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Primary Debates and Forums
text revised slightly on August 18, 2013
The Republican presidential candidates engaged in 20
televised debates
(calendar). In addition
to these debates, there were many issue forums and
"cattle shows" where some or many candidates spoke to party,
ideological or interest groups (+).
more...
Televised Debates
(2008
| 2004(Dems)
| 2000)
May 5, 2011 - SCGOP/FOX
News Debate in Greenville, SC. transcript
| video
June 13,
2011 - Union
Leader/CNN/WMUR-TV Debate in Manchester, NH. transcript | video
Aug. 11, 2011 - RPI/FOX
News/Washington Examiner
Debate in Ames, IA. transcript
| video
Sept. 7, 2011 - Reagan
Presidential Foundation/Politico/NBC News Debate in Simi
Valley, CA. transcript
| video
Sept. 12, 2011 - CNN/Tea
Party
Express Debate in Tampa, FL. transcript
| video
Sept. 22, 2011 - RPOF/FOX
News/Google
Presidency 5 Debate in Orlando, FL. transcript
| video
Oct. 11, 2011 - Bloomberg/The
Washington
Post/WBIN
Debate in Hanover, NH. transcript
| video
Oct. 18, 2011 - Western
Republican Leadership Conference/CNN Debate in Las Vegas,
NV. transcript
| video
Nov. 9, 2011 - CNBC/Michigan
Republican
Party "Your Money, Your Vote: The Republican Presidential Debate"
in Rochester, MI. transcript | video
Nov. 12, 2011 - CBS News/National
Journal
Debate on National Security and Foreign Policy in Spartanburg,
SC. transcript
| video
Nov. 22, 2011 - CNN/Heritage
Foundation/AEI Debate on National Security and Foreign Policy in
Washington, DC. transcript
| video (b)
Dec. 10, 2011 - ABC News/Yahoo! Debate in Des Moines, IA. transcript | video
Dec. 15, 2011 - RPI/FOX
News
Debate in Sioux City, IA. transcript | video
2012
Jan. 7, 2012 - ABC News, Yahoo!
News,
WMUR-TV Republican Presidential Debate in
Manchester, NH.
Jan. 8, 2012 - NBC News, Facebook and
the New Hampshire Union Leader Debate in Concord, NH.
transcript | video
Jan. 16, 2012 - SCGOP/FOX News/Wall
Street Journal Debate in Myrtle Beach, SC. transcript
| video
Jan. 19, 2012 - SRLC/CNN
Town
Hall Debate in No. Charleston, SC. transcript
|
Jan. 23, 2012 - NBC News,
National Journal, St. Petersburg Times, Florida Council of 100 debate
in Tampa, FL.
Jan. 26, 2012 - CNN/RPOF Debate in
Jacksonville, FL. transcript
|
Feb. 22, 2011 - CNN/Arizona Republican Party Debate in Mesa, AZ. transcript |
Feb. 10-12, 2011 - CPAC
in Washington, DC.
March 7, 2011 - Iowa Faith
and
Freedom Coalition forum in Waukee, IA.
March 26, 2011 - Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines, IA.
April 29, 2011 - Americans
for
Prosperity Foundation's Presidential Summit in Manchester, NH.
June 3-4, 2011 - Faith
&
Freedom
Conference
and
Strategy
Briefing in Washington,
DC.
June 15-18, 2011 Republican
Leadership Conference and Reagan Centennial Celebration in New
Orleans, LA.
Aug. 13, 2011 - Iowa Straw
Poll in Ames, IA.
Sept. 5, 2011 - The Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia, SC.
Sept. 22-24, 2011 - Presidency
5
Straw
Poll in Orlando, FL.
Sept. 23, 2011 - CPAC FL in Orlando, FL.
Sept. 23-25, 2011 - Mackinac
Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island, MI.
Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2011 - Freedom Jamboree & Tea Party National Straw Poll Convention in Kansas City, KS.cancelled July 13
Oct. 7-8, 2011 -
2011 Midwest Leadership Conference in Bloomington, MN. +
Oct. 7-9, 2011 - Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.
Oct. 18-21, 2011 - Western
Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
Oct. 27, 2011 - College
Board/News Corp. "The Future of American Education: A Presidential
Primary Forum" in New York, NY.
Nov. 1, 2011 - National Association of Manufacturers forum on job creation and competitiveness in Pella, IA.
Nov. 3-5, 2011 - Americans
for
Prosperity
Foundation's
Defending
the
American
Dream
Summit in Washington, DC.
Nov. 19, 2011 - FAMiLY LEADER Thanksgiving Family Forum in Des Moines, IA.
Dec. 3, 2011 - FOX News’ Mike Huckabee Republican Presidential Forum in New York, NY.
Dec. 7, 2011 - Republican
Jewish
Coalition
2012
Presidential
Candidates
Forum in
Washington, DC.
Dec. 14, 2011 - Premiere of "The Gift of Life," a Citizens United Production,in Des Moines, IA.
2012
Jan. 14, 2012 - "Huckabee Forum: South Carolina Undecided" in
Charleston, SC.
Jan. 17, 2012 - South
Carolina Business and Industry Political Education
Committee/South Carolina Chamber of Commerce 2012 Republican
Presidential Primary Candidate Forum in Columbia, SC.
Jan. 18, 2012 - Personhood USA
Presidential Prolife Forum in Greenville, SC.
Jan. 25, 2012 - United States
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Univision "Meet the Candidates" forum
in Miami, FL.
Feb. 9-11, 2012 - CPAC in Washington, DC. >
March 3, 2012 - "Huckabee Special: Forum 3 - Jobs" in Wilmington, OH.
About
Primary Debates and Forums
Over the past three cycles, the first debates have been as early as
April 26 (2007) or as late as Oct. 22 (1999). This cycle, the
first debate was originally scheduled for May 2, 2011 at the Reagan
Library, but sponsors
moved it to September due to the lack of declared candidates. The
South Carolina Republican Party held a debate on May 5, 2011 in
Greenville, but only five candidates participated; the June 13, 2011
debate in New Hampshire carried much more weight. About twenty
debates have been announced, which is more than most candidates are
willing to participate in. (The RNC set up a committee
in March 2011 to make recommendations on primary debates; on April 1,
2011 it
proposed a series of six sanctioned debates to be held from August
through February; those events were to be held in conjunction with
fundraisers to help the party retire its debt. Nothing came of
this).
Not all of the proposed debates actually
occurred1.
As
in
past
cycles,
there have been
controversies
about
candidates
who are excluded. The sponsoring networks use various
combinations of poll results to determine who will appear on
stage. There is a bit of Catch 22 going on since some candidates
are not included in polls (1, 2, 3).
Former
Gov.
Gary
Johnson,
former
Gov.
Buddy
Roemer,
Rep.
Thaddeus
McCotter
and
activist
Fred
Karger
found
themselves
on
the
outside
looking
in
for
some
or
all
of
the
debates.
McCotter
did
not
make
a
single
televised debate
before
he
withdrew,
and
Roemer
and
Karger
have
yet
to
appear on stage. At the other end of the spectrum a frontrunning
candidate can to a limited extent determine which debates he or she
will participate in (+).
Being included on the stage does not guarantee a candidate equal footing. Looking at the statistics there appears to be a bias toward giving the frontrunners more questions and more time.2 CNN's Sam Feist notes that the network's moderators try to give the same number of questions to each of the candidates, but the time issue is more difficult in that the frontrunners are naturally a focus of the other candidates.
The formats of the
debates have tended to be fairly similar. Generally candidates
have one minute for responses and 30
seconds for follow ups and rebuttals. There is scant
room for direct exchanges between the candidates, although the approach
of the moderator can make a difference. A study by Eric
Ostermeier at Smart Politics found that FOX moderators spoke for 65
percent more time than those at CNN (the FOX ratio of candidate time to
moderator time was 2.76 minutes to 1 compared to 5.12 minutes to 1 for
CNN).3 Each of the debates thus
far this cycle has had a large studio audience.4
CNN
prefers
to
use
a
single
moderator
rather
than
a
panel
of
journalists.
In
addition
to
the
issue-oriented
questions,
some
of
the
early
debates
had
a
lighter
or
"getting
to
know
the
candidates"
question.
Individual debates rarely prove decisive, in the sense that one
candidate clearly outshines the others, but a series of strong
performances can boost a candidacy, while gaffes or sub-par
performances can undermine a hopeful's efforts. In particular,
former Speaker Newt Gingrich5 has
benefited from these events while Gov.
Rick Perry had a crippling performance in the Nov. 9, 2011 debate in
Michigan. Walter Shapiro,
covering his ninth presidential campaign, observed in The New Republic that "most
campaign debates are like old-time Chinese food—they seem filling while
the TV cameras are rolling, but two hours later most of the gotcha
moments and zingers fade into irrelevance."6
In addition to debates, where candidates share the stage, there are
also forums where candidates individually address a particular
issue. For example on Oct. 27, 2011 the College Board and News
Corp. held an education forum and on Nov. 1, 2011 the National
Association of Manufacturers held a forum on job creation and
competitiveness.
