Maybe our Presidential debates should have real qualified debate judges and scoreboards: Their current form relies on viewers to act as the judges, and most don't seem qualified to judge anything other than "how candidate X made me feel".
On the other hand, even the least-sophisticated viewer understands a scoreboard. If a debater consistently wandered off-topic and failed to respond to their opponent's points, then real judges would dock them points. A blow-out would make it very clear that the loser is not fit to serve, even if he or she IS good-looking or has an endearing personality.
