There have been five vice-presidential debates as well. Millions of American voters will tune in to these debates, for these presentations have become a traditional and expected part of American presidential politics. First, they provide the electorate with an understanding, however imperfect or incomplete, of how the candidates differ on key campaign issues. Second, the debates allow voters to judge the temperament, knowledge, communication skills, and personalities of the candidates. First, they probably do not change the minds of a substantial number of voters, as suggested by scholarly studies.
Debates reinforce existing candidate preferences for most voters.
However, in a close, dramatic election, even the shift of a few percentage points caused by debate performances could spell the difference between victory or defeat. Third, critics argue that these meetings are not true debates, in that neither candidate can directly question the other. True spontaneity is lost. First, a challenger hopes that he will demonstrate presidential qualities by doing exceptionally well when confronted by a presidential incumbent in the debates. He wants the incumbent to perform poorly.