By Jerameel Kevins Owuor Odhiambo
Worth Noting:
- More than a dozen election cycles passed without significant debates between candidates. Instead, presidential hopefuls responded to each other’s comments during speeches along the campaign trail. In 1948 Republicans Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen participated in a presidential primary debate broadcast by radio.
- During the debate, the men traded barbs over the legal status of the Communist Party of the United States. The League of Women voters in 1952 hosted the first televised presidential debate in U.S. history for a nationwide audience. Every major candidate from both parties attended, standing in stark contrast to today’s debates that include just the nominated candidate from each party.
On Monday, Kenyans were glued to their televisions to watch Nairobi Gubernatorial debate among six aspirants. The first bit of the show, four aspirants were interviewed who got fewer percentages in the opinion polls. In the second bit of the show two candidates who got more percentages in the opinion polls. The two were Nairobi Senator Honorable Johnson Sakaja who is vying via United Democratic Alliance Party and Jubilee Candidate for the gubernatorial seat Polycarp Igathe. The first interview of the four aspirants wasn’t compelling save for one Harman Grewal who at least put his best foot forward. The second interview between Sakaja and Igathe got me thinking on the role of these debates to the wider electorates. It is against this backdrop that this article is founded.
This is the second time that these debates have been organized. In the run to previous elections there were debates for Deputy President aspirants and Presidential aspirants. A lot can be observed from what happened in the previous debate. After all did that debate sway some voters? Lamentably, it didn’t. None the less let’s focus on what matters today.
Yesterday, the debate between Igathe and Sakaja just revealed that these debates serve no purpose after all. A huge chunk of time the two aspirants used to backbite each other and call each other names. I also did realize that the debates weren’t meant to persuade for the supporters and followers of each of the aspirants just supported their own and despised the other side. Let’s get it right, what is the origin of the aspirants debates and what was the purpose intended for the same.
Presidential debates in the United States were inspired by a famous Illinois senatorial debate in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and incumbent Stephen Douglas that was held without a moderator or panel. As Douglas campaigned around Illinois, Lincoln attended his opponent’s campaign speeches and heckled Douglas from the crowd. Lincoln’s antics drummed up sufficient attention, and finally he and Douglass met for a three-hour debate during which the men discussed slavery and various conspiracy theories. Douglas won the Senate seat, and Lincoln didn’t participate in any debates in 1860 during his run for president. Nevertheless, the men’s debate set a stage for the use of debates in future election cycles. The 2016 debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were likened by many historians to the Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858.
More than a dozen election cycles passed without significant debates between candidates. Instead, presidential hopefuls responded to each other’s comments during speeches along the campaign trail. In 1948 Republicans Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen participated in a presidential primary debate broadcast by radio. During the debate, the men traded barbs over the legal status of the Communist Party of the United States. The League of Women voters in 1952 hosted the first televised presidential debate in U.S. history for a nationwide audience. Every major candidate from both parties attended, standing in stark contrast to today’s debates that include just the nominated candidate from each party.
Democrat Adlai Stevenson challenged incumbent Republican President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, but the debate for that election didn’t include either of them. Surrogates former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and senior Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith debated on behalf of the Democrat and Republican, respectively. Despite two other presidential debates being aired on TV in 1952 and 1956, the debates between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon in 1960 are widely remembered as the first televised presidential debates. Because of this series, debating was eventually seen as the norm in campaigns and became an integral element to running for president. Despite the popularity of the Kennedy-Nixon debates, President Lyndon B. Johnson turned down requests to debate the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. In so doing, Johnson touched off a 16-year period of no presidential debate series being held. Following President Johnson’s lead, Richard Nixon turned down the debate stage in 1968. He defeated Hubert Humphrey, the incumbent Democratic vice president, in the election. He’d repeat the move of refusing the debate in 1972 as well.
President Nixon in 1970 overrode a bill that had repealed the equal-time rule of the Communications Act of 1934. The law mandated that national level candidates be granted equal exposure in the media. In his actions, Nixon ensured that candidates could hobble their opponents by turning down the opportunity to debate. President Richard Nixon refused to debate his political opponent again in 1972. The incumbent coasted into reelection, defeating Democratic U.S. Sen. George McGovern. The League of Women Voters (LWV) in 1975 scored the envied position of host for the 1976 presidential debates. The LWV hosted the event until 1984.
Gerald Ford ascended to the presidency after Richard Nixon’s vice president Spiro Agnew resigned amid the Watergate scandal, and then Nixon resigned after his impeachment. Ford pardoned Nixon, earning him mixed reviews among American voters. His time as president was filled with fumbles—literally—that included tripping down the steps of Air Force One in Austria and up those same steps in Michigan. He fed into his reputation at the 1976 debates. Democratic incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980 turned down the opportunity to debate with Republican nominee Ronald Reagan and Independent candidate John Anderson. The LWV went ahead with that debate without Carter.
A debate is not about policy. It is impossible to state a coherent policy on any complex matter in 90 seconds. Debates test one thing: the ability to quickly respond to questions of numbing complexity that are impossible to answer in the time available. They put a premium on being fast and clever but don’t say much about how smart a candidate is. Nor are they meant to, in part because being smart, in an academic sense, is not essential to be president — as many have demonstrated. At their best, debates test a candidate’s coolness under pressure and ability to articulate some thought at least vaguely connected to the question while convincing the viewers that he or she is both personable and serious.
The version of debates available in Kenya as of now is just a model of American system. It does benefit media owners on matter viewership and adverts. Unluckily, it doesn’t persuade the voters. The voters have already decided in fact huge chunks of them. Maybe just maybe the debates might help the undecided voters to decide on whom to vote. In 2017 one or many of the aspirants skipped the debates and they ended up being voted for. This means the debate serves no purpose in Kenya. Kenyan voters do decide the candidates they will vote for based on tribal affiliation or political parties. The miracles of debates in the western world and Americas are far-fetched in Kenya. The ongoing debates are a waste of time on matters choice but prudent to just watch the candidates converse on issues. I am yet to get one who was persuaded with debates. Kenyan voters do not value debates.
Jerameel Kevins Owuor Odhiambo is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus. He regularly comments on matters governance, policy, social issues, political issues and legal issues
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Adama Traoré set to join Deportivo de La Coruña as deal nears completion
- Premier League season stalls as court battle drags on
- Opposition unity pact faces its biggest test: Who will lead the charge against Ruto?
- Gachagua’s rigging claims: Are Kenyans listening or simply tired?
- The augmented professional: Why AI won’t take your job — but someone using it will
About the Author
