Institute a standard 26 debate publicly funded political season for both parties of a year and a half prior to elections

Using the 2008 calendar as an approximate model for debates, schedule 5 intra-party and 8 inter-party debates before the beginning of primary voting and schedule another 13 debates during the remainder of the election cycle with 5 inter-party debates and 8 intra-party debates. Publicly funding the debates and allowing candidates to engage in debate outside of scheduled publicly funded appearances will reduce the influence of money on the political process and maintain open dialogue between candidates and voters. This should be the bare minimum number of debates and in no way should limit the amount of debate and free speech, regardless of the forum. Once successfully established, this can be used as a model for statewide and local races.