(Note: I’ve been on the road the last couple of weeks and have missed posting. Travel with my cat makes for challenging adventures.)
Since we are on the final run towards the presidential election, I thought it would be interesting to track the history of our presidential debate . . . its origins, the most notable, and any lasting wisdom that might have arisen from any of them.
The general consensus of opinion among the debate pundits is that undecided voters are the main target for the debates; those who usually are not partial to either political ideology or party. Presidential debates are not considered game changers. It is believed that they primarily reinforce existing views that voters have of both candidates.
The 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debates were the first general presidential debates. It is interesting to note that after the 1960 election, presidential debates did not reemerge until 1976, largely because the candidates refused to take part and because the Communications Act of 1934 required that networks give equal air time to every candidate. In 1975, the FCC changed their equal-time rules to allow the broadcast of debates by major party candidates as long as they are considered “bona-fide news events, sponsored by non-broadcast entities, and carried in their entirety.”
The League of Women Voters sponsored the debates from 1976 (when the debates became a fixture of the presidential campaign) to 1988. They withdrew from debate sponsorship in protest of the major party candidates attempt to dictate all aspects of how the debates were conducted. The two major political parties then assumed control through the Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission has been headed since its inception by former chairs of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee. The CPD ensures that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. It sponsors and produces debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and undertakes research and educational activities relating to the debates. The organization is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) corporation. The CPD gets both sides to agree on the number of events as well as details about formatting, moderators and venues.
Between 1988 and 2000 the formats had 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 opposing candidates. Despite these MOUs, the CPD publicly issues the decisions; hence, the CPD accepts any ramifications from the public. However, since it is not answerable to the public, the CPD has nothing to lose.
A coin toss determines who answers the first question and each candidate gets alternate turns. Once a question is asked, the candidate has two minutes to answer. After this, the opposing candidate has one minute to respond and rebut her/his arguments. At the moderator's discretion, the discussion of the question may be extended by thirty seconds per candidate.
Moderators are chosen by a panel, explained CPD executive director Janet H. Brown. According to Brown, viewers prefer moderators with live television experience, as well as those knowledgeable about current issues.
The CPD traces the birth of the modern debate to the series of debates between future President Abraham Lincoln, then a congressman from Illinois, and Senator Stephen Douglas. Their series of seven three-hour long exchanges were of an entirely different format to today's debates. The first candidate spoke for the first hour and the last half hour, and the second candidate spoke during the remaining time in between. At the time, presidential campaigns were orchestrated primarily behind closed doors, with party elites selecting their nominees and surrogates making the case for a candidate. Politicians tended not to meet the public to elicit support.
It was not until 1948 that the first debate among presidential candidates took place when New York Governor Thomas Dewey and Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen met on May 17, 1948, to debate on the radio in an effort to boost their respective bids for the Republican nomination the presidency. Between forty million and eighty million people listened.
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Eight years later, the Democrats followed suit on May 21, 1956, by holding a debate between former Governor Adlai Stevenson and former Senator Estes Kefauver. This was the first debate that more or less resembled the modern version, with brief opening and closing statements, and questions from a moderator taking up the bulk of the time.
The popular history is that Kennedy won his debate with Nixon. Nixon had been ill, refused makeup and sweated profusely, and Kennedy had flown in from California sporting a deep tan. While the differences in appearance made a lasting impression on television viewers, it did not with radio listeners, who thought Nixon won. However, their debate established the primacy of television as the ultimate political medium and the importance of looking good.
In the debates between President Gerald Ford and Governor Jimmy Carter, it became clear just how much a candidate's performance could impact an election. With a single line, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration,” Ford doomed his chances of reelection. The 1976 election also marked the first televised debate between the vice presidential candidates, with Senator Bob Dole squaring off against Senator Walter Mondale.
A few other interesting debate incidents:
During the October 28, 1980, debate between Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter, Reagan asked voters to consider if their lives had improved during the Carter administration. "Ask yourself, are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was?”
During the vice-presidential debate of October 5, 1988, Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen suggested that Republican candidate Dan Quayle did not have enough experience to serve as vice president. Quayle responded with, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Bentsen responded, "I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush looked at his watch which left the impression with viewers that he was bored and disengaged. It reinforced a view that President Bush had better things to do.
During the vice-presidential debate of October 13, 1992, Al Gore mocked President George H.W. Bush for taking credit for playing a major role in ending the Cold War. Gore commented, “George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.”
While it is popularly believed that a combination of the Supreme Court and Florida voters lost Al Gore the election, he might have lost it the night he sighed repeatedly while debating George W. Bush. Or in a later clash, when he strolled over to invade George W. Bush's space. Both incidents reinforced a view that many voters had of Gore that year: that he was arrogant and condescending.
It is interesting to note that while those pundits clearly opine that elections are not won or lost by the presidential debates, from the few examples given above, they do obviously have their effect.
With the current close Obama-Romney campaign combined with the “Information Age” emphasis now placed on the sound byte and physical appearance, I would venture that the debates do in fact have more of an effect than in the past. We expect such absolute perfection from our candidates.
God forbid one of them may sneeze during an opponent’s presentation. Can you just imagine the conspiracy theories and judgments that would arise from that one simple sneeze?
Until next time, LLAP!
References:
"League Refuses to Help Perpetrate a Fraud" Neuman, Nancy M. (October 2,1988). Press Release. League of Women Voters http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud
