In 1858, the Illinois senatorial debates between Lincoln and Douglas were a lot more different than the debates that we have today. The format of the debates were longer and a lot more intense. The 2008 presidential debates were significantly different in that they were a lot shorter and less in depth than the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

I think that people cared understood the lincoln-douglas debates more than they understand or care about the 2008 debates. There was less technology and people were a lot more interested in politics because people realized how it directly effected them.