NEW YORK, NY Feb 26 (DPI) – Last night’s Democratic debate – the tenth so far – was depressingly meaningless theater as CBS and its moderators encouraged sound bites and high-volume rants from the candidates.

Readers – especially self-professed Democrats who read The New York Times – expressed various levels of frustration over the format, which left only seconds to respond to complex questions, and which allowed the candidates to harangue one another onstage. Readers too criticized CBS for “creating controversy to increase ratings.”

The three most popular comments on nytimes.com this morning confirmed that:

One thing that was clear from tonight’s debate was that the candidates were not given anywhere near sufficient time to give complete answers to the questions they were being asked on complicated topics. But the moderators kept insisting on the candidates giving what in effect were sound bites. Shame on the moderators.

One thing that was clear from tonight’s debate was that the candidates were not given anywhere near sufficient time to give complete answers to the questions they were being asked on complicated topics. But the moderators kept insisting on the candidates giving what in effect were sound bites. Shame on the moderators.

Whose idea was it to have this many debates? It’s getting to the point where I’m exhausted. Imagine how the candidates feel. Perez needs to go, and we need a progressive who can actually help the Democrats win the elections for president, the Senate, and the House. I miss Jim Lehrer. None of the moderators seem to understand how to conduct a debate. It’s all about creating controversy to increase ratings.