 President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office on Friday, September 28.  Republican U.S. presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a rally at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Pennsylvania on Friday.  Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks to journalists aboard his campaign plane about his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, September 28, with 39 days to go before the election.  Cadets listen to Romney speak at a campaign rally Friday at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania.  Romney addresses Friday's rally at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College.  Vice President Joe Biden hugs U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as he arrives for a campaign event Friday in Boca Raton, Florida. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is at right.  Romney speaks at a Veterans for Romney campaign event in Springfield, Virginia, on Thursday, September 27.  Supporters of President Barack Obama cheer at a campaign rally Thursday, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Veterans at the American Legion Post 176 pray before Romney speaks Thursday in Springfield.  People listen to Obama speak at the Farm Bureau Live arena in Virginia Beach on Thursday.  Obama delivers remarks Thursday in Virginia Beach.  Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday, September 26.  Romney speaks during a roundtable discussion on manufacturing at American Spring Wire in Bedford Heights, Ohio, on Wednesday.  Supporters wait to see Obama on Wednesday at Toledo Express Airport in Bowling Green, Ohio. Air For One aborted an initial landing attempt in Ohio due to weather conditions.  Obama addresses supporters at Bowling Green State University on Wednesday.  Romney delivers remarks during a campaign rally Wednesday at Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio.  Former President Bill Clinton introduces Obama during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York on Tuesday, September 25.  Supporters cheer during a Republican campaign rally Tuesday with Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio.  Ryan speaks Tuesday in Vandalia as Sen. Rand Paul, from left, Sen. Rob Portman and Romney listen.  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hugs a waitress as they wait for Ryan's arrival during a campaign stop at a restaurant in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood on Saturday, September 22.  Supporters cheer as they listen to Romney speak during a Juntos Con Romney Rally at the Darwin Fuchs Pavilion on Wednesday, September 19, in Miami.  Romney shakes hands with supporters during the Juntos Con Romney Rally in Miami on Wednesday.  Obama and David Letterman speak during a break in the taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, September 18, at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.  A crew member opens the door to Air Force One after the jet arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Tuesday.  From left to right: Romney, his wife Ann, and son Tagg watch one of Tagg's sons play soccer in Belmont, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 15.  Ryan arrives onstage to address the Family Research Council Action Values Voter Summit on Friday, September 14.  Supporters wait for Romney to speak at a campaign rally at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, on Friday, September 14.  Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday, September 13. Obama returned to Washington after a two-day campaign trip with events in Nevada and Colorado.  Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia, on Thursday.  An Obama supporter attends a rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday, September 12. Obama focused on economic policies during his two days of campaigning in Nevada and Colorado.  Former President Bill Clinton speaks in support of Obama during a campaign stop in Miami on Tuesday, September 11.  Obama is lifted up by Scott Van Duzer, owner of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant, during a visit to the restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Sunday, September 9. Obama was on a two-day bus tour across the state.  President Obama greets supporters during a campaign stop at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.  Mitt Romney walks through the garage area during a rain delay before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, September 8, in Richmond, Virginia.  Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, waves to the crowd before speaking at a rally in Leesburg, Virginia, on Friday, September 7.  Supporters try to stay dry in between rain showers while waiting for President Obama to speak at the University of Iowa on Friday. It was Obama's first day of campaigning after accepting the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.  A girl listens to President Obama speak at the University of Iowa on Friday.  Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama, President Obama and Biden's wife, Jill, wave after Friday's campaign event at the University of Iowa.                                      
(CNN) -- Presidential candidate debates rarely, if ever, change an election's outcome, but they tend to be good for voters, a specialist in political campaign communication told CNN Sunday. "People tend to look for little moments that encapsulate the whole campaign," said Bill Benoit, a professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University in Athens. He cited the 1992 debate between Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, in which the latter's glance at his watch was interpreted by some observers as revealing impatience and aloofness. "The idea that, when President Bush looked at his watch, that that was more important than months of campaigns in multi-media and more important than anything that anyone actually said in the debates, that just doesn't sound realistic to me," he told CNN in a telephone interview. Benoit also rejected some political pundits' accepted wisdom that Richard Nixon's 6 o'clock shadow was responsible for voters giving him worse marks in the 1960 televised debate against John F. Kennedy than did those who heard the debate only on radio. "The evidence for that is really bad," Benoit said, noting that neither audience was randomly sampled. But debates do matter, he said. "One reason that they matter is that they are almost the only message that millions and millions of people see. In some states, they don't run any ads. The one thing that the most people see is the debates. They have that message in common, even though they read different newspapers and watch different television." There is plenty of evidence that people learn about the candidates' issue positions and form or change their views of candidates' character by watching debates, he said. "They can reinforce the attitudes of people who already favor a candidate, and that matters because now, in the general campaign, candidates have to raise money." That's because, in 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama rejected federal financing for his general-election campaign and GOP candidate Mitt Romney has followed suit. In addition, those viewers who form a stronger opinion about the candidates are more likely to vote, he said. Still, it's unusual for an election's outcome to be changed by debates, he said. "Candidates rarely win or lose from ... the debates, but voters always win."   |
9/30/2012
Why debates are good for voters
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