Debate Etiquette

JILLIAN WILLIAMS | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 | OPINIONS

“Thank you, Vice President Pence,” interrupted moderator Susan Page, as Pence attempted to finish his points at the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7. During the debate, Page interrupted Vice President Pence five more times as he tried to respond to Senator Kamala Harris on the subject of the Obama Administration’s handling of humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller’s murder by ISIS. This is just one instance in which the debates this year included alarming acts of incivility from moderators and candidates alike, making them a point of controversy this election cycle. With aggression and disrespect from both parties, voters are left in shock by such poor conduct. While it may seem uncivil to interrupt a candidate’s answer, there is a need to follow the time limits of the debate, begging the question, what should ideal conduct during the debates look like?

The behavior of moderators was a hindrance to the success of debates this year. In both debates, moderators interrupted candidates in the middle of a point, sometimes mid-sentence, to inform them their time to respond was up. Similarly, they restricted how much time the candidates had to debate and to make a rebuttal to the other. While one of the jobs of the moderator is to ensure the debates fit within the allotted time, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) makes it clear in their guidelines that one of the factors in their moderator selections is “an understanding that the debate should focus maximum time and attention on the candidates and their views.” Thus, while the moderators should be conscious of the time, it is not their place to force candidates into set time limits and restrict their ability to make their points and their main focus should be ensuring that each candidate has an opportunity to voice their beliefs. 

This was especially evident in the vice presidential debate when moderator Susan Page consistently interrupted candidates after their allotted two minutes were up, not allowing them to finish their sentence. Although it was clear that the role of time keeper is important after the second presidential debate on Oct. 22, when moderator Kristen Welker was unable to keep the candidates within the time limits and the debate went quite a bit over the time limit, Page took this to an extreme.. While the candidates do share some of the responsibility to make sure their comments fit within the time allotted, their main task is to better inform voters on their views.

In the Carter-Reagan debate on Oct. 28, 1980, a much different atmosphere was seen. When candidate Ronald Reagan exceeded his time limit speaking on the question of United States autonomy in the government of other countries, moderator Howard Smith interceded politely, saying, “Governor, I’m sorry, I must interrupt. President Carter, you have a minute for rebuttal.” In stark contrast to the tone of moderators in more recent elections, Smith is an example of a moderator who was respectful in his management of the time and understood the importance of allowing candidates to voice their full points. Similarly, candidates Reagan and Carter were both civil to one another, with little need for continuous debate and rebuttal as they focused more on their own ideals rather than on the shortcomings of the other candidate as we have seen in more recent debates.

Another issue is the behavior of presidential and vice presidential candidates towards one another. Interactions by both parties during the debate often proved rude and disrespectful. In the first 2020 presidential debate on Sept. 29, during open discussion of the first section, President Donald Trump said to former Vice President Joe Biden on the subject of his party’s plans for healthcare, “They’re going to dominate you, Joe. You know that.” Not a minute later, as discussion continued on the subject, former Vice President Joe Biden remarked, “You’re not going to be able to shut him up.” This is only one of many altercations between the two that surpassed normal debate and discussion into disrespectfulness. 

It is clear these negative exchanges are a concern of the American people as well. This was made apparent by the last question asked during the vice presidential debate, which was written by eighth grade student Brecklin Brown from Springville Junior High in Springville, Utah, and asked how the citizens of America are to be civil to one another when their leaders are not respectful to each other themselves. She expresses the concern of the American people and future voters that, while they are in competition with one another, candidates in the election treat each other with excessive contempt.

The debates are an important part of the presidential elections, allowing candidates to express their views so voters can decide who their views most align with. In light of recent years’ debates, it is clear the behavior of both the candidates and the moderators during elections needs to be improved upon in the future, facilitating more civil interactions in order to prevent further division between parties and the American people.