A Review of Presidential Debate Questions - Nixon v Kennedy

January 16, 2016 | Political Junkie Too

[Political Junkie Too]

A Review of Presidential Debate Questions in the Modern Era

The Nixon-Kennedy Debates

Can you tell if there is any hostility, bias, or gotchas in the questions over time?

I will use a 1-5 point system to "rate" the question, and then normalize and "score" the fairness of the overall debate. A perfectly neutral debate should score 50/50.

Scoring System

• 1=Biased against the candidate. Intended to create conflict with others, or make the candidate defensive or unappealing.
• 2=Mostly fair, but makes unnecessary snipes at the candidate.
• 3=A generally fair question.
• 4=Mostly fair, but gives the candidate an intentional opportunity to look good.
• 5=Biased for the candidate. Open-ended, no contextual frame or boundaries, let's the candidate tell a positive story.

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Candidates: Vice-President Richard Nixon (R), Senator John F. Kennedy (D)

Date: September 26, 1960

Topic: Internal or domestic American matters

Moderator; Panel: Howard K. Smith (CBS News); Sander Vanocur (NBC News), Charles Warren (Mutual News), Stuart Novins (CBS News), Bob Fleming (ABC News)

Format: 1 hour, answer and rebuttal.

Opening Statement / Closing Statement: 8 minutes / 3 minutes

• MR. FLEMING to Kennedy: Senator, the Vice President in his campaign has said that you were naive and at times immature. He has raised the question of leadership. On this issue, why do you think people should vote for you rather than the Vice President?

  The question is framed using statements from Nixon. It's a fair first question, but it let's Kennedy answer any way he wants.

  My rating: 5

• MR. NOVINS to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, your campaign stresses the value of your eight year experience, and the question arises as to whether that experience was as an observer or as a participant or as an initiator of policy-making. Would you tell us please specifically what major proposals you have made in the last eight years that have been adopted by the Administration?

  This is Nixon's version of the previous question. Notice how it specifically lays out areas of ineffectiveness and asks Nixon to respond. I would have scored the previous question a 4, if not for this question to Nixon.

  My rating: 2

  Fairness Score after one question: Kennedy 100 Nixon 25

• MR. WARREN to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, during your brief speech a few minutes ago you mentioned farm surpluses. I'd like to ask this: It's a fact, I think, that presidential candidates traditionally make promises to farmers. Lots of people, I think, don't understand why the government pays farmers for not producing certain crops or paying farmers if they overproduce for that matter. Now, let me ask, sir, why can't the farmer operate like the business man who operates a factory? If an auto company overproduces a certain model car Uncle Sam doesn't step in and buy up the surplus. Why this constant courting of the farmer?

  This appears to be a simple issues question, not asked in a personal way.

  My rating: 3

• MR. VANOCUR to Nixon: Uh - Mr. Vice President, since the question of executive leadership is a very important campaign issue, I'd like to follow Mr. Novins' question. Now, Republican campaign slogans - you'll see them on signs around the country as you did last week - say it's experience that counts - that's over a picture of yourself; sir uh - implying that you've had more governmental executive decision-making uh - experience than uh - your opponent. Now, in his news conference on August twenty-fourth, President Eisenhower was asked to give one example of a major idea of yours that he adopted. His reply was, and I'm quoting; "If you give me a week I might think of one. I don't remember." Now that was a month ago, sir, and the President hasn't brought it up since, and I'm wondering, sir, if you can clarify which version is correct - the one put out by Republican campaign leaders or the one put out by President Eisenhower?

  Not only does this question use Eisenhower to personally attack Nixon, it is intended to put Nixon at odds with Eisenhower however way he answers it.

  My rating: 1

  Fairness Score after two questions: Kennedy 75 Nixon 13

• MR. NOVINS to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, in connection with these problems of the future that you speak of, and the program that you enunciated earlier in your direct talk, you call for expanding some of the welfare programs for schools, for teacher salaries, medical care, and so forth; but you also call for reducing the federal debt. And I'm wondering how you, if you're president in January, would go about paying the bill for all this. Does this mean that you... [Kennedy interrupts] ...you suggested that reducing the interest rate would help toward... [Kennedy interrupts]

  Drawing on previous stump speeches to frame a reasonable policy question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. WARREN to Nixon: Mr. Vice President you mentioned schools and it was just yesterday I think you asked for a crash program to raise education standards, and this evening you talked about advances in education. Mr. Vice President, you said - it was back in 1957 - that salaries paid to school teachers were nothing short of a national disgrace. Higher salaries for teachers, you added, were important and if the situation wasn't corrected it could lead to a national disaster. And yet, you refused to vote in the Senate in order to break a tie vote when that single vote, if it had been yes, would have granted salary increases to teachers. I wonder if you could explain that, sir.

