Президенттік үміткерлердің сайлау алды дебаттарының дәстүрі

Traditional formality of presidential candidates debating prior to the election

During presidential election campaigns in the United States, it has become customary for the candidates to engage in one or more debates. The topics discussed in the debate are often the most controversial issues of the time, and arguably elections have been nearly decided by these debates. Candidate debates are not constitutionally mandated, but they are now considered an intrinsic part of the election process. The debates are targeted mainly at undecided voters; those who tend not to be partial to any political ideology or party. 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. The debate formats established during the 1988 through 2000 campaigns were governed in detail by secret memoranda of understanding (MOU) between the two major candidates; the MOU for the 2004 debates was, unlike the earlier agreements, jointly released to the public by the participants. Debates have been broadcast live on television, radio, and in recent years, the web. 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 population of 226 million. Recent debates have drawn smaller audiences, ranging from 46 million for the first 2000 debate to a high of over 67 million for the first debate in 2012. A record breaking audience of over 84 million people watched the first 2016 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a number that does not reflect online streaming.

While the first general presidential debate was not held until 1960, several other debates are considered predecessors to the presidential debates.

The series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen A. Douglas for U. S. Senate were true, face to face debates, with no moderator; the candidates took it in turns to open each debate with a one hour speech, then the other candidate had an hour and a half to rebut, and finally the first candidate closed the debate with a half hour response. Douglas was later re elected to the Senate by the Illinois legislature. Lincoln and Douglas were both nominated for president in 1860 (by the Republicans and Northern Democrats, respectively), and their earlier debates helped define their respective positions in that election, but they did not meet during the campaign.

Wendell Willkie became the first 20th century presidential candidate to challenge his opponent to a face to face debate when in 1940 he challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but Roosevelt refused. In 1948, presidential candidate debates became a reality when a radio debate was held in Oregon between Republicans Thomas E. Dewey and Harold Stassen during the party's presidential primary. The Democrats followed suit in 1956 with a televised presidential primary debate between Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver, and in 1960 by one between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey.

In 1956, University of Maryland student Fred Kahn led an effort to bring the two major presidential candidates—Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee, and President Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican nominee—to the campus for a debate. Various newspapers were contacted and numerous letters were sent in an effort to generate interest and garner support for the proposal. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was among those who received a letter. She replied, Kahn told Guy Raz, during an All Things Considered interview on NPR in 2012, saying, "not only would the students of the University of Maryland be interested, but also other students." Roosevelt also said that she was going to forward Kahn's letter to James Finnegan, Adlai Stevenson's campaign manager. In the end, no debate took place. However, Kahn's effort did receive national press exposure, and thus helped lay groundwork for the Kennedy–Nixon debates four years later during the 1960 presidential campaign. After the first debate, polls showed Kennedy moving from a slight deficit into a slight lead over Nixon. Three more debates were subsequently held between the candidates: on October 7 at the WRC TV NBC studio in Washington, D. C., narrated by Frank McGee with a panel of four newsmen Paul Niven, CBS; Edward P. Morgan, ABC; Alvin Spivak, UPI; Harold R. Levy, Newsday; October 13, with Nixon at the ABC studio in Los Angeles and Kennedy at the ABC studio in New York, narrated by Bill Shadel with a panel of four newsmen in a different Los Angeles studio; and October 21 at the ABC studio in New York, narrated by Quincy Howe with a panel of four including Frank Singiser, John Edwards, Walter Cronkite, and John Chancellor. Nixon regained his lost weight, wore television makeup, and appeared more forceful than in his initial appearance, winning the second and third debates while the fourth was a draw, however the viewership numbers of these subsequent events did not match the high set by the first debate and ultimately did not help Nixon as he lost the election.

