“One learns to itch where one can scratch”, someone once said. I guess all your TOTD friends will respond accordingly to your new format.

Oooops, forgot to vote! I prefer Option #1. I enjoy the varied reactions/responses to a specific topic. And I really enjoy watching the topic mutate as the day progresses!

Option 1 for me. I do like the idea of a blog for each story. I may comment on other stories, but I really enjoy having a single topic to follow on a daily basis.

If it ain’t broke, don’ fix it. Leave it alone. Don’t mess with excess.

I think the ability to comment on all of the stories will be a positive change – I know a few of them have had me wishing for a way to respond. But, I like the TOTD the way it is. It’s a good crowd, and for the most part we all respect each other – even if we sometimes think someone is way off base. On the Internet, that’s rare, and I wouldn’t want to see it change. So I also vote for option #1.

Kurt, we already have another place on the same topic sometimes, happening in the Current Affairs Forum. I’ve never posted there, because as Anonaman noted, the regulars here are civil, and some of those folks seem like one-line wonders.

The advantage to TOTD to me, is: the people who post here are literate, and we can tell that the moderators here are real people. Both posters and moderators realize that an argument for or against takes more than two sentences to put together a coherent thought. I like the ‘comments on stories’ function but consider it a means to communicate additional info, provide possible correction to a story if my data does not match what is reported or make a brief, pithy rejoinder. I like repeated takes on the same subject as it develops, for example: the numerous blogs on A-B or Archbishop Burke,or the Lori Drew story. In these cases, participants get to see the complexity of the issues by the variety of the responses. This place is more like a classroom discussion than a bathroom where one writes one’s opinion on the wall, and leaves.

Option 1. What might add value would be to use TOTD to sometimes feature stories which are in the printed paper, or on ‘page 2′ — the right hand side stories which don’t lead. There are always stories which are important, but which get buried when some blockbuster hits. I bet you could get some interesting comments on those, too.

make it a discussion on a nation-wide topic perhaps, maybe something overlooked by most media outlets…like the war on drugs, or why does everyone in America think all that happens in missouri is meth labs, or why are our taxes so freaking high? and so on.

Keep TOTD as it is.

Question: Will the ability to post comments apply to columnists as well (Bill McClellan, Sylvester Brown, etc)? If not, why?

I’d just prefer for things to be consolidated as much as possible to make it easy to get to since the design and scripts running on this site make it a royal pain in the buttocks to get around sometimes. Some newspapers run comments on every story and seem to do ok. The PD has so many stories I don’t know how you’d keep up with that though. It might remove the “specialness” of the blogs that have developed personalities. Freak everyone out and surprise them by changing it from time to time without telling them. All the whiners will come out of the woodwork and we can make fun of them.

I like option 1. This has been a great forum for us opionated folks and I have come to enjoy everybodies different outtake on the same subject. I am sure whatever you choose your loyal bloggers will follow.