Why I'm NOT live-tweeting the debate (a lesson in tweet management)

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, I'm not talking about the disturbingly early encroachment of trees in the middle of hardware stores and discount auto parts stores (and those other places people insist on shopping). Instead, it's the most wonderful time of the year because it's debate season.

Debate season is the best part of a presidential campaign and it only comes around once every four years. Sure, we watched all those Republican debates. I watched them all, didn't you? They were fun, 'n stuff, certainly (I sorely miss Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain). But they weren't the real deal.

Presidential debates can turn an election and give us catch phrases we'll remember for years. Who doesn't cherish "There you go again," or "You're no Jack Kennedy," or "I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience"?

Nixon effectively lost the race to Jack Kennedy during the debates. Ronald Reagan turned the tide of his election race with a strong debate performance. Debates make history.

Now, to be fair, my personal favorite debate is the Vice Presidential debate, especially any that has Joe Biden in a starring role. So, while we'll never ever again have the joy that was Joe Biden vs. Sarah Palin, I'm still very much looking forward to next week's Grandpa vs. Beanpole extravaganza.

This brings us to the subject of our discussion -- live tweeting. My last foray into the world of live tweeting was in January, where I live-tweeted one of the primaries, and the State of the Union address, in an epic event called Tweet of the Union.

See Also: Live-tweeting a political event: what worked, and what didn't

As it turned out, it's difficult to live tweet and follow the action closely. While election returns are almost made for live tweeting, because there's a short flurry of action followed by an hour of filler, the State of the Union -- and even more especially -- the debates, are something you need to pay rapt attention to.

The only way to follow everything -- and also tweet everything -- is to Tivo the event, pause it to tweet and read tweets, and then start it back up to watch. This results in a time-slippage, where eventually the tweets follow the event. Because I was also responding to everyone and retweeting many of you, the time slip got so bad that I was eventually 45-minutes to an hour behind the actual live event towards the end of the night.

So, that's why I'm not going to live-tweet the debate. It's something that needs to be watched live, and needs to be watched with great care, especially since I'm hoping one of these debates is what finally helps me decide which candidate will be worse for America and which is the lesser of the two evils, the one I'll have to vote for.

So, tune in tonight at 8pm. CBS News will be covering the event from end-to-end.

During the debate, feel free to tweet me at @DavidGewirtz and let me know what you think the best lines of the debate were. Also, after the debate is over, let me know who you think won, and why.

ZDNet Government's coverage of Election 2012:

• An undecided voter on President Obama's convention
• Diary of an undecided voter (GOP convention edition)
• Well, there it is. Santorum is out and the real presidential campaign begins today.
• Delegate math shows Santorum and brokered conventions both out of the running soon
• Not-so-super Tuesday, predictions for what comes next
• So, seriously, do the Dems want to lose the election?
• Romney on fire, Paul pulls into second
• Paul's got legs, Romney feet of clay, and Santorum grew wings
• Are these really the best America has to offer? (Campaign 2012)
• Campaign 2012: Once every four years, I wish I lived in Iowa
• What was Mitt Romney trying to hide by destroying hard drives?
• Is there any possible way Jesse Ventura could win the Presidency?
• Ranking GOP candidates on tech savvy, craziness, and electability