Political debate is a unique opportunity for voters to engage with candidates and enlighten them about their vision, plans and positions on issues. More so than paid media, which gives voters a curated view of candidates, or door-to-door canvassing and telephone conversations, which can be very effective but require considerable time and resources, debates offer candidates a chance to directly and candidly address voters’ questions on important and complex issues that they cannot do in a 30-second television advertisement or in a Sunday show interview.
Debates also embody democratic ideals that they be open and accessible to voters regardless of their party or financial backing, that participants are qualified by objective criteria (such as nomination by a political party), and that debate rules offer each candidate equal time for questioning and response. These factors make the debate format more powerful than any other tool in American politics and are essential for educating and informing voters.
The current structure of presidential debates is a series of discussions led by moderators and with some participation from the public, in which each candidate gets two minutes to respond to questions on a variety of issues. The debates are run by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which sets formats and rules for the events.
The CPD tries to balance early voting and religious and federal holidays, television pool contractual conflicts and the goal of including all candidates with a statistically feasible chance of winning the Electoral College. Currently, candidates must have at least 15 percent support according to five national polling organizations to be invited to the debates.