At the Town Hall: Time for Real Issues

I admit it, I like the town hall-style presidential debates best. Over the years, the big advantage of the town hall debates is that the real people in the audience ask about real issues. We don't have the spectacle we saw during the primaries, where the journalist-moderators spend precious minutes relaying the charges-and-countercharges that the candidates themselves spend more of their time on. The presidential debate tonight will be in the town hall format, and if we’re lucky, the questions will be about things that really matter to voters.

That said, you can sit through a debate and still come out without learning anything about substantive issues. Despite the best efforts of Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill, the moderators of the first two debates, most candidates are well trained to answer the question they wish had been asked, rather than the one that was actually asked. At last week's vice presidential debate, if you listened carefully, pretty much all you would have learned about the economy was that Gov. Sarah Palin supported "reform" while Sen. Joseph Biden wanted to help "the middle class." Okay, now what?

There are actual options out there for dealing with the problems facing the country. It would be nice if the candidates took the opportunity to lay them out for the public. Since their record on that is pretty sketchy, Public Agenda has set out key facts and some options in our Voter's Survival Kit, which includes great resources and links on the debates. The kit makes a pretty good cheat sheet to look over before the debate (or right after, when you're wondering, "did that really make sense?")

The economy will almost certainly be Topic A at tonight's debate. If you've only got time for to look at one thing, check out "The Fix We're in Now." The "Get the Facts" section will give you some perspective, too. Another good resource is the Bureau of Economic Analysis' Overview of the Economy page.

The other big topic will likely be taxes and federal spending. Our "Has the Bill Arrived?" guide lays out the basics on that – including a number of things that I'm betting neither candidate is going to acknowledge onstage.

Generally speaking, candidates assume you already know something about the tax system –or that you won't bother to look it up. Numbers get thrown around but nobody every steps back and talks about what the government actually spends and how it raises money. We can save you some time, because a few charts really tell the story. Have a look at our charts on Federal Spending, Federal Revenue, Deficit/Surplus and Top Tax Rates – this will really help clarify what they're talking about. Remember that's the top ("marginal") tax rate, and most people don't reach that level.

Our other guides cover health care, Iraq and foreign policy, Immigration and climate change. Have a look, settle in for the debate – but don't let the candidates slide. They'll be asked specific questions, and you deserve specific answers.