The Presidential debates that took place last week were a waste of time in my opinion, and I know many who would say the same. McCain and Obama bickered back and forth, but never really got at substantial differences in their political philosophy. A good example is how they went on about nuances of interventionist foreign policy, but the question of whether we can afford to maintain such a world empire, the ethical objections, and the political repercussions of such a policy never made a blip on the radar. The debates didn’t used to be so meaningless. OpenDebates.org, a site pointed out to me recently by a friend, presents some incredibly interesting history. True like much of the non-mainstream political stuff it does smack of conspiracy theory a bit, yet they provide enough facts and references to be actually alarming. Their goal is basically to break the stranglehold of the two party regime, or at least its stagnation, by reopening the debates. I encourage you to check it out, tell friends, and in general become less apathetic. While you’re at it consider voting for a third party candidate.
2020 update
The Debates have not improved at all. Network TV as a source for political news is highly problematic. so is social media and its hyper targeted advertising model. Ad Funding in general seems toxic to the platforms whether it is because they are susceptible to highly targeted and highly effective propaganda campaigns (Trumps campaign leveraging facebook to profile, target, and radicalize a racist and xenophobic base) or just good old fashioned corruption (Bloomberg trying to buy the 2020 election with absolutely massive ad spending).