“It’s always audio. Sometimes it’s light,” said Janet Brown, the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates talking about things that can go wrong in presidential debates.

            With 20 years experience at working to make presidential debates work smoothly and aesthetically, Brown is the person to talk to about presidential debates.

            On Valentines Day, Steve Scully, a senior executive producer and political editor at C-SPAN did just that, along with students from George Mason University, Pace University and University of Denver.

            The interview was broadcast on C-SPAN3 as a part of the distant learning series and was hosted by Scully.

            However, he was not the sole interviewer.  

            Students from all three Universities played their part by asking questions and interacting with Brown making it a highly interactive interview.

            The interview got underway and Scully began showing clips of previously televised debates. The clips guided the discussion with Brown which dealt with the importance of televised debates and their influential role in society.

            The first clip shown was the infamous landmark presidential debate of 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

            Being that this was the first televised debate it was credited by Brown as the debate that “set the stage for all future debates.”

            That debate led Brown to focus on the importance of image in such events.
She credited Nixon’s loss in the polls to his uncharismatic image and refusal to wear make-up, while crediting Kennedy’s success for his charisma and ability to create an appealing image with voters.

            To further solidify the importance of image Brown shared a fun fact about the 1988 debate between George H. W. Bush and Micheal Dukakis mentioning that Dukakis used a “pitcher’s mound” to appear to be of similar height as Bush.

            However image is not only limited to the candidates. The overall background and environment affects the debates too.

            “The overall presentation is designed to let people know who they should vote for at the end,” she said. One of the most important questions Brown asks herself is “are we gonna look presidential?”

            Brown then was asked questions by students. A student asked about the role of the moderator in the debates and the criteria used to select them.

            Brown explained that the moderators have to “moderate” the debate. They should not insert themselves or take attention away from the candidates. They should also ask fair and balanced questions as they are the ones giving material for the debaters to debate.

            She explained there are three things looked at by the Commission as criteria for selecting a moderator:

1. Someone who is closely following the campaign, candidates, and the issues
2. Someone who has done a lot of live, hard news television
3. Someone who recognizes that the attention must be on the candidates, not themselves.

            Lastly, Brown discussed the importance of getting it right the first time. Being that the televised debates are live “there are no do-overs. This is very high stakes TV.”

            And considering the affect presidential debates have on the voting population no one can argue against that.