I watched some snippets of it for amusement. It's pretty clear the US debate, especially during the primaries are geared towards entertainment. I really hope this isn't the direction that debates go here in Australia although our short campaign cycle means we usually only get a few debates anyway.

They did ask the obvious tough questions of candidates like Trump (bankruptcies, PCness) but the willingness to let them ramble on with empty platitudes and campaign lines (not just the moderators not keeping them in check but the audience's willingness to lap it up) really speaks to how it's much more about emotion and attitude than content.

I think it's also interesting to note that Canadians vote on their federal election on October 19th, 9 weeks from now.

Alternatively the US presidential election is in full swing and Americans vote our federal election on September 15th, 2016. 68 weeks from now!

It's not quite a fair comparison. The Canadian one is of currently elected officials. That US thing is for leadership of one party, if I understand correctly. Those always seem to be a bit of a circus.

A record 24 million people watched the Republican debate. I don't know it that was for the first or 2nd group or both.

Republicans are finally getting some good candidates this time around. Just hope they don't fuck it up, like they have done in recent past.

In Canada, this is considered an unusually long election campaign. The governing Conservatives have timed the campaign this way deliberately. They used their majority to change the rules and eliminate public campaign funding. This helps them as the right-wing business party that attracts the most donations. With a bigger war chest to spend than anyone else, they plan to exhaust the other parties' treasuries while they still have lots left to spend on a big ad blitz close to election day.

They are taking lessons from the way things are done in the U.S., which is not a good thing for Canada. Campaign finance in the U.S. is just unreal. It costs US$2 billion and climbing to elect a president, to say nothing of all the other races. It is literally the case that members of Congress spend half their time on the phone raising money rather than serving their constituents. I hope the American people wise up and do what it takes to reclaim their government from the political class. It will make things better for my country as well.

Ok, I'm curious: who do you like out of the lineup and why?

USA has Trump.

Canada wins.

This is almost as many people viewers as Canada has voters..

*controversy

Adding video to channels (Controversy) - requested by MrFisk.