  The question is fair, but doesn't ask Nixon to offer his vision, only to explain a vote in conflict with past words.

  My rating: 2

  Fairness Score after three questions: Kennedy 67 Nixon 17

• MR. VANOCUR to Kennedy: Senator, you've been promising the voters that if you are elected president you'll try and push through Congress bills on medical aid to the aged, a comprehensive minimum hourly wage bill, federal aid to education. Now, in the August post-convention session of the Congress, when you at least held up the possibility you could one day be president and when you had overwhelming majorities, especially in the Senate, you could not get action on these bills. Now how do you feel that you'll be able to get them in January if you weren't able to get them in August?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. FLEMING to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, do I take it then you believe that you can work better with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate than Senator Kennedy could work with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate?

  Nixon's version of the previous question. Notice how Kennedy was asked generally how he would pass legislation, while Nixon was asked only how he would work with Democrats.

  My rating: 2

  Fairness Score after four questions: Kennedy 63 Nixon 19

• MR. WARREN to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, on another subject, Communism is so often described as an ideology or a belief that exists somewhere other than in the United States. Let me ask you, sir: just how serious a threat to our national security are these Communist subversive activities in the United States today?

  An impersonal open-ended question on policy opinion.

  My rating: 3

• MR. VANOCUR to Nixon: Mr. Vice President uh - in one of your earlier statements you said we've moved ahead, we've built more schools, we've built more hospitals. Now, sir, isn't it true that the building of more schools is a local matter for financing? Uh - Were you claiming that the Eisenhower Administration was responsible for the building of these schools, or is it the local school districts that provide for it?

  This is attacking Nixon as taking credit for things not due them. Given that Nixon is in the current administration, I won't score overly harsh.

  My rating: 2

  Final Fairness Score after five questions: Kennedy 60 Nixon 20

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Candidates: Vice-President Richard Nixon (R), Senator John F. Kennedy (D)

Date: October 7, 1960

Topic: Any

Moderator; Panel: Frank McGee (NBC News); Paul Niven (CBS), Edward P. Morgan (ABC), Alvin Spivak (United Press International), Harold R. Levy (Newsday).

Format: 1 hour, answer and rebuttal

Opening Statement / Closing Statement: None / None

• MR. NIVEN to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, Senator Kennedy said last night that the Administration must take responsibility for the loss of Cuba. Would you compare the validity of that statement with the validity of your own statements in previous campaigns that the Truman Administration was responsible for the loss of China to the Communists?

  A fair question on consistency and hypocrisy.

  My rating: 3

• MR. MORGAN to Kennedy: Senator, last May, in Oregon, you discussed the possibilities of sending apologies or regrets to Khrushchev over the U-2 incident. Do you think now that that would have done any good? Did you think so then?

  Also a fair question on consistency and hypocrisy.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after one question: Nixon 50 Kennedy 50

• MR. SPIVAK to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, you have accused Senator Kennedy of avoiding the civil rights issue when he has been in the South and he has accused you of the same thing. With both North and South listening and watching, would you sum up uh - your own intentions in the field of civil rights if you become president.

  A fair question set up with candidate back and forth charges.

  My rating: 3

• MR. LEVY to Kennedy: Senator, on the same subject, in the past you have emphasized the president's responsibility as a moral leader as well as an executive on civil rights questions. What specifically might the next president do uh - in the event of an uh - an occurrence such as Little Rock or the lunch-counter sit-ins?

  A mostly fair question, but notice how Nixon's question was framed as answering to the South, while Kennedy's question allows him to speak of moral leadership.

  My rating: 4

  Fairness Score after two questions: Nixon 50 Kennedy 63

• MR. MORGAN to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, in your speeches you emphasize that the United States is doing basically well in the cold war. Can you square that statement with a considerable mass of bipartisan reports and studies, including one prominently participated in by Governor Rockefeller, which almost unanimously conclude that we are not doing nearly so well as we should?

