Some of them want to debate because they think the debate will help them get elected. They are confident in their debating skills and welcome the chance to be seem and by millions on national TV.
Others are not so confident, but are afraid they will look cowardly and lose votes if they refuse to debate, so they make the most of the situation and try to draw up rules that will favor them or at least level the playing field.
Candidates typically need to meet certain polling and fundraising thresholds set by the debate hosts in order to get invited to participate in debates. They may also need to meet specific eligibility criteria, such as being officially recognized by a certain date or having sufficient ballot access.
Five percent of the national vote is required for a party to receive federal funding in the United States.
Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy. (Kennedy won the debates and the election. Nixon became president in 1968.)
The Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation.
There were four presidential debates in the election of 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. These were the presidential debates as well as the first nationally televised debates in US history.
The first televised presidential debate was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon on Septermber 26,1960.
The first televised debate between major presidential candidates occurred in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
There has been three presidential debates in the 2008 election.
Kennedy performed much better on television than Nixon
2000 Presidential Debates - 2000 was released on: USA:3 October 2000
each party nominated presidential and vice-presidential candidates
They start as grass roots movements They have no members elected to either house of Congress They are not invited to participate in Presidential debates with the 2 large parties