By Hadassa Ferreira, Contributor Writer
Presidential debates have been a political tradition in the United States since its first televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960.
Initially, presidential debates focused more on public policies, candidates’ decision-making, and political careers. The style of the debates was also different from the current ones. They were moderated by journalists rather than a debate commission.
As time passed, not only did the structure of the debates change, but also the political context of the country changed as well. Since the country’s political context has become more polarized over the years, voters make up their minds before even watching the presidential debates.
The Pew Research Center provided data showing that in the 2016 elections, only ten percent of voters decided their candidates through the influence of the debates.
Austin Trantham, assistant professor of political science at Saint Leo University, shared, “The first televised debates that occurred in 1960 were very civil, with Kennedy and Nixon having opportunities to provide lengthy substantive responses to questions without interruption.”
Trantham added, “Today, primary and general election presidential debates are much more controversial and argumentative, with candidates using hostile language to negatively describe their opponents.”
Nowadays, presidential debates appear more like a show of performance in answering public questions rather than an informative section regarding candidates’ political information. Political debates are the campaign event that has attracted more audience than any other because of its “performative” and “theatrical” aspects in recent years.
Polarization and party identity are other facts that contribute to the change in presidential debate style. The public is too attached to their party preferences and tends to continue voting for the same party. Because of this, during the last presidential debate, a vast number of people already voted without even watching the debate.
In 2020, 900,000 Americans had voted before the presidential debate that happened on Sep. 29, 2020, between the current President Biden and former President Trump.
Also, the debate in question was a huge, chaotic show with several insults from former President Trump, who refused to answer essential questions regarding white supremacist violence and his management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Trantham stated, “With high levels of polarization within both major parties, presidential debates today are much more about “attack lines” and “applause lines” than they used to be, especially during party primary debates when candidates try to stand out from others.”
For this reason, political scientists argue that presidential debates are irrelevant to significant ballot changes in the electoral results. However, presidential debates should continue to be held since people with lower instruction levels could get information that might help them better decide who to vote for.
