In a good debate, both teams refine their arguments in the course of the clash of ideas, and Firing Line usually passes this test. Buckley is a role model in one other respect. At the time he founded National Review , conservatism was effectively dead in the water, and businesses were not throwing money at right-wing think tanks. There weren't any. But through the power of ideas, Buckley helped energize a movement, which became the majority public philosophy within three decades.
Liberals take heart.
The actual debate, held in the basketball arena at the University of Mississippi, was intriguing to the point of being entertaining. He explicitly ruled out Silicon Valley or San Francisco because California, the largest state, has too many taxable buyers. This has distributive implications since it is relatively wealthy buyers who use the Net. It also adds to the competitive disadvantage of Main Street businesses, who have to collect sales taxes while e-merchants don't. Taxation of e-commerce within the United States is not technically difficult.