Among the many debate formats, the phrase "Lincoln-Douglas style" has come to be synonymous with head-to-head forensics. Those seeking a Lincoln-Douglas debate want a direct exchange with the opponent, one-on-one, with no moderator or questioner. Usually this means a free-flowing dialogue structured by the two combatants on the spot, often with rapid give-and-take. But it is a long way from the real Lincoln-Douglas debates. In that historic series of seven debates in the fall of 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas traveled the length of Illinois discussing, as Douglas put it, "the leading topics which now agitate the public mind."
