Presidential debates: A grandiose spectacle set for so few
by David Atkins
In just a few months the Presidential debates will be upon us. I remember being a teenager and looking forward to Presidential debates as deeply consequential, pivotal events in our democracy. Now, of course, my view of the debates has been altered with the appropriate dose of cynicism.
But it’s not just that the debates are largely vapid exercises in personality and body language assessment combined with gotcha zingers and deliberate dodges. It’s also that they simply matter less and less than they used to.
I’ve been noting frequently of late how static the electorate has become, with a very small and shrinking set of undecided voters. The reality is that by the time the first debate takes place on October 3rd, 95% or so of Americans will already have made up their minds whom they will vote for.
Even the schedule of the debates makes a mockery of their relevance to a huge section of voters. By the time the third debate wraps up on October 22, an enormous number of voters will already have turned in their mail-in absentee ballot.
That’s not to say the debates can’t sway the election. They most certainly can. That’s bound to happen in a country so evenly divided that a victory with 53% of the popular is considered a landslide.
But it is remarkable that such a grandiose spectacle of democracy is being put on for the benefit of so few voters who may actually change their minds after witnessing it.
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