Presidential Debates Start Tomorrow

First presidential debate: Friday, September 26 University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS Second presidential debate: Tuesday, October 7 Belmont University, Nashville, TN Third presidential debate: Wednesday, October 15 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Some of us are old enough to remember when televised political nominating conventions and presidential debates were interesting. The former is now snore-worthy. The presidential debates still offer a glimmer of hope that something interesting might happen. Remember when the TV camera caught the first Bush checking his watch during one of the 1992 debates? Re-election bid dead. (The second Bush was caught checking his watch during the opening ceremony at the Olympics. Perhaps that's an inherited trait in the Bush family tree.)

Carrying on a now storied political tradition that dates back to 1960, when Senator John F. Kennedy first debated Vice President Richard M. Nixon [YouTube video below], Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will face each other in three televised presidential debates this year. See sidebar for dates, the Commission on Presidential Debates webpage for information about the 1960 debates and this compilation of memorable moments from presidential debates. What memorable moments will the Obama-McCain debates produce?

Recommended Reading. Reflecting on the history of televised presidential debates, Newton Minow and Craig LaMay offer the first genuinely inside look into the origins of the presidential debates and the many battles — both legal and personal — that have determined who has been allowed to debate and under what circumstances. They make recommendations for the future, calling for the debates to become less formal, with candidates allowed to question each other and citizens allowed to question candidates directly in Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future (University of Chicago Press, 2008). [JH]

The Kennedy-Nixon Debates