CLASSROOM LAW PROJECT
Selecting the Next President
LESSON 3
What should I watch for in the debates?
Objectives
Students will develop criteria for evaluating the debate performance of the
candidates and observe media coverage of the debates.
Standards
Civics and Government
8.14 – Explain rights and responsibilities of citizens.
HS.34 – Explain the responsibilities of citizens (e.g, vote, pay taxes).
Social Science Analysis
8.25 – Critique data for point of view, historical context, distortion, or
propaganda and relevance.
8.26 – Examine a controversial event, issue, or problem from more than
one perspective.
HS.59 – Demonstrate the skills and dispositions needed to be a critical
consumer of information.
Handouts
(1) Debate Schedule; (2) Debate Checklist; (3) Debate Scoresheet;
(3) Scoring Debaters
Backgrounders
Understanding Debates: A Viewer’s Guide;
Polling Resources; Why Debates Matter.
A. Daily warm-up
Ask students, what campaign issues are being discussed? What issues do you want to
hear discussion about?
B. What is a debate?
A formal, oral confrontation between two individuals, teams, or groups who present
arguments to support opposing sides of a question, generally according to a set form or
procedure. Source : www.britannica.com.
C. When are the Presidential Debates?
Mark your calendars! See Handout 1 for more detail.
October 3
October 11 – Vice Presidential debate
October 16
October 22
Consider the moderators. What are their qualifications? Do they make a difference?
What about the format of the debates; does it make a difference? What is the purpose of
the format features of the Presidential debates? Think about time limits, seating and
other debate format decisions. How do they impact the debate?
D. Vocabulary
Affirmative – approving or supporting
Negative – denying or opposing
Rebut – to present opposing evidence or arguments
Refute – to prove to be false
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Resolution – the purpose of the resolution is to define and limit the topic or debate
And, to track the debates, consider the arguments in three parts (A-R-E):
Assertion
Reasoning
Evidence
Source: http://teachingdebate.typepad.com/teaching_debate/2007/08/a-r-e-tracking.html .
E. How should I watch the debates?
See Handout 1 for a schedule of the debates. Strategy below works best when showing
taped debate excerpts in class; watching debates could also be a homework assignment.
The one-page backgrounder, Understanding Debates: A Viewer's Guide, is a helpful
resource for both teachers and students.
Ask, "what is a debate about?" Suggest that it should be a demonstration of one's
knowledge not showing what others do not know; a marketplace of ideas not one idea;
expressing opinions not putting others down. Debate watchers are urged not to look for
the winner but rather who will make a better president.
Prepare students for debate watching by reviewing Debate Checklist, Handout 2, as a
class. For a tool to use while watching the debate itself, refer to Handouts 3 and 4. They
provide options for helping students be wise debate watchers. Review them; choose one
or both viewing tools to use with your students.
One strategy is to ask students to look for different things during the debate. For
example, some students may be asked to focus upon issues (how much did the
candidates seem to know?), others on style (how well did the candidates
communicate?), and others consistency (how well did the candidates match their ads?),
and so on.
After watching, students should reflect individually before engaging in small group
discussion on their respective topic areas. Finally, the small groups should present their
views with the whole class.
E. Do the debates make a difference?
After watching a debate, check polling sites to see if the debate seems to make a
difference. Backgrounder Polling Resources provides polling websites as well as basic
background; see also backgrounder Why Debates Matter.
F.
Extended Activities
Chain-debate. This is an effective strategy to do a quick mini-debate in your class.
Divide the class in two groups of 15 (assuming a 30 student class). In each group, do a
quick brainstorm on the topic, “presidential debates influence voters.” In a chain
debate, each student will make a very short statement (1-2 sentences). Begin with five
students making one statement (or assertion) each, then five students give rebuttals,
and finish with five summaries.
Homework / Journal Entry
As a result of watching the debate, I think that (Romney or Obama) would be the best
choice for president because
.