After the Kennedy–Nixon debates, it was 16 years before general election presidential candidates again debated each other face to face. During this interval intra party debates were held during the 1968 Democratic primaries, between Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, and again during the 1972 Democratic primaries, between George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey and others. The next presidential candidates debates occurred during the 1976 campaign, when President Gerald Ford, who had entered office two years earlier after President Nixon resigned, agreed to three debates with his Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter. The 1976 debates (one on domestic issues, one on foreign policy, and one on any topic) were held before studio audiences, and, like the 1960 debates, were televised nationally. The League of Women Voters sponsored the debates. This was a change from the Kennedy–Nixon debates, which had been sponsored by the television networks themselves. Roughly an hour into the first televised debate, the broadcast audio coming from the Walnut Street Theatre and fed to all networks suddenly cut out, effectively muting the candidates in the middle of a statement by Carter. The two candidates were initially unaware of this technical glitch and continued to debate, unheard to the television audience. They were soon informed of this problem, and proceeded to stand still and silently at their lecterns for about 27 minutes, until the problem, a blown capacitor, was located and fixed, in time for Carter to briefly finish the statement he had begun when the audio cut out, and for both candidates to issue closing statements. The dramatic effect of televised presidential debates was demonstrated again in the 1976 debates between Ford and Carter. Ford had already cut into Carter's large lead in the polls, and was generally viewed as having won the first debate on domestic policy. Polls released after this first debate indicated the race was even. However, in the second debate on foreign policy, Ford made what was widely viewed as a major blunder when he said "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." After this, Ford's momentum stalled, and Carter won a very close election. Debates were a major factor again in 1980. Earlier in the election season, President Carter held a substantial lead over his opponents. Three debates between Carter, former California Governor Ronald Reagan and Illinois Congressman John B. Anderson (who was running as an independent), were originally scheduled; along with a single vice presidential debate between incumbent Walter Mondale, former CIA Director George Bush, and former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Joseph Lucey. Carter refused to debate if Anderson was present and Reagan refused to debate without Anderson, resulting in the first debate being between Reagan and Anderson only. The second debate and the vice presidential debate were both cancelled. Reagan eventually conceded to Carter's demand, and a single debate took place with only Carter and Reagan. With years of experience in front of a camera as an actor, Reagan came across much better than Carter in the debate and was judged by voters to have won by a wide margin. Reagan's debate performance likely helped propel his landslide victory in the general election. The Reagan campaign had access to internal debate briefing materials for Carter; the exposure of this in 1983 led to a public scandal called "Debategate". In 1984, former Vice President Walter Mondale won the first debate over President Ronald Reagan, generating much needed donations to Mondale's lagging campaign. The second presidential debate was held on October 21, 1984, where Ronald Reagan used a joke, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience", which effectively stalled Mondale's momentum. Since 1976, each presidential election has featured a series of presidential debates. Vice presidential debates have been held regularly since 1984. Vice Presidential debates have been largely uneventful and have historically had little impact on the election. Perhaps the most memorable moment in a vice presidential debate came in the 1988 debate between Republican Dan Quayle and Democrat Lloyd Bentsen. Quayle's selection by the incumbent vice president and Republican presidential candidate George Bush was widely criticized; one reason being his relative lack of experience. In the debate, Quayle attempted to ease this fear by stating that he had as much experience as John F. Kennedy did when he ran for president in 1960. Democrat Bentsen countered with the now famous statement: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." The year 1992 featured the first debate involving both major party candidates and a third party candidate, billionaire Ross Perot running against President Bush and the Democrat nominee Governor Bill Clinton. In that year, President Bush was criticized for his early hesitation to join the debates, and some described him as a "chicken." Furthermore, he was criticized for looking at his watch which aides initially said was meant to track if the other candidates were debating within their time limits but ultimately it was revealed that the president indeed was checking how much time was left in the debate. Moderators of nationally televised presidential debates have included Bernard Shaw, Bill Moyers, Jim Lehrer, and Barbara Walters. Saint Anselm College has hosted four primary debates throughout 2004 and 2008; it is a favorite for campaign stops and these national debates because of the college's history in the New Hampshire primary. Washington University in St. Louis, however, has hosted the presidential debates (organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates) three times (in 1992, 2000, and 2004), more than any other location prior to 2016, and also hosted one of the 2016 debates. 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 hosted the only 2008 vice presidential debate, as well. Hofstra University, originally an alternate site, was named the host of the first presidential debate in 2016, after Wright State University withdrew with eight weeks remaining. This positioned Hofstra to be the only school to host presidential debates in three consecutive campaign cycles. Most of the presidential/vice presidential debates have been moderated by ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC, and/or PBS. PBS currently holds the record for the most debates at 16.

Some of the debates can feature the candidates standing behind their podiums, or in conference tables with the moderator on the other side. Depending on the agreed format, either the moderator or an audience member can be the one to ask questions. Typically there are no opening statements, just closing statements. A coin toss determines who gets to answer the first question and who will make their closing remarks first. Each candidate will get alternate turns. Once a question is asked, the candidate has 2 minutes to answer the question. After this, the opposing candidate has around 1 minute to respond and rebut her/his arguments. At the moderator's discretion, the discussion of the question may be extended by 30 seconds per candidate. In recent debates, colored lights resembling traffic lights have been installed to aid the candidate as to the time left with green indicating 30 seconds, yellow indicating 15 seconds and red indicating only 5 seconds are left. If necessary, a buzzer may be used or a flag.

