Jeff Yang is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion, a featured writer for Quartz and other publications, and the co-host of the podcast "They Call Us Bruce." He co-wrote Jackie Chan's best-selling autobiography, "I Am Jackie Chan," and is the editor of three graphic novels: "Secret Identities," "Shattered" and the forthcoming "New Frontiers." The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) Before Wednesday night I was a skeptic, but now I'm something of a believer -- not just in Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who made a startlingly good case for the presidency in his one allotted hour, but also in the basic idea that televised town halls are a good and useful thing for our tattered, frayed political system.

Jeff Yang

I used to worry that these sessions would just worsen the chaotic fragmentation in the Democratic Party and threaten the urgent, ultimate goal of defeating President Donald Trump and all for which he stands. I thought that elevating minor, sure-to-lose candidates would only distract from or delay the process of uniting around one strong nominee.

But presidential campaigns aren't just about that year's race. They're also a way of vetting future leaders, expanding the window of ideas, defining a party's values and priorities. And to that end, Wednesday night's CNN town hall was exceptional.

When Inslee first announced, he seemed to do so as a candidate with a single issue -- climate change -- and he didn't quite walk away from that perception. "In the presidential debates leading up to the last election, only four minutes total were spent on climate change," he said. "That's one big reason I'm running: to ensure that doesn't happen again."

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But while he pledged to make confronting climate change the country's top priority if elected, he wasn't running solely on being green. He was thoughtful in discussing how the changes in our increasingly volatile and degraded environment disproportionately harm the marginalized and people of color. He discussed the need for smart gun reform, the duty to defend Obamacare and fight for single-payer health coverage, noting that Washington may be the first state to offer a public option for health insurance.

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