Two things. One, it's much harder to explain poetry in prose, but we should all attempt it at least once because an explanation in poetry is no explanation at all, merely a subjective invitation to the reader to sort it out for him/herself whereas prose is far more didactic and makes a somewhat more structured argument, which is probably why debates are rarely conducted in poetry 
Of course, some political debates in particular may be called poetry in that they say very little but the reader (listeners are readers too) does all the interpreting through that filter of what he/she wants to hear or has already decided... to the typical idiot voter, one amphigouri is much the same as another. Ahem. Anyway, it's a challenge to order one's thoughts about poetry into a coherent prose argument, and it's an argument that's been raging for centuries. That doesn't make it any less valid today and who knows, one of us might come up with the answer that shuts up all the critics... then they'll piss off and start picking on reality tv like they should.
Two. If the respondent considers that the best response to a previous comment is in the form of a poem, so be it. I have had many an argument on other sites that forbid poetry of any kind in certain areas, most especially those that are specifically for the discussion of poetry, which seems ironic at best. Although it is my personal preference to see prose dominate these discussions because I do think it makes a better argument (see above), I don't mind at all if a short poem or two makes its way here to illustrate a point, provided the thread does not become a showcase.
Of course, some political debates in particular may be called poetry in that they say very little but the reader (listeners are readers too) does all the interpreting through that filter of what he/she wants to hear or has already decided... to the typical idiot voter, one amphigouri is much the same as another. Ahem. Anyway, it's a challenge to order one's thoughts about poetry into a coherent prose argument, and it's an argument that's been raging for centuries. That doesn't make it any less valid today and who knows, one of us might come up with the answer that shuts up all the critics... then they'll piss off and start picking on reality tv like they should. Two. If the respondent considers that the best response to a previous comment is in the form of a poem, so be it. I have had many an argument on other sites that forbid poetry of any kind in certain areas, most especially those that are specifically for the discussion of poetry, which seems ironic at best. Although it is my personal preference to see prose dominate these discussions because I do think it makes a better argument (see above), I don't mind at all if a short poem or two makes its way here to illustrate a point, provided the thread does not become a showcase.
It could be worse