United States presidential election debates

During presidential elections in the United States, it has become a convention for the two main candidates (almost always the candidates of the two main parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party) engage in a debate. The issues discussed in the debate are often the most hot-button issues of the time, and some have said that elections can be won or lost based on these debates.

Presidential debates are held late in the election cycle, after the political parties have nominated their candidates. The candidates meet in a large hall, often at a university, before an audience of citizens. The formats of the debates have varied, with questions sometimes posed from one or more journalist moderators and in other cases members of the audience. Between 1988 and 2000, the formats have been governed in detail by secret MOUs between the two major candidates; an MOU for 2004 was also negotiated, but unlike the earlier agreements it was jointly released by the two candidates.

Debates are broadcast live on television and radio. The first debate for the 1960 election drew over 66 million viewers out of a population of 179 million, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history. The 1980 debates drew 80 million viewers out of a 226 million. By 2000, about 46 million viewers out of a population of 280 million watched the first debate, with ten million fewer watching the subsequent debates that year. In 2004, 62.5 million people watched the first debate, while 43.6 million watched the vice-presidential debate. ^*

History

In the race for the American presidency, a series of debates between the two main candidates is held frequently. The first televised debate to be held was on September 26, 1960, in a debate between Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy and Republican nominee Vice President Richard Nixon. Nixon was generally considered to be the “loser” of that first debate, mainly because he did not prepare for the possibilities and peculiarities of the medium of television. His poor makeup, haggard appearance due to a knee injury and hospitalization earlier in the month and his grey suit, which blended into the backdrop of the set, contributed to Nixon's poor showing. While the consensus of the subsequent debates saw Nixon clearly perform better and even win in some cases, the performance of that first debate haunted him for the rest of the season. As the candidates in the following elections of 1964, 1968 and 1972 feared to make the same mistakes and maybe lose an election because of such a debate, it took until 1976 for the second series of televised presidential debates after 1960 to be held. On September 23, 1976 it was the Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter and the Republican incumbent, President Gerald R. Ford, who agreed to debate publicly on television. Since then, televised debates have become a regular part of presidential campaigns in every election. There was a single Vice Presidential debate that year, but it wasn't until 1984 that it has been included as part of the presidential debate cycle.

Two polls examining the 1976 debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were taken. One of the polls had been taken 12 hours or less before the debate, the other one 12 to 48 hours after it. The shifts in the public’s opinion were dramatic.

Shortly after the second debate, more than half of those interviewed felt that Ford had won, whereas days later the majority felt Carter had won. The reason for this dramatic shift has been attributed to a comment made by President Ford. He said "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." For several days, it was not acknowledged that he might have said something wrong. In subsequent interviews, Ford has said that what he was trying to say during that debate was that the Russians will never dominate the spirit of the Eastern Europeans.

During September and October 2004 George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry met in a series of three televised debates face-to-face.

Moderators of nationally televised presidential debates have included Bernard Shaw, Jim Lehrer and Barbara Walters.

Debate sponsorship

Control of the presidential debates has been a ground of struggle for more than two decades. The role was filled by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters (LWV) civic organization in 1976, 1980 and 1984. In 1987, the LWV withdrew from debate sponsorship, in protest of the major party candidates attempting to dictate nearly every aspect of how the debates were conducted. On October 2, 1988, the LWV's 14 trustees voted unanimously to pull out of the debates, and on October 3 they issued a dramatic press release:

The League of Women Voters is withdrawing sponsorship of the presidential debates ... because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.

The two major political parties had their own loyalists ready to take over the debates and did so in 1988 under the name of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The two parties presented the 1988 debates and have done so every election cycle since. The commission has been headed since its inception by former chairs of the Republican and Democratic parties.

In 2004, the Citizens' Debate Commission (CDC) was formed to challenge control by the Democratic and Republican parties and attempt to return the debates to control by an independent, nonpartisan, rather than bipartisan, body. Chief concerns include the CPD's exclusion of third party and independent candidates. This effort was unsuccessful in its first attempt, as the CPD again controlled the 2004 debates. Some critics believe that this was partially the fault of the LWV in becoming increasingly politically aligned with the Democrats on gun control issues, in a break with their tradition of non-partisanship.

Timeline

In 1960 — four debates between Vice President Richard Nixon and Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy.
In 1976 — three debates between President Gerald Ford and former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter
In 1980 — one debate between President Jimmy Carter and former California Governor Ronald Reagan, one between Governor Reagan and Illinois Congressman John Anderson
In 1984 — two debates between President Ronald Reagan and former Vice President Walter Mondale
In 1988 — two debates between Vice President George H. W. Bush and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
In 1992 — three debates including President George H. W. Bush, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and independent candidate Ross Perot
In 1996 — two debates between President Bill Clinton and former Kansas Senator Bob Dole
In 2000 — three debates between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush
In 2004 — three debates between President George W. Bush and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry

References

Moore, John L.: “Elections A to Z”, Second Edition; CQ Press, Washington 2003
Patterson, Thomas E.: “Views of Winners & Losers” in GRABER, DORIS A.: “Media Power in Politics”; Congressional Quarterly Inc., Washington 1990, p.178
RUTENBERG, JIM: “The Post-Debate Contest: Swaying Perceptions”; New York Times, 4 October 2004, p.1

External links

Articles

HEADS OR TAILS: You Lose. TomPaine.com article on debate commission and corporate influence
Diane Ravitch on The Princeton Review findings

Politics of the United States | United States presidential elections

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