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Presidential Debates: Candidates
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Presidential debates attract huge television audiences: 107 million adults in 1960, 122 million in 1976, and more than 100 million in 1980 and 1984. Only 70 million people watched in 1988, reflecting a decline in enthusiasm for the candidates. But in 1992, thanks to interest in independent candidate Ross Perot, the three Presidential debates attracted more viewers than ever before; more than 130 million Americans watched one or more. This was the first debate in which both major-party candidates appeared at the same time as an independent third candidate. The debates gave Perot's campaign a major boost, especially among independent voters. Debates raise voter interest and provide information about the candidates and their response under pressure.
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Debates did not play a role in the nation's early presidential races. In fact, for most of the 18th century, any campaigning or direct appeal for votes was frowned upon by the public and newspapers. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote that candidates "were supposed to play coy, obeying a call to service from their country, saving their energies for the task of government. Electioneering was done by newspapers, pamphlets, and occasional public meetings."
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While the first general presidential debate was not held until 1960, several other debates are considered predecessors to the presidential debates. In 1858, former US Congressman Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas toured Illinois and held a series of debates in the election for Douglas's Senate seat, which led up the presidential campaign of 1860 when both were nominated. In 1948, a radio debate was held in Oregon between Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen, Republican party primary candidates for president. The Democratic party followed suit in 1956, with a presidential primary debate between Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. An immigrant and a naturalized citizen who had survived the Holocaust Fred A. Kahn , then a University of Maryland student and Vice-President of its International Club, proposed modern Presidential debates. The press wires carried his proposal nationwide.
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The 1992 presidential general election debates were a great improvement over those of the past decade. For the first time, both major-party nominees shared the stage with an independent candidate in a series of three-way debates. For the first time, the debates featured a variety of formats, including a town hall meeting forum in which citizens directly questioned those seeking the nation's highest office. These innovations helped generate substantial public interest. The 1992 debates were the most widely watched political event in American history, with an audience that grew larger with each debate. They focused public attention on the choice to be made on election day and dominated public discussion in the weeks leading up to the voting.
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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- News Facts -- iMedExchange is hosting a second "Unconference" this week to accelerate physician participation in an initiative aimed at including providers within the presidential debates. -- The sponsored event occurs on September 20, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, at the Health2.0: User-Generated Healthcare conference taking place on this date in San Francisco. -- Executives and staff from the company will be on hand to meet with participating physicians and facilitate uploads of their questions to the growing library at http://www.iMedExchange.com. -- Earlier this week, the company facilitated physician questions at the Healthcare Blogging & Social Media Summit in Chicago. -- The physician-presidential candidate Q&A initiative was originally announced on September 12 and may be viewed at: http://www.iMedExchange.com/press
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Before 1960, there was little demand for, or interest in, presidential debates on the part of the public or the candidates. There were no general election debates, but there were three primary debates. The first was in 1948, when Republicans Harold Stassen and Thomas Dewey debated on radio just days before the Oregon primary. In May 1952, the first nationally televised debate, Republican and Democratic contenders (or their representatives) answered two questions each at the annual convention of the League of Women Voters. On May 21, 1956, Democrats Estes Kefauver and Adlai Stevenson participated in the first nationally televised intra-party primary debate {before the Florida primary.)
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