Presidential Debates

Television has had a profound and wide-ranging effect on American politics because it plays a central part in the political process, particularly in shaping presidential debates, campaign and election. The impact of television, however, is not worthy of admiration or approval by the majority of American voters. Television has had a negative impact on presidential elections; it has caused its viewers to focus more on the candidates’ image and has diverted their attentions from the real issues of the political world. Television has manipulated the people’s views of their political leaders, prompting them to cast their votes based on the superficiality of the presidential candidates. Most devastating of all, as a result of its lust for …show more content…
Caught between the difficult choice of either “deliberately aiming for the lowest common denominator … or tackl[ing] the difficult subjects … knowing that they may lose much of the mass audience” (Source F), according to Ted Koppel, majority of television shows have opted for fixing “presidential debates” and showing only the best parts of the debate in order for the stations to enhance their popularity among the public. Their desperation to acquire for themselves the largest possible audience resulted in the media’s control over presidential candidates and ultimately the usurpation of political power from candidates for the station’s social and economic gain. These candidates are timed in their speech, they “can only answer questions [they are] asked” [Source F] and are not determiners of what they wish to address in their presidential debates. This is demonstrated in Bill Clinton’s debate where the mention of his underwear was compelled “by a member of the MTV generation” (Source B). It is quite incredulous that the president of the United States can be instructed to make mention of his underwear by an employee of a privately-owned business. This proceeds further to show that the media would go through extra lengths to maintain their popularity and mass audience among the population. Additionally, primarily by the …show more content…
Especially in the arena of presidential elections, the media 's influence has helped shape the development of American government. However, the media has become the greatest power in America, more powerful than the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, due to its ability to influence the opinions and reactions of the public. Since it is the direct link between the people and its government, it has the power to feed the public what it deems important and necessary, what would boost its publicity, leaving out the unimportant details in the process. Therefore, television produces nothing but “cotton candy” for the minds of the public. Furthermore, television emboldens a public-relations style of politicking- exploiting the presidential personality and image to create entertainment for its