About - Blog - Comm 361 - Stories - ConnectMason - More

Janet Brown, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates spoke Thursday with students of George Mason University, Pace University, and the University of Denver about the evolution of presidential debates.

The interview was part of the distance learning series hosted by Steve Scully and broadcast on C-SPAN3 as well as streamed online. This interview series utilizes a broadband feed from C-SPAN's studios to digital classrooms to allow students to interact in real time with guests.

Scully, a senior executive producer and political editor at C-SPAN, used clips from memorable debates to guide a discussion about the significance of the debates to the campaign process.

Brown affirmed the importance of "electric moments" that can happen during debates -- from Ford's "first gaffe" where he claimed that Eastern Europe had not been dominated by the Soviet Union during his administration -- to the ringing question posed during Reagan's closing speech in 1980:

"Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Brown talked about the excitement of being present for a spontaneous exchange that is likely to resonate with the public long after the debate, such as the comment made by Lloyd Bentsen during the Bentsen-Quayle vice presidential debate,

"Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."

"Those of us at the production table are literally right behind the candidate's heads, and we're very close physically... you realize that that was a personal statement by Senator Benson that had caught the audience's attention and was going to be repeated over and over again."

Brown also discussed the importance of image to candidates during the debates. "The not-so-small things need to be right," she said. She described the debate in 1988 between George H. W. Bush and Micheal Dukakis, in which the shorter of the two candidates used a "pitcher's mound" so that they would appear closer to the same height on camera.

"These are high stakes events," she said.

Following her look back at the debates in 1960 and the 1980's, Brown responded to questions from students. She explained the Commission's criteria for selecting a moderator, someone:

• Who is closely following the campaign, candidates, and issues
• Who has done a lot of live, hard news television
• Who recognizes that the attention must be on the candidates, not the moderator

She also explained the difficulty involved in scheduling the debates.

Typically, the debates compete with baseball, football, religious holidays. The Commission has to find the day when the most people are likely to be able to watch. One year, Brown said, the debate had to compete with the summer Olympics.

"After an hour's lecture by 12 suits about the economics of the olympics, the person in charge looked over his half-glasses at me, and said to me in impeccable Long Island lockjaw, 'You know, Mrs. Brown, I don't think you understand. The Olympics only happen once every four years.' "

Concerning the style of the debates, Brown expressed a strong preference for choices that keep the attention on the candidates. A busy backdrop, or an "egg timer" approach to the question and answer format, she said, detract from the quality of the discussion.

She said that the future of the debates is difficult to predict, but in deciding what changes they might make in the format, they should focus on enriching the public conversation that comes out of the debate, as well as improving the debate itself.

"There is always an advantage in trying new things."

You can watch the video conference here.
Back to Stories.