Tuesday night's presidential debate between Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore and Republican Presidential candidate George Bush, while it may have preempted TV viewers' favorite sitcom, is a crucial part of educating voters about the candidates' views. Thirty-two million viewers watched the debate Tuesday night on ABC and CBS alone. These forms of media do very little to educate voters about where a candidate stands on a particular issue.
Debates give candidates a chance to respond to their opponents face to face.
Debates also give voters a way to hear where each candidate stands on an issue and a chance to see candidates in a nonpartisan setting without the pep-rally momentum of the national party conventions. Watching the debates on television may be the only chance voters have to see candidates articulate their platform, and get a feel for how each candidate conducts himself. Prior to Tuesday night's debates, many people expected the confident Gore to win over the nervous, occasionally stuttering Bush. However, Bush surprised viewers by holding his own against Gore, and according to some Gallup Polls, even gained some ground in his campaign. While presidential candidates often make fuzzy and ambiguous statements in their campaigns, debates force them to answer tough questions with clear answers.