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Explore the evolution of televised debates from Kennedy-Nixon era to present formats, analyzing audience response, self-presentation strategies, and post-debate analysis. Uncover the impact of visuals, themes, and learned insights on voter perceptions.
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Modern history of debates • The Kennedy-Nixon debates were the first televised debates • Evidence seems to indicate that Kennedy was seen as winning by those who watched, losing or tying by those who listened on the radio • TV was not in all homes • Televised debates did not occur again until 1976 • Carter-Ford debates • Now a fixture
Other types of debates • Debates during primary season • Debates in non-presidential races • Extremely common but rarely studied • Do not draw the audience that presidential debates do
Audience response • Please answer the following questions • Did you watch the debate on Friday? • What were you looking for? • What, if anything, did you learn? • Who impressed you most? • What did you like about him? • Who do you think won the debate? • What mistakes do you think either of the candidates made?
Pre-debate publicity • Discussion of importance • Handicapping the debaters
Learning from the debates • Research shows that people do learn from the debates • Those who have the least prior knowledge and are least committed to a particular choice but are interested in the campaign gain the most
The role of partisanship • The strongest influence on perception of the candidate’s performance comes from the predispositions of the audience members • Think their candidate won • Most impressed by candidate’s demonstration of agreement with points the audience member believes in (checking to see their party’s nominee holds the expected beliefs, has the right stuff) • However, partisans do still learn from the debates
Strategy • Three choices—acclaim themselves, attack the opponent, and defend themselves • Benoit • Each statement will focus on matters of policy or character
Self-presentation • Values • Character • Abilities • Leadership • Are they articulate • Ideology • Issue positions
Interpersonal criticism • How much • What kind • How intense • Concerns: how effective v. potential backlash
Presentation of issue positions • Research shows that too much evidence/detail actually leads the audience to grade the candidate lower • Clear, strong positions are a double-edged sword • Indicate strength and resolve • Are likely to upset someone
Themes • Goal is to set a theme and reinforce it throughout the debate • Opponent has several options, depending upon his belief about what matters • Ignore the theme • Argue that the theme is relatively unimportant • Try to ‘poison’ the theme • Show it is being misrepresented • Show that it is actually a negative rather than a positive
Format • Traditional two-podium confrontational • Desk/table conversational • Town hall • How many/what type of question presenters? • How many/what types of topics?
Visuals • What shots are included? • What are the common series of visuals? • Are candidates isolated when answering? • Where are the cameras placed? • Distance • Angle • Are the non-answering candidates tracked? • How are the moderators/panels presented? • What is the background?
Post-debate analysis • What pundits are included? • How effective are they in lobbying for their candidate? • Rarely find a pundit saying her candidate lost • What is the role of the ostensibly neutral journalists? • On several occasions the post-debate analysis is said to have strongly influenced public evaluation of the debates • Ford “gaffe”