  Nixon's question is framed to challenge his positive statements about the state of the nation using negative critical data, intended to put him on the defensive.

  My rating: 2

• MR. SPIVAK to Kennedy: Senator, uh - following this up, how would you go about increasing the prestige you say we're losing, and could the programs you've devised to do so be accomplished without absolutely wrecking our economy?

  Kennedy's question is framed from his negative comments on the state of the nation, asking how he would make it better.

  My rating: 4

  Fairness Score after three questions: Nixon 42 Kennedy 67

• MR. LEVY to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, the Labor Department today added five more major industrial centers to the list of areas with substantial unemployment. You said in New York this week that as president you would use the full powers of the government, if necessary, to combat unemployment. Specifically what measures would you advocate and at what point?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. NIVEN to Kennedy: Senator, while the main theme of your campaign has been this decline of American power and prestige in the last eight years, you've hardly criticized President Eisenhower at all. And in a speech last weekend you said you had no quarrel with the President. Now isn't Mr. Eisenhower and not Mr. Nixon responsible for any such decline?

  Another fair question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after four questions: Nixon 44 Kennedy 63

• MR. SPIVAK to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, according to news dispatches Soviet Premier Khrushchev said today that Prime Minister Macmillan had assured him that there would be a summit conference next year after the presidential elections. Have you given any cause for such assurance, and do you consider it desirable or even possible that there would be a summit conference next year if Mr. Khrushchev persists in the conditions he's laid down?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. LEVY to Kennedy: Senator, in your acceptance speech at Los Angeles, you said that your campaign would be based not on what you intend to offer the American people, but what you intend to ask of them. Since that time you have spelled out many of the things that you intend to do but you have made only vague reference to sacrifice and self-denial. A year or so ago, I believe, you said that you would not hesitate to recommend a tax increase if you considered it necessary. Is this what you have in mind?

  The question is a little bit leading with Kennedy's famous "Ask not what your county can do for you" line, but otherwise a fair question about raising taxes.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after five questions: Nixon 45 Kennedy 60

• MR. NIVEN to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, you said that while Mr. Khrushchev is here, Senator Kennedy should talk about what's right with this country as well as what's wrong with the country. In the 1952 campaign when you were Republican candidate for Vice President, and we were eh - at war with the Communists, did you feel a similar responsibility to t- talk about what was right with the country?

  Another question about the hypocrisy of campaign rhetoric.

  My rating: 2

• MR. MORGAN to Kennedy: Senator, Saturday on television you said that you had always thought that Quemoy and Matsu were unwise places to draw our defense line in the Far East. Would you comment further on that and also address to this question; couldn't a pullback from those islands be interpreted as appeasement?

  A gift question to Kennedy. Not only does it set up with the premise that he was wise, it asks him to pontificate on Far East engagements.

  My rating: 5

  Fairness Score after six questions: Nixon 42 Kennedy 67

• MR. LEVY to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, you are urging voters to forget party labels and vote for the man. Senator Kennedy says that in doing this you are trying to run away from your party on such issues as housing and aid to education by advocating what he calls a me-too program. Why do you say that party labels are not important?

  The journalist is using the last question to make Kennedy's attack for him.

  My rating: 1

  Final Fairness Score after six questions: Nixon 37 Kennedy 67

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Candidates: Vice-President Richard Nixon (R), Senator John F. Kennedy (D)

Date: October 13, 1960

Topic: Any

Moderator; Panel: Bill Shadel (ABC News); Frank McGee (NBC News), Charles Van Fremd (CBS News), Douglass Cater (Reporter magazine), Roscoe Drummond (New York Herald Tribune).

Format: 1 hour, 2.5 minutes to answer, 1.5 minutes to rebut

Opening Statement / Closing Statement: None / None

• MR. McGEE to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, yesterday you used the words "trigger-happy" in referring to Vice President Richard Nixon's stand on defending the islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Last week on a program like this one, you said the next president would come face to face with a serious crisis in Berlin. So the question is: would you take military action to defend Berlin?

  A fair question using Kennedy's words to test for hypocrisy.

