Butler, Gableman debate online

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The state’s two Supreme Court candidates will face off this afternoon (Jan. 29) in their first debate. However, the two will not be face-to-face.

Instead, Justice Louis B. Butler Jr. and Judge Michael J. Gableman will talk over the phone and the debate will be broadcast through an online radio program. The show, PantherTalk Live, is hosted by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Kyle Duerstein.

Duerstein began his program as a class project last September. It runs every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. (CST) on blogtalkradio.com. He also is part of WISN’s Student Commitment 2008 project getting students talking with students about politics.

He approached the two campaigns about participating and noted that WISN’s Web site links to his online radio program. Each candidate agreed to make the leap into cyber broadcasting.

Duerstein runs the show from his phone in the basement of his house. Butler and Gableman will phone in from their respective locations and participate in the debate. This format eliminates a problem they faced last week with their first scheduled debate. Snow kept Gableman, a judge in Burnett County, from attending the Milwaukee event.

In addition to the two candidates, Duerstein hopes listeners will call in with their questions. Up to three people will be able to join them on the phone at the same time, he said, noting that this format breaks the old mold for candidate debates.

“If they can take an hour out of whatever they are doing and spend it on the phone,” he said, “then essentially they can have a debate anywhere anytime.”

Even after the debate, those who want to hear the debate will be able to login to an archive of his PantherTalk program and hear the candidates.