American presidential debate

Sponsorship the way you would do it

American presidential debates are a regular feature in recent U.S. presidential elections, especially since the rise of television in the 1960s.

Senator John F. Kennedy debates Vice President Richard M. Nixon in the first televised debates, 1960

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 a university, before a large audience of Americans. They then proceed to debate, answering questions from journalist moderators and in some cases members of the audience. Debates are often televised and broadcast live on the radio.

Usually only the Republican and Democratic party nominees are included, but twice an independent candidate has been included (John Anderson in 1980, for just one debate, and a pre-Reform Party Ross Perot in 1992, for all debates). No third-party candidate has ever been included in a televised presidential debate that also included both of the dominant parties' nominees.

There have been eight series of presidential debates since 1960.

U.S. presidential election, 1960- 4 debates between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy
U.S. presidential election, 1976- 3 debates between President Gerald Ford and Governor Jimmy Carter
U.S. presidential election, 1980- 1 debate between President Jimmy Carter and Governor Ronald Reagan, 1 debate between Governor Reagan and Congressman John Anderson
U.S. presidential election, 1984- 2 debates between President Ronald Reagan and former Vice President Walter Mondale
U.S. presidential election, 1988- 2 debates between Vice President George H. W. Bush and Governor Michael Dukakis
U.S. presidential election, 1992- 3 debates between President George H. W. Bush, Governor Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot
U.S. presidential election, 1996- 2 debates between President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole
U.S. presidential election, 2000- 3 debates between Vice President Al Gore and Governor George W. Bush

Control of the presidential debates have been a ground of struggle for many years. In 2004, the Citizens' Debate Commission 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. This role was filled by the League of Women Voters in 1976, 1980 and 1984, but in 1987, the League withdrew from debate sponsorship in protest of the major party candidates attempting to dictate nearly every aspect of how the debates were conducted.

The Republicans and Democrats created the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) to replace the League and controlled the debates through this entity in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. The competing Citizens' Debate Commission was launched by people concerned that the dominant parties running the debates was not healthy for democracy. Chief concerns include the CPD's deliberate exclusion of third party and independent candidates and shutting out critical issues on which there is either bipartisan agreement or complicity in avoiding the topic. The CPD is headed by former chairs of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Control of the 2004 debates is an open question as of July, 2004. Numerous newspaper editorials have agreed that the CPD is not serving democracy well, but the major party candidates have a vested interest in keeping the debates under their control.

Moderators of nationally televised presidential debates have included Bernard Shaw, Jim Lehrer and Dan Rather.

American presidential debate

External links