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Something that surprised me about the debates was
because
.
An informed voter should be a debate watcher. Why or why not?
If I were the moderator of the debates (or if I were Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, Paul
Ryan or Joe Biden), I would have
.
Additional resources for teachers
PBS offers a history of presidential debates both before television and after at
www.pbs.org/now/politics/debatehistory.html.
Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Election Central is a treasure trove of online
resources: www.crf-usa.org/election-central/election-central-lessons.html.
Commission on Presidential Debates. Non-profit group that has sponsored the
presidential and vice-presidential debates since 1988. Current and past information,
including transcripts: www.debates.org/
New York Times Topics: Presidential Debates. Archive of news stories and transcripts
of the presidential debate:
nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/presidential_debates/index.html
Get some of the early television debate history at the Museum of Broadcast
Communication: Great Debate & Beyond, a history of televised presidential debates
from 1960–2000: www.museum.tv/debateweb/html/index.htm
About polling: this is a complex and important part of the campaign. See Backgrounder
for Polling Resources.
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Handout 1
Debate Schedule
Wednesday, October 3: First presidential debate
Topic: Domestic policy
Location: University of Denver, Denver, CO
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Moderator: Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor of the PBS NewsHour
The debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to
be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate. The moderator
will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to
respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the
topic.
Thursday, October 11: Vice presidential debate
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Location: Centre College, Danville, KY
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Moderator: Martha Raddatz, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, ABC News
The debate will be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The
moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to
respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the
question.
Wednesday, October 16: Second presidential debate
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Location: Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Moderator: Candy Crowley, Chief Political Correspondent, CNN and Anchor,
CNN’s State of the Union
The debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the
candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond,
and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting
participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.
Monday, October 22: Third presidential debate
Topic: Foreign policy
Location: Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Moderator: Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News and Moderator,
Face the Nation
The debate will focus on foreign policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately
15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks
before the debate. The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each
candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in
the segment for a discussion of the topic.
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Handout 2
Debate Checklist
Before the Debate
Make your own checklist.
• It may focus upon issues (how much did the candidates seem to know?), style (how well did
the candidates communicate?), consistency (how well did the candidates match their ads?),
or other topics.
• Also consider things like: vocabulary choice, personal qualities, knowledge of current
events/world leaders, etc.
• What was a memorable moment or what will be in the headlines tomorrow?
After the Debate
Did the debate influence your attitudes about the issues or the candidates? If so, how?
Were there issues of interest not discussed during the debate? Discuss.
Were there issues raised that you considered irrelevant or unimportant? What were they?
What did you learn about the candidates or issues that you did not know before the debate?
Possible additional questions for the second, third or vice presidential debates:
What did you learn from this debate that you did not learn from the previous debate(s)?
How, if at all, did the press coverage of the previous debate(s) influence your attitudes about
the candidates or the issues in this debate?
What did you learn from the vice presidential debate that was different from the presidential
debate?
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Period:
Examples
Debate Score Sheet
Addresses issues
Support with facts
Persuasiveness
Arguments clear and
convincing
The moderator
Scoring
1 is low
5 is high
Date:
Candidate One: Name
Candidate Two: Name
_______________________
_____________________
Always addresses topic
Uses facts that
support topic
Organization
Handout 3 Debate Scoresheet
Selecting the Next President
Name:
Easy to follow
Asks good questions.
Makes sure rules are
enforced.
Your own criteria
What you are looking for?
Based on your ratings, which
candidate was most
effective? Why?
Other
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Handout 4
Scoring Debaters
Two methods for viewing a debate may be used together in one class or separately. To use both,
divide the class in half; one half uses the first scoring tool and the other uses the second. Student
self-selection may be good; this allows math-minded students to gravitate to the second choice.
Teachers may use a taped debate or assign debate watching for homework. Students will watch
and score based on a self-created checklist (or Handout 3-3) or on an A-R-E assessment (below).
