My http://www.blogher.com/node/22465 ">fifteen minutes

with Cooper left me buzzing. I wanted to go live in Anderson-world. It’s rare you’re in the presence of someone really imbued with the purpose of their work, but that’s how I felt after our talk. It made me want to work harder. Cooper is someone admits he works “all the time,” but what I emerged with from our brief interview was a sense of the importance of passion and social justice. (Ed note: the funny thing about CNN is that in the midst of its obsession with Paris Hilton and horses that fall off trails, and bland morning anchors, it maintains room for some iconoclasts, like Cooper and Lou Dobbs). And it’s ironic, because my primary experience of watching presidential candidates discourse has been one of numbness, process, talking points. So when Cooper told me the purpose of this new debate format is to “infuse questions with a new spirit and energy,” I believed him. I want to thank BlogHer readers for providing such good questions and helping to create a natural discussion.

I’ve summed up our discussions below, using quotes sparingly because I did not have a recorder and I don’t want to misquote. If I misconstrue, I apologize. In our brief discussions, three themes emerged: