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Jun 26, 2024 · This year's presidential debates have the potential to shake things up and generate more interest because of the big changes, including earliest-ever timing and tighter rules, the experts said.
Sep 6, 2024 · Since the first nationally televised presidential debate in 1960 — when John F. Kennedy’s careful image management was widely thought, though more recently debated, to have contributed to his election victory over Richard Nixon — scholars have sought to understand how presidential debates influence the electorate.
Sep 10, 2024 · Although recent elections brought renewed doubt that debates still matter, this year’s campaign has made them relevant again.
- Political Debates Are Rooted in History
- Debates Are Central to Political Campaigns
- For voters, Debates Matter
Presidential debates are a historical linchpin of modern American politics. Debates put the major contenders on the same stage and allow voters the opportunity to see how candidates explain – and defend – their policy positions. Among the earliest reported examples of candidate debates in the United States were the 1858 U.S. Senate showdownsbetween...
However, since 1976, debates have been an integral part of modern presidential campaigns. In 1976, Republican incumbent Gerald Ford agreed to debate Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter because Ford was sagging in the polls after pardoning Nixon. There were three debates – the first on domestic policy, the second on international policy and the third...
Beyond tradition, there is considerable evidence from scholars in communication and political science that debates play important roles in our political system. Communication scholar Steven Chaffee has shown that debates can influence an individual’s vote choicewhen one of the candidates is relatively unknown, when many voters are undecided, when t...
Jun 25, 2024 · Do debates matter? In general, debates don’t matter that much for presidential votes. Debates are important in inverse proportion to the importance of the office. So, for instance,...
Sep 10, 2024 · Here’s what decades of debates, polling and research tell us: Do presidential debates change election results? On the whole, research suggests the answer is mostly no.
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Sep 9, 2024 · How much do presidential debates matter? An expert digs into the effect of debates and what's different about this election's matchups.