I haven't used it before. It's cool to read a message from President Clinton on a discussion board that we could join too. Try Abuzz and see if it's up now on your end. That said, Abuzz is definitely the most interactive and probably interesting part of this site. I hope I did not miss anything.
Web sites can really bury content.
I liked it. Yes, I see your point about live chats. I read from people who asked about election day procedures, Nader, media coverage. That means people are thinking. If they were simply making statements, the conversation would be too dogmatic.