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Presidential Debates: Elections
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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. Between 1988 and 2000, the formats have been governed in detail by secret memoranda of understanding between the two major candidates; an MOU for 2004 was ... negotiated, but unlike the earlier agreements it was jointly released by the two candidates.
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"With over one hundred declared presidential candidates in 2000, limiting the number of debate participants was mandatory. But simply requiring that candidates appear on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance to win is an appropriate standard for the first debate of each general election. This typically would yield from four to seven candidates--a number easily managed by the major parties in their own primary debates. After an initial debate, the field could be narrowed fairly with more stringent criteria."
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On Wednesday night the last of three presidential debates for the 2004 general election took place when Republican nominee Pres. George W. Bush debated Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, (D-MA) at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.
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By extending an invitation to these candidates to participate in a debate, CNN, and other hosts networks, are recognizing these individuals as legitimate contenders in the presidential election. Accordingly, participating candidates should receive comparable time allotments. Otherwise, why invite them to participate in the first place?
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The presidential debates are about to enter the world of YouTube, the anything-goes home-video-sharing Web site that puts the power in the hands of the camera holder. YouTube, which is owned by Google, and CNN are co-sponsoring a debate among the eight Democratic presidential candidates on July 23 in South Carolina, an event that could define the next phase of what has already been called the YouTube election, a visual realm beyond Web sites and blogs.
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The Democratic debate, the first Democratic National Committee-sanctioned presidential forum of the 2008 election cycle, will be held at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, July 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) and will air live on CNN. The Republican presidential forum hosted by CNN and YouTube will take place on Monday, Sept 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) in Florida.
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