The Presidential Debates

Another four years another presidential debate. Before I go on to the current debates let me state a few facts about past ones. The Lincoln and Douglas debate was in important because it started Lincoln presidential career. The Debates lasted from August 21 -- October 15. There where seven of them, with two days to two weeks in between. Each debate lasted three hours; first candidate spoke for one hour; the second for one and a half hours; the first replying for a half hour. Candidates alternated going first. The topics involved where primarily slavery and the Union. Other important debates were the '48 and '57. They were the only debates before 1960; there were no presidential debates between 1960 and 1976. In

In the United States, television has been influential in presidential elections since the 1960’s. Television has a way of “turning away from policy sphere,” it judges candidates based on their appearances, not their message. Television has shifted the key point of presidential debates: from pursuing issue to pursuing image. Therefore, television is misleading, having a negative impact on presidential elections.

Rhetoric is found virtually everywhere, from billboards to commercial ads on television, it is a part of the 21st century’s daily routine. Communication thrives on rhetoric because it is the foundation of opinion. Without discussion or opinions, life will become dull and uninteresting. Political debates towards the end of presidential elections are predominately a few of the greatest examples of this. By the end of elections, a majority of people have lost interest in the repetition of each candidate, with rhetoric, people become more inclined to tune into their television to listen to two candidates debate.

During the second Presidential Debate, which was televised on October 9, 2016, I was able to detect many logical fallacies within the arguments of both candidates. For example, when Donald Trump was first asked about the controversial tape that contained footage of him disrespecting and admitting to sexually assaulting women, he avoided this question by attempting to divert attention from this issue. Instead of concretely answering the question, Donald Trump briefly apologized, and then blatantly attempted to ignore the issue by talking about Isis “chopping people’s heads,” and randomly describing all the horrid things that Isis is doing. This logical fallacy is characterized as “Red Herring,” which

In the wake of the death of Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court Justice , Republican candidates had a debate and met in South Carolina for the 9th GOP debate.This debate mainly discussed what each candidate would do if they were to become president. During these debates, the candidates are given a chance to deliver their messages , and to help voters determine which candidate will be best as president. In the republican debate, each candidate was asked a question which they was expected to answer but somehow didn't appear to do so. While watching, I came to conclusion that some of the arguments were successful and others unsuccessful. In the first section of the debate when candidates Ben Carson, Donald

Television promotes candidates’ image over their policies. Instead of the candidates discussing what they are going to do for the country, they simply argue why they are better than each other. The candidates being televised gives the audience a sense of knowing them, which causes them to lose the audience's interest in political ideals and to be “judged by standards formerly used to assess rock singers and movie stars”(Source B). Instead of the candidates

This paper will focus on some issues addressed by 2016 presidential candidates from Republic and Democratic Party. These presidential candidates are Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trumps. Some of the issues that will be addressed are gun laws, abortion, immigration, same sex marriages and taxes.

On September 26, 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy met Richard Milhous Nixon in the first nationally televised presidential debate in American history. The candidates clashed on a variety of domestic issues, including education, infrastructure, health care, and economic policies. The audience was unprecedented in size. Approximately seventy million Americans watched the debate. By the end, Kennedy was a star. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike lauded his poise, confidence, and charisma. On the other hand, viewers criticized Nixon’s haggard expression and sweaty countenance. As it turns out, television had the greatest influence on these perceptions. Those who watched the debate overwhelmingly asserted Kennedy’s clear victory, while

The second presidential debate was held at St. Louis, Missouri on a Sunday Evening, October 9th, 2016 at 9:00PM. The debate lasted until 10:30PM. The debate involved presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Just like the First Presidential Debate, this debate mainly focused on the candidates and their plans for the future. That night, there was a lot of opposition in opinion on both sides. It was a heated battle. Both Trump and Clinton battled it out with facts, some of which were both very strong and very weak.

What topics are labeled important enough to be talked about during presidential debates? Topics such as terrorism and national security; the economy; jobs and employment; and the Affordable Care Act and Healthcare all managed to be the center of attention during all debates. What topics were almost entirely ignored? Topics such as gun policy; social issues like LGBT rights and abortion; and the environment and climate change were put to the side to instead talk about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal or the sexual assault charges brought up against Donald Trump. While terrorism and national security; the economy; jobs and employment; and the Affordable Care Act and Healthcare are all very important topics, but one topic that was ignored and should have been at the forefront of the debate was climate change.

The liberals of the United States of America, and others who disapprove President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are torn. Liberals would like for Donald Trump to be impeached from the presidency. But, if Trump is impeached, the vice president, Pence, would have to take over as the new president. This stirs up a lot of confused feelings; leaving liberals on the fence.

No campaign in the history of presidential runnings has ever been the same. Yes, past campaigns and presidential candidates have shown their similarities between each other, but none has had the same events occur. The major variable is time. Society has shown a history of changing ideals and appeals. Each year, slowly but surely, society’s view is shaping and shifting. The presidential candidates know this factor and have to change with society to gain their social appeal. Within this time shift, we can analyze past polls and outcomes of primaries that have shown to be somewhat misleading.

Did you know that every president that america had so far came from the united states? In all the years that the Presidential debate has be going on more and more people from different countries and since then won or lost. Would you want to have a president from a different country? I would want a president from a different country. I think that it would be better if we had the chance to expand our presidential line. People from all around the world would like the chance to have the experience of becoming the United States President.

ahead. I think we can do a better job. I think we're going to have to do a

The vice presidential debate turned out to be more of tennis match of insults. Both side hit backhands at each other all night long. Instead of focusing on real issues, the candidates had a yelling match at each other all night. I believe this is the wrong way to have debates. All the time we have been in school, since kindergarten, we have been taught to raise our hands when we want to speak and be respectful to others. The vice presidents seem to have skipped all 12 years of schooling. No respect was shown towards anyone during the debate. Instead of Dekalb High School students doing Olweus, The vice presidents should take time and learn how to not bully one