Border wars! Who's got the better debate format, Canada or the U.S.? Also, my prediction for tonight

So tonight is going to be the third U.S. executive branch debate, this time pitting John McCain and Barack Obama in the TV-friendly "town hall" setting. The debate will undoubtedly get better ratings than the first McCain-Obama encounter, for no other reason than it's Tuesday night, and people stay home and watch TV on Tuesdays. (The first debate was held Friday, when "HUT levels," households using television, are at their lowest.)

I'm just back from Canada. While on "vacation" I covered the first debate for TV Barn. Since I was on a train last Thursday, I watched most of the VP debate in cud form (i.e., chewed up and regurgitated) over the weekend on CNN. I also watched pieces of the English language debate between Canada's five candidates for prime minister, held the same night as Biden-Palin.

Shari Elliker of WBAL Radio asked me this morning to compare the two countries, and that resulted in this cultural exchange:

(or download it)

Now, as for tonight's debate, in my "Five Myths" essay I made the case that John McCain may have excelled in previous town halls, but should not be considered the favorite by any means here. For one thing, the audience won't necessarily be eating out of his hand. For another, his opponent will be right there making eye contact with him. And third, McCain is likely to face some of the hardest "citizen questions" he's ever faced, such as why his people have ordered Sarah Palin to recommence with the Jeremiah Wright-Bill Ayers rap and why his much cozier association with Charles Keating shouldn't now be considered fair game. Not to mention actual issues like the economy. With 50 million people watching him answer, McCain had better be perfect in his answers, or he's likely to fall even further behind Obama in the polls.