Would George W. Bush stand for pointed questions on live TV from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain if forced weekly to endure a forum such as the UK’s Wednesday noon mosh pit a.k.a. Prime Minister’s Question time? This is a place where every member of the House, in theory, can ask questions of the PM and his government.  It is a cross between the Oxford/Cambridge debates and Nursery School play-time.

What follows is a positively withering exchange between Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative (Tory) Leader Davis Cameron.

The BBC last week asked Mr. Cameron about his promise to stop turning PMQ’s into a “Punch and Judy Show” and his reply was: “I will absolutely hold up my hand…this is a promise I haven’t been able to deliver,” the Tory leader said.  The “adversarial” nature of PMQs meant he had not been able to adopt the “quieter tone” he had hoped for.

From this chair it is great political theatre and on at a reasonable hour.

Mrs. Clinton challenged Mr. Obama to moderator-less debates in the style of Lincoln and Douglas. Nothing though can top PMQ’s where only the Speaker of the House can interrupt the proceedings and he scarcely is a true referee. The exchanges have become so outrageous, he is limited to every now and then calling order and sternly demanding that one party or the other “allow the gentleman to finish.”

What is funniest are the catcalls, chatter, jeering, booing, cheering, hissing and other audible sounds from each party’s back-benchers in support of their leader. It sounds like a rugby scrum with an occasional “here, here!” shouted above the ever present din.

It is in this session I most miss the oratory of Tony Blair (believe me that is the only thing I miss). Mr. Blair at PMQ’s had the unique ability to make opponents squirm by always knowing the precise debate score. Each person gets two questions with the Tory Leader getting three. Mr. Blair was always able to finish off his opponent and leave a gaping knife wound by asking a question about theopposition’s past behaviour at the last knowing full well the Tory or Lib Dem leader could not answer because he had exhausted his question allotment.

Mr. Brown still takes it all too personally and looks even more uncomfortable in this chamber than usual. But he looks positively regal compared to what I think the over-under for ‘W’ in this situation would be, somewhere around 4-minutes  into the first question before he stormed petulantly from the Chamber.

I can only dream of seeing that become a reality in my lifetime.