Then don’t ask me LOL
I didn’t even watch the thing. I was born in 1968 but I watched the Nixon Kennedy debate. They were both seated and it was actually a very good format. They spoke one at a time without interruptions and without soap opera style arguments.
When did that all change?
It changed when the Dems (with the help of their media enforcement arm) couldn’t easily steal elections anymore (like they did in 1960).
The debate format was contaminated largely with the Clinton debates. Slick Willie orchestrated an ambush against hapless Bob Dole, wondering around behind Dole while he was trying to answer, using the camera angle to accentuate his height advantage, demagoguing everything with his inimitable slime. There were some unsuccessful debates before that with the forgettable Bush 41, but Clinton really smeared the stage, and it never recovered.
“...I watched the Nixon Kennedy debate...”
I once heard an observation about that debate: those who saw it on TV believed Kennedy won; those who listened to it on radio thought Nixon won.
Interesting, yes?
Not overnight but the culture changed. Manners and much more are very different today.
-PJ