LOL! I wouldn't call those debates.
Every candidate had equal time to make his case to the public.
Well.... the media already had the "frontrunners", "longshots", and "darkhorses" picked from day one.
But I think the media was a smaller factor than conservatives falsely believing that anyone else was "unelectable".
You still haven't explained why the "unelectable" Newt Gingrich won a landslide, but the "real conservatives" didn't stand a chance in 2000 - even though the American public "really wants the most conservative candidate".