The second and last televised debate between Scott Walker and Mary Burke is tomorrow night from 7 to 8 p.m. and I’ve got a couple of suggestions for you.

Walk your dog. Clip your toenails. Call your mother. Organize your kitchen cupboard. Order a pizza. Clean out your email folders. Sleep. Anything! Anything to avoid this farce being perpetrated on the people of Wisconsin.

Let me be clear about this so that there is no misunderstanding: Despite all the brave and honorable talk, these debates are absolutely worthless as far as shedding any light on the candidates or creating any excitement among either opponents or supporters.

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation has been sponsoring these debates forever. Here’s what their website says about it.

"The WBAF believes that it has a role in helping to inform voters of the positions and issues of the candidates through the debates, but does not have an obligation to promote or elevate a candidate in the election. The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation are non-partisan organizations and maintain neutral positions in all political matters."

I would add one more sentence.

"The WBA and the WBAF are committed to boring the daylights out of the audience, preventing any opportunity for meaningful discussion of issues and is tethered to some antiquated and useless format that does a massive disservice to viewers and voters."

The debate tomorrow night will be like all the others. Each candidate gets a two minute opening statement. Then come questions from the panel, none of which are designed to surprise the candidates. The candidate can take 90 seconds to response and the opponent gets 30 seconds of rebuttal. Then it’s on to the next question.

I can’t begin to count the number of these stupid things that have taken place under the auspices of the WBA. I can, however, count the number of times anything newsworthy or meaningful came out of them.

Zero!

The candidates all know what questions are coming. They have prepared their answers in advance. They don’t even come close to talking to each other, much less looking at each other. It’s like each candidate is in some kind of bubble, shielded from anything that might be the least bit uncomfortable.

These events are not the faults of the candidates. It’s the WBA and the WBAF that are to blame.

If we really want to televise something meaningful, here’s the way it ought to work.

Build a set that looks like a kitchen, complete with a kitchen table and three chairs. Make the candidates come in and sit opposite each other. They each have to wear blue jeans and some kind of shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

In the middle is a moderator who knows something and who is determined to make these candidates actually talk to each other, challenge each other, create some sense of excitement and commitment.

Get someone like Mike Gousha from Channel 12 or his compatriot Kent Wainscott. Get Ted Perry from Channel 6. Maybe even Charles Benson from Channel 4. Or the head of the Public Policy Forum. Or even me for God’s sake.

I could stage a debate that’s 100 times more interesting and elucidating than the current crap thing we have. I could stage something that might even be worth watching. Maybe I can convince OnMilwaukee.com to sponsor the nest mayoral debates.

Let me acknowledge that Michelle Vitterkind, the head of the WBA and WBAF, did think my idea was "interesting." She also said she would "give it some thought." She did, however, stop short of agreeing that the debates they sponsor are like the ambien of political television.

As for tomorrow night, I really like the idea of, renting a movie from Netflix or Hulu or Amazon, popping some popcorn and then get an early night’s sleep.