Presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon appeared on screen for the first ever televised presidential debate in 1960. The candidates stood with authority while debating their policies in a manner grounded in respect. Now Americans view presidential debates as a form of entertainment.
“I call them the Super Bowl of politics because everybody watches them,” said Josh Bramlett, an assistant professor in the advertising and public relations department, who studies strategic political communication with political debates being a main area of focus. “When we look at them historically, and even from a journalism perspective, they are viewed as central moments in campaigns.”
Attitudes about each candidate are impacted by debates and presidential rallies. As viewers watch the candidates perform, answer questions and react to their opponent, the candidates’s performances influence audiences’ preconceived notions about them.
However, attitude reinforcements are typically the result of debates rather than attitude changes.
According to the 2007 study, “My Friend’s Enemy,” the addition of split-screen broadcasts has influenced these attitude reinforcements by allowing viewers to see immediate feedback from each candidate; while one candidate is speaking, viewers can see how the other candidate is reacting.
Nonverbal cues of each candidate — such as smirking, laughing, looking down, sighing or glancing off — are signs viewers pick up on when watching debates.
“There’s a lot of research that shows that looking down can hurt a candidate. The famous example was President Barack Obama in 2012, his first debate against [Mitt] Romney, he looked down a bunch, which was viewed as weak,” Bramlett said.
In the most recent presidential debate, viewers took a particular interest in Vice President Kamala Harris’ facial expressions by making memes and social media posts of her from that night.
Harris was critiqued with the same intensity as people praised her for, causing speculations and interest in her rhetorical strategies. Despite the commentary about appearances and nonverbal cues, this was the first time people were able to see Harris and former president Doland Trump debate, which led to a substantial amount of viewers.
“This was very historically significant because this was the first time that those two were really next to each other and face-to-face,” said Sara Salazar, a sophomore majoring in public relations.
The last time people saw Trump debate a female presidential candidate was in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.
“I do think that he took a more subdued approach with debating Kamala Harris. He was more vigorous in his approach with Clinton, and this time around, I think he learned from some of the critiques of the Clinton debate,” Bramlett said.
The format of the most recent debate not only differs from the ones between Clinton and Trump but also from the one that occurred over the summer.
President Joe Biden took to the stage for the debate on June 27, and he left with serious reputation damage, making the Democratic Party nervous and unsure of its candidate. Biden eventually ended up dropping out of the presidential debate on July 21.
Harris has been described as a breath of fresh air by the Democratic Party because of her youth and energetic rhetorical strategies compared to Biden.
“It was very different from the debate between Trump and Biden, where there was questioning of whether Biden was fit to run again or even serve as president,” said Jai Raines, a sophomore majoring in advertising. “I don’t think that either candidate [Trump and Harris], for the most part, showed any signs of not being fit.”
Polls from The New York Times following the debate showed that 67% of respondents said that Harris performed well while only 40% of respondents said Trump performed well during the debate. In the following days after the debate, Trump reportedly said that he believes he won the date on “Fox and Friends.”
In contrast to the Kennedy-Nixon debate, candidates now spend their time on stage deflecting answers, throwing insults and making false claims about their opponent.
Despite the changes in how presidential debates are conducted, importance is still placed on how candidates perform.
“They [debates] are better for understanding the full scope for voters. They are moments where, if you tune in and watch, you can know how to vote,” Bramlett said.
