podium. 

But that seems to be the most substantial difference. 

Besides the origin of the questions -- which won't be coming from Tom's head -- and the lack of a podium where one could spy on prepared notes, what's the dif? No podium seems like more of a matter of set dressing than anything else. 

If I remember the last "town hall" debate correctly, all John Kerry and George W. did that was any different from the formal debate was shuffle around the stage a little and act like they're just hanging out in our living room with a thousand of our friends. 

I'm not looking for anything special from this evening. I'm not giving the advantage to Mr. McCain that some might because of his familiarity with the format and I'm not giving it to Mr. Obama because recent polling showing him to be the current favorite would give him a boost of confidence. Too much confidence can come across as arrogance. 

I'm not even sure how to score a debate -- it would probably involve some sort of confusing points system like boxing if I were to devise one -- but I'm pretty sure I'll have a bingo or two.