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Each Debate has been divided into "Rounds" based on the format of the given debate, the topic/question involved and the subsequent "give-and-take" as a given topic unfolds or after a question has been answered during any rebuttal and follow-up. Each such "Round" will be scored under Boxing's so-called Ten Point Must System, in which the winner of a round must be given 10 points (hence the name) and the losing opponent in that same round is then given a lesser number in relative comparison to the 10 always given to the winner of a particular round. The points from all the "Rounds" in each Debate will be toted up at the end of the Debate in order to then determine an overall Debate "winner". The scoring of Debates on 'The Green Papers' will be based solely on how each candidate has stated his case and- perhaps more importantly in such Debates nowadays- just how well each candidate handles the slings and arrows of his opponent in the course of a given "Round" of the Debate. Please note that the score of a given "Round" is NOT determined through judging the policy positions of the candidates, nor is the relative veracity of any statements made by the candidates themselves here being judged. The use of this "Ten Point Must" scoring system is, therefore, solely an aid to judging how each candidate presented their arguments in a given "Round"-- not whether or not these arguments themselves might be valid!: it is also not at all used to judge the performance or appearance of each candidate as such. Where a given "Round" seems a very close call- virtually a tie (under "Ten Point Must", not only must the winner of a "Round" be given 10 points, the loser must not be given more than 9), the criterion utilized to determine a winner in such a "Round" will be that the candidate who most effectively appealed to the average undecided American voter re: a given issue, topic or question gets the 10 points and the other is, by the very rules of "Ten Point Must", left with (sorry!) only 9. A clearly decisive winning of a "Round" by a candidate, meanwhile, will produce a score of 10-8. Only where a candidate losing a "Round" has done especially badly in that "Round" will a score of 10-7 ever occur (and it would be rather improbable for a candidate to only receive 6 or fewer points in any "Round" he might lose-- yet an especially atrocious/obnoxious statement or huge gaffe by a candidate losing a "Round" could conceivably result in such a lopsided score: it would have to be a most horrendous error, however!) |