The first GOP debate is in about three weeks. Every election cycle the debates ramp up and prove themselves to be important. Whether we find them helpful, informative, or necessary is a different conversation (one we have had). As we enter an election year debate comes again to the forefront. We’ve pulled together some of our debate archives which should serve as a good starting point.
There are rules within debate, and rules surrounding debate – but there are no rules that make it mandatory (no laws require debate, it’s simply tradition) or about the institution or individuals producing the debate (anyone could put these on).
Primary debates are different than general election debates. Threshold for participation has often been argued, and it may be valid, but it does feel important to remember that no President has participated in a primary debate since Ford (this is not a Biden thing).
We spoke with Xochitl Hinojosa in 2019 about this idea and more while she was the communications director of the Democratic National Committee:
We also spoke Michael Sheehan who has coached more Presidents, Vice Presidents, First Ladies, Cabinet Secretaries, Governors, Mayors and Members of Congress than anyone else in the country. Since 1988, he has been called upon to coach every Presidential and Vice-Presidential debate series as well as the principal speakers at the Democratic National Conventions. For the Obama and Clinton administrations alike, he has coached Inaugural Addresses, States of the Union, prime time addresses, and press conferences.
More from him and many others in our little debate short Please Clap (Parts 1 and 2)
An easy read from Mike McCurry, President Clinton’s press secretary and former co-chair of the Presidential Debate Commission.
The most thorough thing you could read would be this two part interview with Kathleen Hall Jamieson who is the end all be all when it comes to debate history. She has an encyclopedic memory for Presidential campaigns and debate moments. She is also the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.