On-Line Presidential Deabtes

We have a Presidential election here in November of 2008 that will evict the hapless, incompetent and dishonest George Bush and company. But I am not going to rant about Bush today. There is an interesting new element to this next presidential election. It's the Internet's role in the upcoming presidential debates. Yep! The presidential candidates will be debating on line this time. In fact, this time almost all of the debates will be on line.
Yahoo is the driving force of this idea, along with the national education TV network and some other organizations. In this format voters will be asked to submit questions to the candidates and can "blog" their reaction to answers they receive from the candidates as the debate is on going. yahoo will host all of the debates in which the candidates will participate from far-flung locations, speaking and interacting with one another before separate video cameras.
So why is this important? Well, the debates will be different, less staged and less likely a weak and uninformed candidate (like Bush, for instance) can simply orate a speech rather than answer the questions posed. This new format may alter how the viewers see the candidate performs, making the candidate more likely to be seen as he or she is, not as image makers want him or her to be seen. It could change the way voters see the debate outcome, come they determine if the candidate is qualified and informed rather than just a media package.
The first televised debate, the famous Richard Nixon/ John F. Kennedy debate of 1960, shows how the format and medium used can shape a voters interpretation of what was seen. Historians believe the voters in 1960 who watched the debate believed Kennedy was the winner (TV viewers were turned of by the sweat pouring from the nervous and seedy looking Nixon and enchanted by the handsome and cool looking Kennedy), while those voters who only listened to the words of the debate on radio thought Nixon won (listeners were impressed by the knowledge of Nixon's words and turned off by the somewhat flippant and less serious talk from Kennedy). One thing is certain. Without the huge appeal in favorable image the TV debate gave to Kennedy, he would not have defeated Nixon in 1960.
How will internet debates work? Will the internet style favor one candidate and condemn another? Will it alter the outcome from what would be if there were standard TV debates? And, will it exclude the non internet user from an important part of the campaign process?
Surely, the more informed voter will watch on the net. So I wonder if the Internet only debate form is not exclusive to those of line. Oh well, of one thing I am sure. It can't produce a worse president than the one we have now.