Election Debate SponsorLocation Moderators Viewership Source 1960 First debateABC, CBS, and NBCWBBM TV studiosChicago, Illinois Howard K. Smith of CBS 66.4 million Second debateWRC TV studiosWashington, D. C. Frank McGee of NBC 61.9 million Third debateSplit screen telecast with Nixon and panelists in ABC studios in Los Angeles and Kennedy in ABC studio in New York Bill Shadel of ABC 63.7 million Fourth debateABC StudiosNew York City, New York Quincy Howe of ABC 60.4 million 1976 First debate League of Women VotersWalnut Street TheaterPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania Edwin Newman of NBC 69.7 million Second debatePalace of Fine Arts San Francisco, California Pauline Frederick of NPR 63.9 million Third debatePhi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at W&MWilliamsburg, Virginia Barbara Walters of ABC 62.7 million VP DebateAlley TheatreHouston, Texas James Hoge of the Chicago Sun Times 43.2 million 1980 First debateBaltimore Convention CenterBaltimore, Maryland Bill Moyers of PBSSecond debatePublic Music HallCleveland, Ohio Howard K. Smith of ABC 80.6 million 1984 First debateKentucky Center for the Performing ArtsLouisville, Kentucky Barbara Walters of ABC 65.1 million Second debateMusic Hall, Municipal AuditoriumKansas City, Missouri Edwin Newman 67.3 million VP debatePhiladelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sander Vanocur of ABC 56.7 million 1988 First debate Commission on Presidential Debates Wait Chapel at Wake Forest UniversityWinston Salem, North Carolina Jim Lehrer of PBS 65.1 million VP debateOmaha Civic AuditoriumOmaha, Nebraska Judy Woodruff of PBS 46.9 million Second debatePauley Pavilion at UCLA Los Angeles, California Bernard Shaw of CNN 67.3 million1992 First debateField House at Washington University in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri Jim Lehrer of PBS 62.4 million VP debateTheater for the Arts at Georgia TechAtlanta, Georgia Hal Bruno of ABC 51.2 million Second debateRobins Center at University of RichmondRichmond, Virginia Carole Simpson of ABC 69.9 million Third debateWharton Center for Performing Arts at MSUEast Lansing, Michigan Jim Lehrer of PBS 66.9 million 1996 First debateMortensen Hall at The Bushnell Center for the Performing ArtsHartford, ConnecticutJim Lehrer of PBS 46.1 million VP debateMahaffey TheaterSt. Petersburg, Florida 26.6 million Second debateShiley Theater at University of San DiegoSan Diego, California 36.3 million 2000 First debateClark Athletic Center at University of MassachusettsBoston, MassachusettsJim Lehrer of PBS 46.6 million VP debateNorton Center for the Arts at Centre CollegeDanville, Kentucky Bernard Shaw of CNN 28.5 million Second debateWait Chapel at Wake Forest University Winston Salem, North CarolinaJim Lehrer of PBS 37.5 million Third debateField House at Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri 37.7 million 2004 First debateConvocation Center at University of MiamiCoral Gables, Florida Jim Lehrer of PBS 62.4 million VP debateVeale Center at Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio Gwen Ifill of PBS 43.5 million Second debateWashington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri Charles Gibson of ABC 46.7 million Third debateGrady Gammage Memorial Auditorium at ASUTempe, Arizona Bob Schieffer of CBS 51.1 million 2008 First debateUniversity of MississippiOxford, Mississippi Jim Lehrer of PBS 52.4 million VP debateWashington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri Gwen Ifill of PBS 69.9 million Second debateBelmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee Tom Brokaw of NBC 63.2 million Third debateHofstra UniversityHempstead, New York Bob Schieffer of CBS 56.5 million2012 First debateUniversity of DenverDenver, Colorado Jim Lehrer of PBS 67.2 million VP debateCentre College Danville, Kentucky Martha Raddatz of ABC 51.4 million Second debateHofstra University Hempstead, New York Candy Crowley of CNN 65.6 million Third debateWold Performing Arts Center at Lynn UniversityBoca Raton, Florida Bob Schieffer of CBS 59.2 million2016 First debateHofstra University Hempstead, New York Lester Holt of NBC 84 millionVP debateLongwood UniversityFarmville, VirginiaElaine Quijano of CBS 36 millionSecond debateWashington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MissouriAnderson Cooper of CNNMartha Raddatz of ABC 66.5 millionThird debateThomas & Mack Center at UNLVParadise, NevadaChris Wallace of FOX 71.6 million2020First debateHealth Education Campus Samson PavilionCleveland, OhioChris Wallace of FOX73.1 millionVP debateKingsbury Hall at University of UtahSalt Lake City, UtahSusan Page of USA Today57.9 millionSecond debateArsht CenterMiami, FloridaSteve Scully of C SPANDebate cancelledThird debateBelmont UniversityNashville, TennesseeKristen Welker of NBC63 million