The presidential debates are not so presidential, and they’re not really debates either. We call them “debates,” and maybe they were at one point in time. But in this age of reality TV and social media, they resemble the Hunger Games more than real policy discussions of the issues Americans care about.

For all their criticism of the bitterness consuming the 2016 Republican primary cycle, the Democrats have sure seemed happy enough to hop on that bandwagon. The first set of primary debates in June focused more on stunts and jabs at candidates’ pasts than anything resembling a concrete policy platform for the party, and there’s no sign that this week’s debates will be any different.