The NewsHour effect

Florida Republican Adam Putnam and California Democrat Xavier Becerra disagreed over Iraq in a civil debate moderated by Gwen Ifill on NewsHour this evening. It was subdued as conversations go, and downright comatose by cable news standards.

Becerra is not as familiar a face, but Putnam has been a political talk show regular in his role as chair of the House Republican Conference. It was certainly a different side of Putnam tonight. What is it about NewsHour that causes members of Congress to stop shouting and walking all over each other's thoughts to actually have a debate?