According to this website, there are 5 Presidential debates and 1 VP debate scheduled. I’ve been hearing around that there are only 3 Presidential debates scheduled, though, so which of those 5 are they?
Also, I’ve never watched one before, what’s television coverage usually like? I assume CNN will cover them, what about the major networks? How long do they typically last?
Thank ye
The debates are usually covered by all the major networks. The only possible conflict would be with baseball playoffs, but the starting time for any baseball games is usually adjusted to allow the network to show both.
You might look at C-span. Usually in the period leading up to the debates, they will show historic presidential debates. I’d try to catch some of these.
1960 first Kennedy/Nixon debate in which Nixon was ill and looked nervous next to Kennedy.
1976 Ford/Carter when Ford claimed, “there is no Soviet domaination of Eastern Europe.”
1976 Dole/Mondale when Dole blamed the Democrats for starting every war in the 20 th century.
1980 Reagan/Carter with Regan’s famous there you go again.
1988 second Bush/Dukakis Presidential debate in which Bernard Shaw started off by asking Dukakis what he would do if his wife was raped and murdered.
1988 Quayle/Bentsen where Lloyd Bentsen tells Quayle, “You’re no Jack Kennedy.”
1992 second Bush/Clinton/Perot debate. The first Town Hall format used. George Bush looking at his watch. Bill Clinton’s response on how the national debt has affected him personally.
The major networks and cable news stations will show the debate and then provide analysis and interviews with campaign spokespeople afterwards. There will be plenty of discussion over who “won” the debate.
Ralph Nader won’t be participating, but he may attempt to “crash” the debate.
The events have become increasingly pre-packaged, so the telecast seldom lives up to the pre-game hoopla.
The Ford-Carter debates were in a way the most “interesting”.
In one the sound was lost and it took the networks what seemed like forever to come on and explain the problem nor did they have any rain-delay reruns to broadcast. It also took a while before the participants realized sound had been lost, so viewers got to see it but had to lip read.
In one debate, Ford had a series of brain cramps, liberating Eastern Europe several times.
That first link you posted is nonsense. It’s a private group that just makes its own recommendations on debates. It carries about as much weight as you and I agreeing that there should be a thousand debates.
The folks who make the “real” recommendations for debates can be found at http://www.debates.org/
The CPD proposed four debates in the same format that has reportedly been approved.