The fact that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the two least trusted candidates in the primary season, are running as candidates of the major parties shows that the American primary system is not working. No doubt one of the chief causes is the debate system. The linked article proposes some good solutions for amending the debate process. This is the kind of discussion our country needs to be having. Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to be stuck with one of these two undesirables in 2016. But if we plan, perhaps we can have a better outcome in 2020.
http://theweek.com/articles/646203/americas-presidential-debates-are-broken-heres-how-fix