Presidential Debates: Why the Little Things Matter

[Music] the the place these debates have in the election process is a critical final place everything in the campaign the conventions everything has come before these will be the three biggest audiences at these debates that these two men will have between now and the time people go to the polls the importance of the debates grows with every election these are the last vehicles that actually have the ability to change people's minds the debates bring everybody together everybody who's already decided the few folks who have not decided to see the candidates in the same place at the same time in a comparative environment we have two parties there's a reason we have two parties they really disagree about what the size and shape and role of the government ought to be and I think the debates are going to be very useful to bring that out and I think they will eliminate any sense that we don't understand what the choice is here I think that they look at it as a place not to make major errors I think that's number one on their list do not mess this up but if you are behind going into it you want to shine so you have in your head perhaps something that will make you stand out now maybe it's it's a zinger you're going to throw at your opponent that you think might make a difference or maybe it might be I'm this is not what I'm for this is here are three things and then there would be information within it that would be new people generally base their vote for president when it comes right down to it on the person that they feel most comfortable with in times of a crisis and that's why I think the way the candidates come off even more than sometimes what they say is is the most important thing between the candidates will answer or comment upon answers to questions put by a panel of correspondents the kennedy-nixon debate the first debate of 1960 is the first real time in the history of television in which you have a masked audience simultaneously sitting largely in living rooms watching two candidates exchange answers on a focus topic with journalists acting as the intermediary what I think Kennedy and Nixon discovered to their amazement to some extent was that it didn't matter just what you said it mattered how you said and how you look saying it and in Richard Nixon had a five o'clock shadow a very heavy one and Jack Kennedy looked handsome one was really good in front of the chemistry of people who heard it on the radio many of them thought that Nixon won but people who watched on television thought Kennedy won the debate and that's because of the appearance of Richard Nixon he was sweating across his lip and he looked nervous and unsure of himself on television it goes back to seeing a complete picture of the person and and your sense of that person his composure so it wasn't just the debate in 1960 it was the introduction of television as a force unto itself in presidential politics it became a fact that you were selling a product on TV the product happened to be a candidate the ford-carter debate are among the more interesting in the history of the presidency Ford's behind in the polls he challenges Carter two debates generally that whoever is behind wants debates and who's ever ahead doesn't want them because everybody sees that there's an opportunity to shine or an opportunity to really mess it up there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration Gerald Ford said the Soviet Union does not dominate Eastern Europe some people would argue that that cost Gerald Ford the election I don't think that was a gaffe what Ford said is actually what the policy of the United States was he didn't say it well the administration as well as those past asserted that those were free peoples they had the rights to independence I'm not sure to the average viewer who doesn't think a lot about foreign policy that was a big deal I think when the attention that was lavished on it became obvious to all then it became seen as a blunder that probably most people didn't think of this you know you think about the 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan after which Jimmy Carter's numbers kind of collapsed governor Reagan again typically is against such a proposal governor there you go again there is some evidence that some people who came in thinking well I'll vote for Jimmy Carter even I don't like him very much saw Ronald Reagan and said I could live with that guy and they turned around and changed their votes I think when you make that decision it might be well if you would ask yourself are you better off and you were four years ago and it's only eyes of the beholder the holders the voters and whether they huh ha I don't like you oh he's terrific hey and if you're kind of undecided that's helpful maybe that Carter Reagan debate changed the course of the campaign and helped determine the outcome it was partly because there was only one debate and it was very late and it was a one moment a fleeting moment really I remember Michael Dukakis and I don't know I don't think this was a genuine moment I think this was a debate moment governor if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer no I don't Bernard and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my lives and that's all anybody could talk about the next day would he be for the death penalty for the person who may have raped his wife what would anyone say if they're why you'd want to kill the guy I think that really did hurt him and Michael Dukakis delivered a kind of bloodless answer people came away perhaps with was a pre-existing condition for Dukakis which was that he was kind of this cold you know technocrat but appearance is so important people look at you and they make decisions about whether they like you or not we have a question right here yes how has a national debt personally affect after the debate I did not know that George Bush had during the debate looked at his watch three or four times looking at the time and I started hearing from the public what what was he looking at his watch for where did he have to go he's he said a presidential debate they didn't like that at all George HW Bush looks at his watch because like he has no patience for this and it's like the guy isn't really into this he's kind of just you know he's kind of just punching the clock here Clinton made the point an interview with me said look if he Clinton had looked at his watch or a Perot had looked at his watch wouldn't have mattered at all the only reason mattered because it fulfilled and a something that was already in the wind the other thing that the public noticed that they relate to me is that he stayed close to his stool he and Bill Clinton was waiting into the audience he was going right up to people and looking them right in the eye President Bush was remained back near his stool and very close to it in a little circle around it Bill Clinton is the master politician maybe the best politician of our time and he has the ability to explain things in a way that people understand I mean he can connect and George Bush didn't have that well here's what happened to Gore versus George Sarah Bush 2000 first to Bay Boston when Bush was talking you could see Gore listening and the vice president doesn't believe in exploration for example in Alaska there's a lot of shut-in gas that we need to be well this is a major problem do something there's differences I was the closest person to those two people to George W Bush and Al Gore and when the debate was over was walking out of the hall with one of my daughters and she said hey dad that would really something that Gore did I stopped I said what did Gore do and she said well all that sign in grimacing because I hadn't seen any of it my daughter said in fact dad that's going to be the story of the debate I saw give me a break sometime as the moderator you're you're seeing them in person and you're not seeing what's going over television when Al Gore did all that sign I was watching on television I saw it and I thought what is this all about what are you doing al gore what are you doing and it again it's magnified by the television microphone said it right near his lips it picked it up so clearly and it was like oh dear as they see those little things can make you forget what he's saying at all you're like wondering why is he why is he doing that Al Gore's sighing why does it matter it doesn't matter to me how does that predict the presidency how did the president I don't care if the president sighs a lot our size a little or doesn't sigh at all I care about with your commands the issues I want to know about his temperament I want to know whether or not he seeks out information systematically and how I process it is it fair that people base their opinions on a candidate on some little thing they said some gesture they made how they answered a question no that shouldn't be what people determine their vote on but people do that they do that the two questions that bother me about debates as a journalist just cover them and also participated and one is people say is the candidate a good debater and I've never understood what that means what does that mean that you score more points or that you look better or you sound better or that you know more I don't know what that means and the second question which I wish we would all stop asking is who won the debate I don't know how to answer that question who won the debate is not an answerable question what impressions were left by this debate is a good question but who won the debate I just wish we would stop asking not that we will but I wish we would stop asking that question [Music] you

Channel: The Wall Street Journal

Views: 430,827

Keywords: North America, United States

Id: OWvjjaH3ssc

Length: 11min 17sec (677 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 28 2012