Discuss findings as a class.
I.
Score candidates
Create your own debate score sheet. (Alternatively, use Handout 3-3)
List what you will watch for; examples may include:
public speaking skills
length of answers
confidence
respectful and polite
humor
looking like a leader “presidential”
reasoning
dressed for success
evidence
role of moderator
rebuttal
and more……….
most interesting question
II.
Score A-R-E – Assertion, Reasoning, Evidence
This strategy uses math! Listen to every question and keep score of the candidates’ responses.
Candidates get one point when they made an assertion, two points when they showed reasoning,
and three points when they supported with evidence. Give them an overall score - how many points
they received out of a possible number.
Example: here's how a student rated one of the 2008 primary debates, in alphabetical order:
• Biden: 12 responses, 100% assertions, 91.6% reasoning, 41.6% evidence, 2.583 average,
SCORE: 86.1%
• Clinton: 15 responses, 100% assertions, 80% reasoning, 46.6% evidence, 2.6 average,
SCORE: 86.6%
• Dodd: 12 responses, 100% assertions, 83.3% reasoning, 25% evidence, 2.416 average,
SCORE: 80.5%
• Edwards: 15 responses, 100% assertions, 73.3% reasoning, 46.6% evidence, 2.8 average,
SCORE: 93.3%
• Gravel: 10 responses, 100% assertions, 90% reasoning, 40% evidence, 2.6 average,
SCORE: 86.6%
• Kucinich: 10 responses, 100% assertions, 90% reasoning, 50% evidence, 2.8 average,
SCORE: 93.3%
• Obama: 20 responses, 100% assertions, 90% reasoning, 60% evidence, 2.7 average,
SCORE: 90%
• Richardson: 13 responses, 100% assertions, 84.6% reasoning, 53.8% evidence, 2.461 average,
SCORE: 82.05%.
This method does not yield a “winner;” it does provide information about how well candidates
support their points. For more information on using this strategy, see
http://teachingdebate.typepad.com/teaching_debate/2007/08/a-r-e-tracking-.html
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Backgrounder
Understanding Debates: A Viewer's Guide
Voters typically identify candidate debates as the most influential source of information
received during a campaign. Because of their importance, this guide describes
commonly used debate formats, questioning techniques, and guidelines for viewing a
debate. It is designed to be useful in viewing state and local debates as well as
presidential.
Debates use a variety of formats. Primary debates, featuring candidates from the
same party, and local debates traditionally are more freewheeling and incorporate a
wide range of formats because of multiple candidates. Since 1992, the general election
presidential debates have also featured multiple formats including a town hall meeting
with citizen questioners.
Most debates impose time limits on answers to ensure that all candidates have equal
opportunity to respond. Topics may focus on a wide range of issues or may be on a
particular theme such as education or the economy. General election presidential
debates usually divide the time between foreign and domestic topics.
Candidates may have an opening statement, or a moderator may introduce each
candidate and begin questioning immediately. In most debates candidates have
closing statements.
Questions guide the content of debates. There are three types of questions: initial;
follow-up; and cross-examination. Initial questions get the debate started by asking
candidates to explain or defend a position or compare it to an opponent's. Many initial
questions are hypotheticals in the form of, "What would you do if?" Follow-up questions
are directed at a candidate after an answer is given. Their purpose is to probe the
original response by asking for elaboration or clarification. Some follow-up questions are
on an unrelated topic. Follow-up questions may be asked immediately after an initial
response is given or after all candidates have answered the initial question. Crossexamination questions are questions that one candidate addresses to another. A
separate time can be set aside for cross-examination questions or they may be included
as follow-ups.
Questions may be posed to candidates from a variety of sources. A single
moderator, usually from the media, or a panel of media representatives or subject
experts are the most common questioners. Many debates, especially at the local level,
allow for questions from the audience at some point in the debate. The Richmond town
hall meeting in 1992 was the first general election presidential debate to involve citizen
questioners.
