US presidential interviews & debates: Effects on public attitudes and voting behavior

US presidential interviews, debates are an important part of the US presidential campaigns and is watched by people all over the world.

Presidential Debates

The debate usually consists of various segments, based on various topics, and provides opportunities for both the candidates to share their views about the topic. There’s a moderator overseeing the debate.

Watching these debates is great learning for students, as it helps to analyze campaign issues, understand formal debate procedures and elements of logic, and realize the importance of rhetoric and word choice in debates.

Looking at the video, Trump is at his aggressive best while Biden seems to be struggling against him, and the moderator had to intervene on several occasions as Trump would interrupt Biden time and again.

Trump is aggressive and decisive. During his tenure, he has taken a firm stand against China. No one had predicted the pandemic so not sure if he is to be blamed for that. But on things like the environment, Trump did go against the other world leaders, which I think was not correct. US is the biggest economy and also the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases so he should be doing more (he didn’t probably because of his personal business interests). The first impression of Biden – seems like a well-mannered but risk-averse person. Unfortunately, Biden doesn’t get the opportunity to talk about what they intend to bring to the table if he is elected.

You can find more information about the debates (date and time) on the Commission on Presidential Debates website, debates.org.

You may check out more YouTube videos to watch debates of earlier presidential candidates. For example:

Kennedy-Nixon first debate, 1960: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os

Reagan debates interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43EzCUtSwQ

Bush-Clinton debate, 1992: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE

Obama-Romney final debate, 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE

Clinton-Trump debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE

References

Talking the Vote: Why Presidential Candidates Hit the Talk Show Circuit

studymumbai

StudyMumbai.com is an educational resource for students, parents, and teachers, with special focus on Mumbai. Our staff includes educators with several years of experience. Our mission is to simplify learning and to provide free education. Read more about us.