More broadly there are "cattle shows" where some
or many candidates deliver a version of their stump speech to party,
ideological or interest groups. Events such as CPAC (Feb. 10-12,
2011)
provide early organizing tests >. The biggest
event of the pre-primary period was likely the Republican Party of
Iowa Straw Poll in Ames on Aug. 13, 2011. (2007,
1999)
Although
the
Iowa
Straw
Poll
did
not
affect
the
selection
of
delegates,
total
spending
around
this
event
added
up
to
millions
of
dollars
and
the
event
did
knock
former
Gov.
Tim
Pawlenty
out
of
the
race.
Another
big
event
was
the
Republican
Party
of
Florida's
Presidency
V
event
with
straw
poll
held
in
Orlando
on
Sept.
22-24,
2011.
Notes:
1. Cancelled debates included:
-
ATR/Daily
Caller/Citizen
Outreach
Foundation
Debate
in
Las
Vegas,
NV,
scheduled
for
July
10,
2011, postponed
June
23.
- (NBC-Universal) Telemundo Debate
proposed for early
Dec. 2011 in Las Vegas, NV did not occur.
- Univision debate planned for Jan. 29, 2012 fell apart after
the candidates announced in early Oct. 2011 that they would boycott the
event due to what Republicans saw as unethical practices by the network
in covering Sen. Marco Rubio.
- Des Moines Register Debate in Johnston, IA, orig. scheduled for Jan. 12, 2012, rescheduled to Dec. 19, 2011, and canceled Nov. 16.
- Newsmax ION Television
2012 Presidential Debate, to be moderated by Donald Trump,
scheduled for Dec. 27, 2011 in Des Moines, IA. Trump withdrew on
Dec. 13, 2011.
- CNN/Georgia
Republican Party Debate scheduled for March 1, 2012 in Atlanta, GA;
canceled Feb. 16, 2012 after Romney and Paul declined to participate.
- Eve of Super Tuesday
- Reagan Presidential
Foundation/Politico/NBC
News
in Simi Valley, CA. This debate was never
finalized. When the Reagan Presidential Foundation made its
announcement its
August 2011, it stated that it wanted to hold the first debate and last
debate, pre-Super Tuesday. Soon afterwards it became clear
that California
would not be a part of Super Tuesday.
- Oregon Republican
Party-hosted debate scheduled for March 19, 2012 in Portland, OR;
canceled March 15, 2012 "because commitments were not received by all
the candidates."
-In March theTexas Republican
Party proposed a nationally
televised debate for May 2012. Gingrich, Paul and Santorum
committed to participate; Romney did not. The nomination was
effectively decided in April rendering the proposal moot.
Also note that dates of some debates changed
from what was initially announced, particularly following Florida's
move of its primary (announced Sept. 30) to Jan. 31 and
the subsequent shuffling of the primary calendar.
2. On his blog "Dawn
of
the
Weak" Wes Hemings of Austin, TX, provides a
useful analysis of candidate speaking time and other statistics
starting with the Politico debate. An analysis
by Matthew Humer, a student at the UNH Whittemore School of Business
and Economics, of the June 13 New Hampshire debate showed that Romney
received the most face time on camera, 12.90 minutes, followed by
Pawlenty (11.22), Gingrich (10.03), Bachmann (9.22), Santorum (9.03),
Paul (8.53) and Cain with the least time, 8.45 minutes. Humer's
coding scheme "counted screen time when less that the full group was on
screen; face must be visible, back and side shots did not count; did
not count speaking time, ony physical presence on screen." One
must also consider that for most of these debates the candidates
leading in the polls are positioned in the center podiums and those
trailing are at the outside podiums.
3. Eric Ostermeier. "CNN Gives Candidates the Most Rope While FOX Has the Tightest Leash at GOP Debates." Smart Politics [Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs], Feb. 24, 2012.
4. In 2008 and 2004 NPR and Iowa Public Radio
organized audio
only
debates; that will not happen this cycle. There was a
Twitter debate. TheTeaParty.net
First
Presidential
Debate
on
Twitter took place on July 20, 2011.
5. Gingrich is engaged in one-on-one "Lincoln-Douglas
style
debates" with several of the candidates.
6. Walter Shapiro. "Rick Perry's Ponzi Scheme Debate." The New Republic, Sept. 8,
2011. +
7. See also: Mark McKinnon. "Gone
Rogue:
Time
to
Reform
the
Presidential
Primary
Debates." Joan
Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Discussion
Paper Series #D-67, Jan. 2012. [PDF]