Adapted from 2012 Commission on Presidential Debates, www.debates.org
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Backgrounder
Polling Resources
Sources (just a few of them)
Gallup Organization, www.gallup.com/
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, www.people-press.org/
Polling Report, www.pollingreport.com/
IBOPE Inteligencia (acquired Zogby), http://www.ibopezogby.com/
About Polling
Definition: A survey, sometimes called a poll, is a study of what people think or believe
about a topic or question. Surveys are usually done by questionnaire, interview, or
observation. Public opinion polls are useful in tracing people's views on important social
issues. Polls are used to assess people's preferences in political races, and the results are
used to predict election results. Surveys are often employed in marketing and advertising
research to measure and predict consumer's reaction to products.
The key concept to bear in mind when analyzing poll data is that public opinion on a given
topic cannot be understood by using only a single poll question asked a single time. It is
necessary to measure opinion along several different dimensions, to review attitudes based
on a variety of different wordings, to verify findings on the basis of multiple askings, and to
pay attention to changes in opinion over time.
Vocabulary and more
A detailed glossary was developed by the Roper Center of Public Opinion Research of the University
of Connecticut. Learn terms and a great deal more about polling at
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/education/polling_fundamentals_glossary.html#.UCqY3USfvys
Questions to ask about polling
• How the choice of polling strategy affects the results?
• What can we learn from polls? What can’t we?
• Do polls influence voter decision-making?
• How much influence do polls have in campaign decisions?
• How can we identify “partisan” polls?
• What is the significance of “undecided”?
• What is the role of “exit” polls? How accurate are they?
• Is polling an exact or inexact art?
• What skills does it take to be a pollster?
When polls are wrong
Everyone has seen the photo: a gleeful Harry Truman displaying the newspaper headlined
“Dewey Defeats Truman.” For more on the “upset win,” according to the polls, of Harry
Truman over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 election, see
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/research/americanhistory/ap_trumandewey.php
In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Hilary Clinton’s unexpected win in New
Hampshire made headlines, for example “NY Senator Defies Polls, Edges Obama,”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010805009.html
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Backgrounder
Why Debates Matter
by Benjamin Knoll, Assistant Professor of Government
Centre College, Danville, KY, host of the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate
It is hard to separate the presidential campaign of 1960 from the image of a youthful, confident John
Kennedy debating a disheveled, perspiring Richard Nixon.
Gerald Ford’s debate claim that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe” surely didn’t help
matters in his unsuccessful bid for reelection in 1976.
Ronald Reagan masterfully used the debate format to his advantage, giving us such memorable
political phrases as “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” and “I am not going to
exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Once held, debates often become the focus of how the campaign is historically remembered.
Candidates don’t even have to say anything to make a memorable impression and affect the
campaign narrative. For example, do we even need to mention Al Gore’s annoying sighs and facial
expressions during the first 2000 debate?
There are good reasons that debates have become such an important part of the modern
presidential campaign. They are the only part of the campaign where the voters have a chance to
see the two (and occasionally three) candidates in the same place at the same time, answering the
same questions and responding to each other’s arguments in real-time. As a result, the three
presidential debates (and one vice presidential debate) are the most-viewed events of the entire
campaign. More than 50 million Americans watched the 2008 debates between Barack Obama and
John McCain. That’s more than one out of every five adult Americans.
So what effect do presidential debates have on the campaign and, most important, the final result of
the election? Political science research offers several insights.
First, through the questions that the moderators ask and the answers that the candidates give,
debates often can help determine which issues will be discussed and can set the tone for the last
month of a campaign. For example, in the third and final 2008 presidential debate, John McCain
said, “I would like to mention that a couple of days ago Senator Obama was out in Ohio, and he had
an encounter with a guy who’s a plumber; [his name] is Joe Wurzelbacher.”
