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The Commission on Presidential Debates and Its Critics

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

Institutionalizing presidential debates had been the goal of the League of Women Voters, but by 1984 it was clear that it simply did not have the clout to succeed. In 1976, 1980, and 1984, the ... More

Institutionalizing presidential debates had been the goal of the League of Women Voters, but by 1984 it was clear that it simply did not have the clout to succeed. In 1976, 1980, and 1984, the debates occurred only after a long period of sporadic negotiations followed by a late flurry of eleventh-hour negotiations between the leading candidates and, in an ever-diminishing role, the League. After the 1984 campaign, two distinguished national organizations, the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Harvard University Institute of Politics, independently conducted detailed studies of the process involved in presidential elections generally and the presidential debates specifically. In 1987, the independent Commission on Presidential Debates was created. Since then, the Commission has institutionalized the presidential debates, but its reliance on the two major parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, has drawn sharp criticism from people. However, much of what critics find to fault in the televised presidential debates has nothing to do with the Commission.Less

Debates and Voters

Alan Schroeder

in Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail

What is the relationship between voters and debates? This chapter considers the impressively high ratings for presidential debates, their benefits and limitations, and to what degree they influence ... More

What is the relationship between voters and debates? This chapter considers the impressively high ratings for presidential debates, their benefits and limitations, and to what degree they influence voting.Less

How to Improve the Presidential Debates

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

The 2008 presidential election was the first in fifty-six years—since Dwight D. Eisenhower ran against Adlai E. Stevenson in 1952—that American voters did not have a choice on their ballots that ... More

The 2008 presidential election was the first in fifty-six years—since Dwight D. Eisenhower ran against Adlai E. Stevenson in 1952—that American voters did not have a choice on their ballots that included a sitting president or vice president. The election occurred in the midst of a communications revolution in which more than 70 percent of American households had Internet access and 90 percent of Internet users were registered voters. They could get their news and political information from Web sites maintained by television and cable news organizations, candidates, political parties, advocacy groups, and non-partisan voter education groups. While the Internet has the potential to improve the character of U.S. politics by providing more and better-quality information to more people, Internet use by itself will not produce “better” democracy or “more informed” citizens, either in nation-states or globally. In this new media and political environment, one thing is certain: televised presidential debates are more important than ever before. This chapter offers five recommendations to make presidential debates more substantive and useful to voters.Less

“If You're Thirty-two Points Behind, What Else Are You Going to Do?”

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

The 1960 temporary exemption to the Equal Time law provided by Congress marked the formal beginning of televised presidential debates in the United States. That they happened at all, however, owed ... More

The 1960 temporary exemption to the Equal Time law provided by Congress marked the formal beginning of televised presidential debates in the United States. That they happened at all, however, owed largely to the fact that no incumbent president was a candidate in the 1960 election. Three presidential elections would pass before another fortuitous set of political circumstances made it possible for the televised debates to happen again. The 1976 election presented an ideal climate for change. While there was a Republican incumbent, President Gerald Ford, he faced great initial difficulties in the campaign because of the Watergate scandal and his unpopular pardon of Richard M. Nixon. He needed to debate to close the gap. His Democratic challenger, Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, was also eager to debate. However, the demands for equal time from the many minor-party candidates remained a problem. The Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Richard Wiley reviewed the legislative history behind both the 1959 amendments and the 1960 exemption and concluded that Congress had meant to exempt debates from the equal opportunity doctrine.Less

“I’m (Not) with Her”: How the Political Commentary Surrounding the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Reflects Anxieties Concerning Gender Equality

Melissa Ames

in Small Screen, Big Feels: Television and Cultural Anxiety in the Twenty-First Century

The final study presented in this book focuses on one of the most impactful events of the 21st century: the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, which likely ended as it did in part due to a combination ... More

The final study presented in this book focuses on one of the most impactful events of the 21st century: the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, which likely ended as it did in part due to a combination of the cultural fears discussed throughout the previous chapters. For example, the presidential campaign run by Donald Trump played on post-9/11 insecurities about homeland security and employed fear-based, divisive rhetoric about race, gender, class, and sexuality. The acceptance of this rhetoric -- and his ultimate victory -- may be explained by the process of phobic construction highlighted in this text. Chapter 10 analyzes the final months of the election cycle, in particular the televised presidential debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton and the ways in which they stimulated conversation among viewers during the live broadcast and ongoing dialogue and activism beyond it.Less

Introduction

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

President John F. Kennedy said that without the televised debates he would not have been elected president in 1960. Going into the campaign, Kennedy was not nearly as well known as Richard M. Nixon, ... More

President John F. Kennedy said that without the televised debates he would not have been elected president in 1960. Going into the campaign, Kennedy was not nearly as well known as Richard M. Nixon, who had been vice president for eight years. Today almost no one remembers the issues the two men discussed, but for better and worse, the Kennedy-Nixon debates changed presidential elections forever, propelling them into the age of television. Three short years after those first televised encounters between Nixon and Kennedy, the latter would be assassinated, and with him went the nascent “tradition” of televised presidential debates. In 1975, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised its interpretation of the equal time law to make debates possible. With the change in the law, as in 1960, the opportunity for debates in 1976 was fortuitous. This book tells the story of how the televised presidential debates evolved in the United States. It argues that the American system of free expression, and the American system of broadcasting, is unique.Less

The Dilemma: Who Debates?

