Mainstream Politics Returns - Debate Rules

Here are the rules for all formal debates that are not lockdowns.

1. Types of Teams: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents (meaning those individuals who are not affiliated with the aforementioned political parties.)

2. Number on Each Team: A total of 4 people can be on a team, and one of the team members should be a team leader, who shall be responsible for organizing and preparing teammates for the debate.

3. Debate Format: The debate shall include a moderator, who shall open the debate and recognize the various teams. The various teams are allowed to provide a 2 minute opening statement concerning their general political viewpoints. The moderator shall ask a question of each team and then give that initially asked team 3 minutes to respond. Thereafter, the moderator shall provide the other teams 2 minutes each to provide a rebuttal to the initially asked team's response. The initially asked team is thereafter provided 2 minutes to respond to any rebuttal made by other teams. Upon completing the aforementioned with each team, the moderator shall open the forum to the audience for 10 minutes and allow the audience members 1 minute each to ask a question of any team or member of a team who has 1 minute to respond. The moderator shall then allow the various teams 2 minutes to provide a closing statement.

4. Adhominem Attacks: These types of attacks are illegal and a team shall be penalized for engaging in any form or nature of a personal attack. Teams should attack the subject, not the person(s).

5. Judges: Judges shall be decided in secret initially by the moderator. Judges shall be revealed at the end of the debate whereupon individual judges may elect to state the basis for the judge's decision in regards to the various team's performance.

(Note: It is strongly encouraged that you are able to provide credible evidence and/or proof for your position on various subject matters. Such subject matters may include, but are not limited to, foreign and international affairs, military matters, funding, congress, presidency, supreme court and decisions, healthcare, education, drug legalization, political figures, etc.)

(Happy Debating!)

--LordVoo--