  My rating: 3

• MR. VON FREMD to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, a two-part question concerning the offshore islands in the Formosa Straits. If you were president and the Chinese Communists tomorrow began an invasion of Quemoy and Matsu, would you launch the uh - United States into a war by sending the Seventh Fleet and other military forces to resist this aggression; and secondly, if the uh - regular conventional forces failed to halt such uh - such an invasion, would you authorize the use of nuclear weapons?

  A similar question to Kennedy's, but where Kennedy was asked simply if he "would take military action," Nixon was asked about specific troop movements and the threat of starting a nuclear war.

  My rating: 1

  Fairness Score after one question: Kennedy 50 Nixon 0

• MR. CATER to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, last week you said that before we should hold another summit conference, that it was important that the United States build its strength. Modern weapons take quite a long time to build. What sort of prolonged period do you envisage before there can be a summit conference? And do you think that there can be any new initiatives on the grounds of nuclear disarmament uh - nuclear control or weapons control d- uh - during this period?

  The previous question to Nixon leaves the impression that Nixon might start a nuclear war. This question to Kennedy is open-ended and lets Kennedy position himself as a peace-maker.

  My rating: 5

• MR. DRUMMOND to Nixon: Mr. Nixon, I would like to ask eh - one more aspect or raise another aspect of this same question. Uh - it is my understanding that President Eisenhower never advocated that Quemoy and Matsu should be defended under all circumstances as a matter of principle. I heard Secretary Dulles at a press conference in fifty-eight say that he thought that it was a mistake for Chiang Kai-shek to deploy troops to these islands. I would like to ask what has led you to take what appears to be a different position on this subject.

  In the first debate, Nixon was asked a question designed to put him at odds with Eisenhower Administration policy. This question seems softer, asking Nixon to talk about what led him to his current position. A fair question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after two questions: Kennedy 75 Nixon 25

• MR. VON FREMD to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, I'd like to uh - shift the conversation, if I may, to a domestic uh - political argument. The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Senator Thruston Morton, declared earlier this week that you owed Vice President Nixon and the Republican party a public apology for some strong charges made by former President Harry Truman, who bluntly suggested where the Vice President and the Republican party could go. Do you feel that you owe the Vice President an apology?

  This is an unserious question that lets Kennedy joke about a Presidential potty-mouth.

  My rating: 5

• MR. CATER to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, I'd like to return just once more, if I may, to this area of dealing with the Communists. Critics have claimed that on at least three occasions in recent years - on the sending of American troops to Indochina in 1954, on the matter of continuing the U-2 flights uh - in May, and then on this definition of the - of our commitment to the offshore island - that you have overstated the Administration position, that you have taken a more bellicose position than President Eisenhower. Just two days ago you said that you called on uh - Senator Kennedy to serve notice to Communist aggressors around the world that we're not going to retreat one inch more any place, where as we did retreat from the Tachen Islands, or at least Chiang Kai-shek did. Would you say this was a valid criticism of your statement of foreign policy?

  As the sitting Vice-President, it is fair to ask about current administration policy, as well as ask how the candidate participated in the policy-making. However, this question puts words in Nixon's mouth and then asks him if they are correct or not. Nixon is forced to start from a defensive posture.

  My rating: 1

  Fairness Score after three questions: Kennedy 83 Nixon 17

• MR. DRUMMOND to Kennedy: Uh - Mr. Kennedy, Representative Adam Clayton Powell, in the course of his speaking tour in your behalf, is saying, and I quote: "The Ku Klux Klan is riding again in this campaign. If it doesn't stop, all bigots will vote for Nixon and all right-thinking Christians and Jews will vote for Kennedy rather than be found in the ranks of the Klan-minded." End quotation. Governor Michael DiSalle is saying much the same thing. What I would like to ask, Senator Kennedy, is what is the purpose of this sort of thing and how do you feel about it?

  This question is a backhanded slap at Nixon supporters as bigots, and is framed to Kennedy about reacting to harsh words spoken on his behalf, but lets Kennedy talk about his feelings.

  My rating: 4

• MR. McGEE to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, some of your early campaign literature said you were making a study to see if new laws were needed to protect the public against excessive use of power by labor unions. Have you decided whether such new laws are needed, and, if so, what would they do?