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

The most serious criticism of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is that it conspires with the major parties to deny candidates other than the Republican and Democratic nominees the ... More

The most serious criticism of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is that it conspires with the major parties to deny candidates other than the Republican and Democratic nominees the opportunity to participate in the debates. Having exhausted their legal arguments before the Federal Communications Commission, minor-party candidates have now taken their legal challenges elsewhere, to the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. The new approach is to argue that the CPD is a “bipartisan” rather than “nonpartisan” organization and is therefore illegal. If the CPD were a bipartisan organization—nothing more than an extension of the Republican and Democratic parties—then the various corporate contributions it receives would amount to illegal campaign contributions to the candidates under federal election law. In 2000 and 2004, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader made this charge repeatedly. That he was able to do so effectively owes in part to his rhetorical gifts, but even more to the controversy surrounding Reform Party candidate Ross Perot in 1996. This chapter examines the problem of whom to include in televised presidential debates.Less

The Influence of User-Controlled Messages on Candidate Evaluations

Joshua Hawthorne and Benjamin R. Warner

in Controlling the Message: New Media in American Political Campaigns

This chapter examines the extent to which social media communication influenced voter attitudes toward political candidates in the 2012 presidential election. Focusing on the first presidential ... More

This chapter examines the extent to which social media communication influenced voter attitudes toward political candidates in the 2012 presidential election. Focusing on the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and Romney's leaked comments about the 47 percent of Americans whom he identified as not paying income tax, the chapter considers the relationship between social media communication and candidate perception. It first discusses the rise of social media as a tool for political engagement, and especially in election campaigns, before assessing the effects of political communication on voter evaluations of candidates. It shows that social media influence candidate evaluations, albeit in a limited and context-dependent manner, and that this relationship is driven by the political party affiliation of the respondent.Less

How Adlai Stevenson Put John F. Kennedy in the White House

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

In 1955, two of the most powerful men in the United States, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, both suffered heart attacks. Eisenhower decided to run again ... More

In 1955, two of the most powerful men in the United States, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, both suffered heart attacks. Eisenhower decided to run again in 1956, while Adlai E. Stevenson, former Illinois governor, entered the primaries and won his party's nomination. The two electoral contests between Eisenhower and Stevenson were a turning point in presidential campaigns. Both traveled the country meeting voters, but the Republicans made extensive use of television, too. In 1959 Stevenson wrote an article about television and politics for This Week magazine. The following year, he proposed the establishment of what he hoped would become a national institution, a great debate for the presidency: televised presidential debates. That fall, Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy would have four televised debates. The state of Illinois played a major role in determining the outcome of the 1960 presidential election, won by Kennedy.Less

The General Election Campaign, September 26–October 21

Edmund F. Kallina

in Kennedy v. Nixon: The Presidential Election of 1960

The Kennedy–Nixon encounters became the signature events of the 1960 election and dominated the campaign for almost a month. Fifty years later they remain a subject of interest and controversy. One ... More

The Kennedy–Nixon encounters became the signature events of the 1960 election and dominated the campaign for almost a month. Fifty years later they remain a subject of interest and controversy. One important question is why Richard Nixon agreed to debate. This chapter provides a detail account of the presidential campaign and highlights the euphoria of the televised presidential debates. It discusses the issues addressed during each round of the debates.Less

Presidential Debates and “Equal Opportunity”

in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future

From the vantage point of the twenty-first century, it is easy to overlook the fact that much of the long controversy surrounding the presidential debates in the United States had nothing to do with ... More

From the vantage point of the twenty-first century, it is easy to overlook the fact that much of the long controversy surrounding the presidential debates in the United States had nothing to do with the debates themselves but with legal controversies involving the broadcasting of the debates. While Congress in 1960 changed the law temporarily to make the televised presidential debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon possible, it left on the books the legislation that had the practical effect of making further such debates impossible until well after 1960. When the law finally did change, it was not Congress that changed it but the Federal Communications Commission and the federal courts. The Federal Radio Act and the one that replaced it, the Communications Act of 1934, created what is known as the “equal time” rule in Section 315. This chapter examines Section 315 and the “equal opportunities” or “equal time” rule.Less

