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U.S. presidential election debates
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John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debate in 1960
During presidential elections in the United States, it has become customary for the main candidates (almost always the candidates of the two main parties, currently the Democratic Party and the Republican Party) to engage in a debate. The topics discussed in the debate are often the most controversial 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 memoranda of understanding (MOU) 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. [1]
History
While the first general presidential debate was not held until 1960, several other debates are considered predecessors to the presidential debates.
The famed series of seven debates between U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas for U.S. Senate—theLincoln-Douglas debates of 1858—took place around Illinois and led to the presidential campaign of 1860, when both were nominated for president (by the Republicans and Northern Democrats, respectively).
Republican candidate Wendell Wilkie had challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a debate in 1940, but Roosevelt refused.
In 1948, a radio debate was held in Oregon between Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen, Republican primary candidates for president. The Democrats followed suit in 1956, with a presidential primary debate between Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. Holocaust survivor and naturalized citizen Fred A. Kahn, then a University of Maryland student and Vice-President of its International Club, proposed modern presidential debates. The press wires carried his proposal nationwide. The proposal was endorsed by Eleanor Roosevelt and Maryland Governor Theodore McKeldin. The Student Government Association Council of the University of Maryland then invited both candidates to debate at the University of Maryland. In August 1956 the Baltimore Sun wrote an article with the headline "Immigrant Urges Presidential Debates." Both chairperson of both parties were contacted and considered the suggestion. Four years later the first televised debates (the Kennedy-Nixon debates) were held.
The first general election presidential debate was held on September 26, 1960, between U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee.
Televised on all networks, Kennedy is generally considered to have won the debate. Nixon appeared worse than Kennedy on television, with poor makeup, a haggard appearance (due to a knee injury and hospitalization earlier in the month), and a gray suit which blended into the backdrop of the set). According to some accounts radio listeners thought that Nixon had won the debate, while television viewers favored Kennedy.
No general election debates at all were held for the elections of 1964, 1968 and 1972, although intra-party debates were held during the primaries between Democrats Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and between Democrats George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey in 1972. It was not until 1976 that a second series of televised presidential debates was held during the general election campaign season. On September 23, 1976, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter and Republican incumben, President Gerald Ford agreed to debate on television before a studio audience. A single vice presidential debate was also held that year between Democratic Senator Walter Mondale and Republican Senator Bob Dole.
Since 1976, each presidential election has featured a series of presidential debates. Vice presidential debates have been held regularly since 1984.
The dramatic effect of televised presidential elections was demonstrated by two polls taken before and after the 1976 debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were taken.citation needed 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.
Moderators of nationally televised presidential debates have included Bernard Shaw, Bill Moyers, Jim Lehrer, and Barbara Walters.
Washington University in St. Louis has hosted the debates three times (in 1992, 2000, and 2004), more than any other location. The university was also scheduled to host a debate in 1996, but it was later negotiated between the two presidential candidates to reduce the number of debates from three to two. The University will be hosting the only 2008 Vice Presidential debate, as well.citation needed
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 same year the two major political parties assumed control of organizing presidential debates through the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The commission has been headed since its inception by former chairs of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee.
Some have criticized the exclusion of third party and independent candidates as well as the parallel interview format. In 2004, the Citizens' Debate Commission (CDC) was formed with the stated mission of returning control of the debates to an independent nonpartisan body rather than a bipartisan body. Nevertheless, the CPD retained control of the debates that year and in 2008.
Timeline
2008 presidential debates
- See also: United States presidential election debates, 2008, Democratic presidential debates, 2008, and Republican presidential debates, 2008
Three presidential CPD debates have been scheduled for 2008:
One vice-presidential CPD debate has been scheduled:
On June 4, Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee, in a press release, invited the Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama to weekly presidential debates.
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
Debate critics and activists
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