Presidential debates

Are presidential debates important?

are important:

it is the only time that the president can address the country unfiltered for 90 mins.

there is a very large viewing audience; swing voters may be watching and their minds can be made by things said within these debates.

key 'sound bites' are produced within these debates; these are phrases which a candidate may say that is the pinnacle to the election as they get repeated throughout the election campaign, they can make or break a candidate. for example in 1976 Ford "there…