This. Debate format doesn’t determine content or strategy, but it does determine technique.
The duelling podium setup last time requires crisp soundbites delivered authoritatively, quick rejoinders and firm rebuttals. It requires eye contact with the opponent, the moderator and the camera. Obama failed to deliver on crispness and quickness and came off as detached.
The townhall format calls for mobility and direct engagement with an audience, and rewards emotional facility and empathy. It’s an interactive sales presentation where each Q&A is an opportunity to relate your product to individual biases, or to tear down competing products.
I expect the president to be much more of an explainer in this debate, both in the construction and rationale of his own policies and in the dismantling of Romney/GOP ideas. He’ll be aggressive toward the RomneyLies®, but not to point out the flipping and flopping so much as to redirect our attention to the positions officially claimed, enunciated and developed by the Romney/Ryan ticket and the GOP.