As the 2012 US presidential debate begins

Posted by admin American Politics, Headlines Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

As the first 2012 United States televised presidential debate holds today, Temitayo Famutimi examines how the encounter between the White House contenders will influence the election.

The first televised United States presidential debate took place in 1960 between John F. Kennedy of the Democratic Party and Richard Nixon of the Republican party.

Those who watched the debate at the time were of the opinion that Kennedy won the debate. At the end, the debate turned out to be decisive with the Republican candidate losing the election.

There was a long gap in debates until they resumed in 1976. In 1980, Ronald Reagan won a debate and the election with the question “Ask yourself, ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago?’”

This year, the Democratic incumbent, Barack Obama and the Republican former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, will slug it out at the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday(today) for their first of three televised debates.

The 90-minute debate in Denver will be the first opportunity Americans will have to see the two candidates side by side and compare their policies.

High expectations are already set for the two candidates with the debate having six topics, with three focusing on the economy. The other three topics will be based on health care, the role of government, and governing.

Foreign policy issues will be covered in the second and third debates, scheduled for October 16 in New York and October 22 in Florida.

Estimates for the number of viewers in America range from 50 million to 60 million, almost double the number who watched the party conventions.

With less than five weeks to go until the election, the high stake debate could be the last chance for Romney to reclaim momentum from Obama.

Recent public opinion polls indicate Obama has a significant lead over Romney in many of the so-called swing states expected to decide the November 6 election.

Romney is coming into the debate still trying to recover from a leaked video where he was secretly recorded at a private fundraiser telling wealthy donors that the “47 per cent” of Americans who do not pay taxes are “victims” who depend on the government for handouts and probably would never vote for him.

Obama, on the other hand, merely needs to avoid a catastrophic performance that could cause independent voters to reassess their support.

Both candidates are proven debaters, Romney has participated in more than 20 debates in the 2012 primaries and more than 15 during his unsuccessful run for the White House in 2008.

Also, Obama, the former law professor is known for soaring rhetorics and inspirational generalities in his speeches. He has participated in a number of debates including three during the general election in 2008. However, this will be his first as an incumbent, making it more challenging.

However, the body language of the candidates can have a bigger impact than their words.

Democratic Vice-President Albert Gore’s repeated sighs in a 2000 debate with George W. Bush during his presidential bid turned voters off. Also, George W. Bush drew negative attention in 2004 when he scowled while his Democratic opponent John Kerry spoke.

Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, looked at his watch in a 1992 debate, a move that many interpreted as impatient and aloof.

Obama and Romney would obviously want to avoid missteps like these.

Meanwhile, the two camps have tried to lower expectations for their respective candidates as they have resorted to talking up their opponent, thus making it easier to claim victory or explain a defeat after the debate.

Romney supporters talk up Obama’s oratorical skills, while the president’s campaign has been claiming that Romney has had a great deal of practice at debates during his nomination process.

Romney’s vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan while trying to lower the stakes for Romney’s debate performance said, “I don’t think any one event is going to make or break this campaign,”

Obama’s team said he was not focused on scoring points or coming up with diatribes to use against his rival.

“He (Obama) wants to speak directly to the families – the people who are on their couches at home, having snacks, drinking a beer, drinking soda, whatever it is, and tuning in for the first time – and that’s who he’s speaking directly to,” campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Arriving in Denver, Colorado for the debate on Monday, after several days of preparation in his home state of Massachusetts, Romney told cheering supporters the debate is about “something bigger” than whether he or the president could outdo each other.

“These debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward for America that we would choose,” Romney said.

Obama, America’s first black president, entered his re-election campaign amid a still-struggling economy.

But he has one big thing going for him: voters seem very much to like him personally, and many remain loyal to him even as they give him low marks for his handling of the economy.

The two vice presidential candidates, incumbent Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan of the Republican Party, would debate each other in Kentucky.

Apart from participating in the debate in Colorado,the candidates are fighting a heated battle for the state, whose significant Hispanic population could determine who wins the state.

Analysts are of the opinion that it is the first debate that usually has the most impact.

The Denver debate may be decisive. It will very likely shape the narrative of the race for days afterward and set expectations for the two sides heading into an October 11 matchup of the vice presidential candidates and the two Romney-Obama sessions that follow.-Punchwp_posts