  A fair policy question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after four questions: Kennedy 81 Nixon 25

• MR. CATER to Kennedy: Uh - Mr. Kennedy, uh - Senator - uh - Vice President Nixon says that he has costed the two party platforms and that yours would run at least ten billion dollars a year more than his. You have denied his figures. He has called on you to supply your figures. Would you do that?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. DRUMMOND to Nixon: Uh - Mr. Nixon uh - before the convention you and Governor Rockefeller said jointly that the nation's economic growth ought to be accelerated; and the Republican platform states that uh - the nation needs to quicken the pace of economic growth. Uh - Is it fair, therefore, Mr. Vice President, to conclude that you feel that there has been insufficient economic growth during the past eight years; and if so, what would you do beyond uh - present Administration policies uh - to step it up?

  A fair policy question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after five questions: Kennedy 75 Nixon 30

• MR. McGEE to Kennedy: Uh - Senator Kennedy, a moment ago you mentioned tax loopholes. Now your running mate, Senator Lyndon Johnson, is from Texas, an oil-producing state and one that many political leaders feel is in doubt in this election year. And reports from there say that oil men in Texas are seeking assurance from Senator Johnson that the oil depletion allowance will not be cut. The Democratic platform pledges to plug holes in the tax laws and refers to inequitable depletion allowance as being conspicuous loopholes. My question is, do you consider the twenty-seven and a half per cent depletion allowance inequitable, and would you ask that it be cut?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. VON FREMD to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, in the past three years, there has been an exodus of more than four billion dollars of gold from the United States, apparently for two reasons: because exports have slumped and haven't covered imports, and because of increased American investments abroad. If you were president, how would you go about stopping this departure of gold from our shores?

  A fair policy question, and an open-ended opportunity for Nixon.

  My rating: 4

  Fairness Score after six questions: Kennedy 71 Nixon 38

• MR. DRUMMOND to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, a question on American prestige. In light of the fact that the Soviet Ambassador was recently expelled from the Congo, and that Mr. Khrushchev has this week canceled his trip to Cuba for fear of stirring resentment throughout all Latin America, I would like to ask you to spell out somewhat more fully how you think we should measure American prestige, to determine whether it is rising or whether it is falling.

  This is an open-ended gift to Kennedy to speak loftily about the United States at the end of the debate.

  My rating: 5

  Final Fairness Score after seven questions: Kennedy 75 Nixon 38

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Candidates: Vice-President Richard Nixon (R), Senator John F. Kennedy (D)

Date: October 21, 1960

Topic: Foreign Policy

Moderator; Panel: Quincy Howe (ABC News); Frank Singiser, (Mutual News), John Edwards (ABC News), Walter Cronkite (CBS News), John Chancellor (NBC News).

Format: 1 hour, 2.5 minutes to answer, 1.5 minutes to rebut

Opening Statement / Closing Statement: 8 minutes/ 3 minutes

• MR. SINGISER to Nixon: Mr. Vice President, I'd like to pin down the difference between the way you would handle Castro's regime and prevent the establishment of Communist governments in the Western Hemisphere and the way that Senator Kennedy would proceed. Uh - Vice President Nixon, in what important respects do you feel there are differences between you, and why do you believe your policy is better for the peace and security of the United States in the Western Hemisphere??

  A fair and open-ended question to begin the debate.

  My rating: 4

• MR. EDWARDS to Kennedy: Senator Kennedy, one test of a new president's leadership will be the caliber of his appointments. It's a matter of interest here and overseas as to who will be the new secretary of state. Now, under our rules, I must ask this question of you, but I would hope that the Vice President also would answer it. Will you give us the names of three or four Americans, each of whom, if appointed, would serve with distinction in your judgment as secretary of state?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after one question: Nixon 75 Kennedy 50

• MR. CRONKITE to Nixon: Thank you Quincy. Mr. Vice President, Senator Fulbright and now tonight, Senator Kennedy, maintain that the Administration is suppressing a report by the United States Information Agency that shows a decline in United States prestige overseas. Are you aware of such a report, and if you are aware of the existence of such a report, should not that report, because of the great importance this issue has been given in this campaign, be released to the public?

