Debates

Independent news and information on political debates. Discussions include how the debates are rigged, who decides who makes it into the presidential debates, and what organizations are opening the debates.

The Fox News headline on September 19 read: “Longshot Republican presidential candidates scramble to make 2nd debate next week.” But while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum struggle to qualify for the September 27 debate, their situation could be worse.

The RNC will vote on a rule change this month that will require candidates seeking the Republican nomination for president to vow not to participate in debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This could mean that in the immediate future, we could go back to a period in time when televised presidential debates were not common.

The New York Times reports:

What is the biggest highlight of a presidential election? Is it the ideas or proposals presented by the candidates? Is it how the candidates appealed to the most voters possible by presenting thoughtful, comprehensive solutions to the nation’s biggest problems?

Unfortunately, it’s neither of those. Instead, the biggest highlight of any presidential election in modern history is the division between the dominant two parties -- the hyperbolic rhetoric both sides use in the zero-sum contest to get voters to hate the other side.

The presidential debates have come to an end, but the debate over who should run these important events in a presidential election cycle continues.

There is no question that the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has willfully kept candidates outside the Republican and Democratic Parties out of the debates. They have even gone so far as to forcefully remove third party candidates from being in the same vicinity as a debate.

The first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, at 9 pm (Eastern). Plenty of commentators, though, have questioned whether either candidate should debate the other from a campaign strategy standpoint.

Others have wondered if a substantive debate on the nation’s most pressing issues is even possible in the current political climate.