The Presidential Debate: On the crafting of another grand proposal, resulting in a bid, a rejection, and a rejoinder

Emmanuel David

in Women of the Storm: Civic Activism after Hurricane Katrina

This chapter discusses new initiatives by Women of the Storm, including a bid to host one of the presidential debates in New Orleans. The chapter discusses this new undertaking, which was done in ... More

This chapter discusses new initiatives by Women of the Storm, including a bid to host one of the presidential debates in New Orleans. The chapter discusses this new undertaking, which was done in partnership with four universities in New Orleans: Dillard, Loyola, Tulane, and Xavier. The chapter traces the entire process from the submission of the application materials, to the site visits by the selection committee, to the final rejection of the bid to host the debate. Commentary by Anne Milling as well as local and national media sources is also provided. The chapter ends with an examination of Women of the Storm’s activities at each of the national party conventions leading up to the 2008 presidential elections.Less

Introduction: The First Presidential Debate

Alan Schroeder

in Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail

A detailed behind-the-scenes account of history’s first presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon on September 26, 1960.

The General Election Campaign, July 28–September 25

Edmund F. Kallina

in Kennedy v. Nixon: The Presidential Election of 1960

The Kennedy–Nixon contest fell into three phases. The first ran from the end of the Republican convention to the eve of the first presidential debate, July 28–September 25. The second encompassed the ... More

The Kennedy–Nixon contest fell into three phases. The first ran from the end of the Republican convention to the eve of the first presidential debate, July 28–September 25. The second encompassed the period of the four presidential debates, September 26–October 21. The final stage was the last two and a half weeks of the campaign, October 22–November 7. Kennedy prevailed in the first two rounds, but Nixon closed with a rush and almost pulled off a political upset that, if he had managed it, would have ranked second only to Harry Truman's comeback victory in 1948.Less

There and Back Again with Barack H. Obama

John Wilson

in Talking with the President: The Pragmatics of Presidential Language

Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States in 2008, and was re-elected in 2012. He is widely recognized for his oratorical skills, and the mantra behind his ... More

Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States in 2008, and was re-elected in 2012. He is widely recognized for his oratorical skills, and the mantra behind his electoral success in 2008, “Yes we can,” represents a significant, yet simplistic, example of his powerful use of the spoken and written word. His speeches were often emotionally driven; this chapter looks at the role of emotion within language and offers some pragmatic detail on a number of Obama’s important speeches. It also considers one of the most surprising moments in his political career, in the first presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, when Obama was seen by critics as failing to match his opponent Mitt Romney. Employing a specific pragmatic technique called “pragmatic blocking,” the chapter offers one perspective on where Obama went wrongLess

Radio, Television, and Campaigning, 1920s–1960

Dennis W. Johnson

in Democracy for Hire: A History of American Political Consulting

Presidential candidates used radio, newsreels, and film as part of their campaigns in the first part of twentieth century. The first time that presidential election results were transmitted by radio ... More

Presidential candidates used radio, newsreels, and film as part of their campaigns in the first part of twentieth century. The first time that presidential election results were transmitted by radio was in 1920. In 1944, the two political parties spent roughly $1.5 million in radio advertising. But by 1956, with Dwight Eisenhower pitted against Adlai Stevenson for the presidency, the amount of campaign money spent on television ads surpassed that spent on radio. Increasingly in presidential campaigns, Madison Avenue commercial advertisers, especially Rosser Reeves and BBDO, were hired to sell the candidates. Film was also used in campaigns, and many presidential candidates were the subjects of campaign films. In 1952, Richard Nixon’s televised “Checkers” speech helped keep him on the ticket as vice president. But in the 1960 presidential campaign, Nixon’s loss to John F. Kennedy has often been attributed to his poor showing in their first televised presidential debate.Less

The 2001 Election, the Demise of Project RISE, and the IRB’s Third Term

James B. Jacobs and Kerry T. Cooperman

in Breaking the Devil's Pact: The Battle to Free the Teamsters from the Mob

This chapter focuses on the International Brotherhood of Teamsters's (IBT) 2001 election for general president. It first considers the election candidates and their campaigns, along with the IBT's ... More

This chapter focuses on the International Brotherhood of Teamsters's (IBT) 2001 election for general president. It first considers the election candidates and their campaigns, along with the IBT's Las Vegas convention in June 2001 and the presidential debate pitting Chuck Mack and Tom Leedham. It then examines the preballoting election protests and the election results, which saw Hoffa win a convincing reelection victory over Leedham. It also discusses the demise of Project RISE and Ewdin Stier's charges regarding the Hoffa administration's motives for killing it. Finally, it assesses the independent review board's continued investigations of disciplinary cases and systemic corruption at the IBT during its third term.Less