Political debates present opportunities for candidates to sharpen their views and promote their ideas. They can influence individual voters, especially when they occur in close races and in which party allegiances are weak. They also provide valuable education to voters. Scholars in the communication and political science fields have found debates to be one of the most effective tools for educating voters about issues important to them.
A central challenge of debates is that voters become quite familiar with the presidential candidates, either through their track record as incumbents or through months of campaign events, well before the first debate. This familiarity often leaves little new to learn in the debates — and it may even lead voters to assume that they already know who the candidates are and what their positions on the major issues are.
The format and moderators of the debates are crucial to the effectiveness of their educational value. The CPD selects moderators based on their familiarity with the candidates and their major positions, their experience in live television news broadcasting, and an understanding that the debates are not interviews or town hall meetings but rather a forum in which the candidates share information about their policies. The moderators do not choose questions or share their selections with the candidates.
The CPD’s nonpartisan, voter education goal has shaped the debate standard that it maintains: any candidate invited to participate must have by a fair measure a realistic chance of winning in order to be included in a debate. Despite this, the Working Group heard arguments that the time might be right to consider a more liberalized approach to independent/non-aligned candidate inclusion.
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