  A harsh question, but Nixon is the Vice-President so I will call this a fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. CHANCELLOR to Kennedy: Senator, another question uh - in connection with our relations with the Russians. There have been stories from Washington from the Atomic Energy Commission hinting that the Russians may have resumed the testing of nuclear devices. Now if - sir, if this is true, should the United States resume nuclear testing, and if the Russians do not start testing, can you foresee any circumstances in 1961 in which the United States might resume its own series of tests?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

  Fairness Score after two questions: Nixon 63 Kennedy 50

• MR. EDWARDS to Nixon: Mr. Nixon, carrying forward this business about a timetable; as you know, the pressures are increasing for a summit conference. Now, both you and Senator Kennedy have said that there are certain conditions which must be met before you would meet with Khrushchev. Will you be more specific about these conditions?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

• MR. CRONKITE to Kennedy: Senator, the charge has been made frequently that the United States for many years has been on the defensive around the world, that our policy has been uh - one of reaction to the Soviet Union rather than positive action on our own. What areas do you see where the United States might take the offensive in a challenge to Communism over the next four to eight years?

  A fair, open-ended question.

  My rating: 4

  Fairness Score after three questions: Nixon 58 Kennedy 58

• MR. CHANCELLOR to Nixon: Sir, I'd like to ask you an- another question about Quemoy and Matsu. Both you and Senator Kennedy say you agree with the President on this subject and with our treaty obligations. But the subject remains in the campaign as an issue. Now is - sir, is this because each of you feels obliged to respond to the other when he talks about Quemoy and Matsu, and if that's true, do you think an end should be called to this discussion, or will it stay with us as a campaign issue?

  A fair question.

  My rating: 3

  Final Fairness Score after four questions: Nixon 56 Kennedy 58

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[Political Junkie Too]

This is something that I wanted to do ever since the first Fox News debate debacle.

This is a question by question review of the four Nixon-Kennedy debates from 56 years ago. How does the quality of question compare to the questions of today? Do you see any bias in the questions? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment of the questions?

Finally, notice how the moderators and questioners were all from different organizations. Do you think that affects the dynamic of the debates?

-PJ

[scooby321]

agree

None are the Fox moderators are real journalist

[scooby321]

It's like a Great Football game

What help makes it great is that you don't notice the referees

[Rennes Templar]

Mr. Trump, you have called women dogs. Rating: 0

Trump’s response: Only Rosie O’Donnell. Rating: Out of the ball park

[Mears]

56 years ago and it seems like yesterday.

(Sigh)

.

[SamAdams76]

I’ll say this, old Dwight Eisenhower really threw Nixon under the bus during that campaign.

[Jim W N]

Well, you’re on the right track. Now just total up the results of the Nixon-Kennedy Debates and compare them to the results of any recent “debate” to really see the contrast.

[Fhios]

You put some hard work in that. If it s original work of yours I suggest you copyright it immediately. I see things get lifted off of FR frequently enough to know journalists use material and original thought from FR.

[DoughtyOne]

Free Republic Caucus 16 01/28
four days to Iowa

Vote

[Chad N. Freud]

Excellent rating system!

I encourage you to continue it. It is a simple and wise way of rating “debates” (which today bear no relation to the meaning of the word).

It’s not an exaggeration to say that if it were in book form, covering many elections, I would buy it.

[Political Junkie Too]

I plan to. There were no more debates until Ford-Carter in 1976.

-PJ

[DoughtyOne]

good karma will follow your donation to free republic

oops

[Pollster1]

I’d like to see a debate with no “gotcha” and no “gimme” questions. It should be about the candidates and the issues, with the candidates, not journalists challenging each other where appropriate. We should not see journalists combing through everything candidates from the other side have ever said to set them up - that is more appropriate for an interview format, but even there only if it is done to both sides.

[Political Junkie Too]

I agree. Even in 1960 there were some questions of the "You said..." and "He said of you..." variety.

-PJ

[brothers4thID]

Excellent. Any chance you will do one for the primary debate that Reagan skipped? (He regretted listening to his campaign manager on that score and attended all subsequent debates)

[Political Junkie Too]

I'll have to see what transcripts are out there. There are a lot of primary debates relative to general election debates.

-PJ

[StoneWall Brigade]

Wonderful stuff you should do this with Lincoln/Douglas, debates.

[heterosupremacist]

My rating - Zero! That was then, this is now...

[mumblypeg]

Excellent work, PJToo!
The rotation of the journalists, and focus on issues really stood out; it’s interesting to note that the bias, or spin, was definitely in there, although the questioners at least tried to bury it.
Also, I support Fhios’ suggestion in post #8.

[dfwgator]

Bump