So we need a debate that enables the Democratic electorate to judge these two candidates not on how able they are to fight the other, but on how well they can fight to take power away from the obstructionist Republicans.
Yes, Hillary and Bernie are competing to win the nomination. But competition can come in different forms.
It can be like two boxers. The blow struck by one is an injury to the other. That's pretty much how the current debates are conducted.
But competition can also be like a talent show, where each gives his/her best performance, and the judges decide who gets the prize.
Better still, the competition can be like two teammates working together toward victory-- each playing his/her best and understanding that the primary voters will be the ones who decide which member of the team should be voted MVP.
Imagine the power of what Hillary and Bernie could accomplish if they agreed together on this:
"We will use the debates -- cooperatively -- to create the best conversation we can for the purpose of taking power away from the political force that will otherwise thwart all we hope to do."
(The high-point in the most recent debate was when the two candidates did essentially this on effort of the Republicans and the Koch brothers to privatize the Veterans Administration.)
Hillary and Bernie are on the same side in the real battle, so they should use the debates to work together to create the best possible message for moving the American people--to fortify the prospects not only of which ever of them becomes the nominee, but also of retaking control first of the Senate, and eventually of the House, as well.
(The debates might be officially restructured for this purpose. But even if the media's moderators continue in their current role, the candidates can turn the questions asked into a cooperative conversation to move public opinion.)
As they fight together against the real opponent, the public will see: Which candidate is more able to inspire, persuade, and attack in the ways that are required to take power away from those who stand in the way of the progress so many of the American people desire?
Which is better for the eventual nominee and for the Democratic Party? To have its possible nominees bruising each other in events across the country, exposing each other's vulnerabilities? Or to have them compete on how well they can use their rhetorical gifts to make a case to the public as to why the American people should choose them and other Democrats, and kick the Republicans out of office?
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