Within 24 hours “Joe the Plumber” was a household name, a symbol of middle-class Americans
everywhere and the newest addition to the American political lexicon. As a result, Joe the Plumber
was a permanent rhetorical fixture during the last three weeks of the campaign, as both Obama and
McCain sought to convince Americans that their particular economic plan would be of most benefit
to “people like Joe.”
Second, debates are significant because they provide information to voters. Candidates are able to
share their backgrounds, qualifications, and policy views directly with the American people.
Research studies have shown that many voters pay attention. The results of one study suggest that
people were about 15 percent more likely to be able to answer specific questions about the policy
stands and personal characteristics of the candidates after watching the third presidential debate in
2004 between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
Of course, what we really want to know is the extent to which debates affect the ultimate outcome
of presidential elections. After all, the media often report on debates as if the fate of the election,
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and ultimately the entire planet Earth, depends on every particular phrase and gesture that the
candidates make during the 90 minutes of each of the four debates.
The traditional view among political scientists, however, is that votes are rather predictable. A
famous study published in 1960 showed that most people simply vote along party lines. Indeed, in
2008 more than 85 percent of Democrats voted for Senator Obama and virtually the same
proportion of Republicans voted for Senator McCain. It’s not surprising, then, that research studies
have also shown that many debate viewers are often strong partisans who are simply cheering for
their favored candidate, much the same as they would cheer for a favorite football team during the
Super Bowl. For these voters, the presidential candidates are simply “preaching to the choir” and
debates are rarely persuasive in terms of affecting their ultimate vote choice.
More recent studies, however, have begun to show a more nuanced view of the effect of debates
on voter opinions. A 2003 study, for example, showed that while many 2000 debate viewers were
indeed strong partisans who didn’t come close to changing their minds about whom to support,
there were three specific groups who were much more open to persuasion: 1) independent voters
(specifically “pure” independents who didn’t lean toward one party or the other), 2) mismatched
partisans (in other words, Republicans who were supporting Gore or Democrats who were
supporting Bush), and 3) undecided voters.
Collectively, studies have suggested that these three groups usually make up anywhere from 20 to
30 percent of the population a month before any given election—a substantial number.
A 2007 study suggested that political knowledge also makes a difference. Those who know a lot
about politics are fairly confident about their opinions and don’t often change their minds as a result
of watching debates. Those with low or moderate levels of political knowledge (more than threefifths of the population), however, are more likely to be open to persuasion from debate rhetoric
from the candidates and to update their opinions of the candidates as a result of watching
presidential debates. (So as not to overstate this effect, however, it should also be remembered that
even though those with lower levels of political knowledge are more open to persuasion from
political debates, they’re also ultimately less likely to turn out to vote than those with higher levels of
political knowledge.)
Now in terms of determining the ultimate outcome of the election, research has shown that
campaign events, including debates, definitely matter. But they matter within the context of other
more fundamental contextual factors like incumbency, international conflict, and prevailing
economic conditions. In other words, even the best debate performance in the world would likely
not save an incumbent president in the middle of an unpopular war and a deep economic
recession. Conversely, an incumbent president during a time of relative peace and prosperity would
very likely coast to reelection despite a weak debate showing.
So can we disentangle the effect of debates from the effect of these wider contextual forces? A
number of studies have attempted to do just that, isolating the independent effect of debates on the
final outcome of presidential elections, controlling for other factors such as incumbency, war, and
the economy. Collectively, these studies suggest that debate performance can indeed “move the
needle” on the final vote totals for the candidates by somewhere between 1 and 3 percent. While
this might not seem like much, it can be decisive in close elections.
Unless economic or international conditions substantially change between now and November, the
2012 election is shaping up to be one of the closest and most polarized in modern American
history. The final vote tally may very well result in a razor-thin margin of victory for either candidate.
In that case, what happens at Centre College this coming October may very well have important
and far-reaching consequences.
Source: /www.centre.edu/centrepiece/2012/spring/debates_matter.html
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