I am pleased to introduce todays forum, a conversation on the emerging role of statewide debate commissions. The Ohio Association of broadcasters is the association of local radio and television stations here in ohio and we have been involved with the Ohio Debate Commission since its inception last year with many stages around the state during the debates organized by the Commission Last fall. Been anl debate has integral part of the american political process at all levels. ,nd yet, over the last decade debates between candidates seeking Political Office has declined. This is not for lack of effort as community and civic groups including the city club as well as television stations and other media organizations have organized the debates only to have candidates often incumbents turned down invitations, refusing to debate their opponents or desiring highly choreographed debates in front of their supporters. In 2006, the city club famously gubernatorial candidates after their refusal to participate in an unscripted debate. So toebate over debates speak has gained momentum. The proliferation of social media, cable news, and other Online Platforms have given candidates at to connect with communities. Comes tore, when it debates, there often is no agreedupon authority, no shared sense of what that of what the practices are, and no clear idea as to what debates should look like or strive to accomplish. All things we have seen in recent debates among democratic president ial candidates. In an effort to preserve political debates as part of our democratic process, several states have created debate commissions with the goal to convene highquality debates that play a substantive role in informing citizens about issues and candidates on the ballot. 2018, the Ohio Debate Commission was formed to earning indiana, utah, and washington as states with this type of statewide collaboration. How are they working . What should the future of debates look like . We have assembled a panel of National Experts to discuss these questions and guiding todays conversation is city. Lub ceo, dan he was the organizing force behind the ohio state commission. He was appointed ceo of the city club in 2013 after many years as volunteer, and moderator. A cleveland transplant, he is also an awardwinning journalist, a former High School Teacher and graduate of Uc Berkeley School of journalism. I now turn the forum over to you. Thank you. Dan thank you so much. Thank you all for joining us today. Ais is a conversation about foundational aspect of our democracy. I want to tell you who is on the panel. Next to me is dr. Elizabeth who is with the indiana debate commission. She is also a professor for two decades of american politics at the university of indiana. Her, also from the world of television is harry boomer. He is an anchor and reporter the anchorl 19, also of cw 43 focus, a local Public Affairs program. He is also the immediate past president of clevelands chapter of the National Association of black or less. Himrichard davis is next to and teaches Political Science and runs the office of Civic Engagement for Brigham Young university in utah. And john green, rounding out our panel, is currently he is everything political but currently he is the enron president at the university of akron because he did not have enough to do. He has been a pew Research Fellow and a go to source for commentary on all things political local journalists and National Journalists as well. Lees join me in welcoming our panel. Please join me in welcoming our panel [applause] i would like to throw this out for general discussion and hear from all of you on this. We are in the midst of a democratic primary. Somewhere between 20 and 30 candidates officially in the race. Somewhere around 20 candidates who get to be in the debates we are watching. And given what we what the first two rounds have shown with 10 candidates each, what is the state of the debate . Exciting thing is people do seem to care about debates. There seems to be some appetite for them. If we think about the first night of the first debate, 15 million tuned in with another 9 million online. Second night, 18 million. It was a drop off in the second debate but we still saw millions of people tune in to watch these things. I think we also see that we struggle to know what to do with 20 candidates or 10 candidates on stage. Balancing the need for Public Information with the ability to have so many candidates on stage simultaneously is difficult. I think the first debate showed us that people were frustrated with the cross chatter and sometimes it was hard to see the candidates. Debates, theund of moderators cut in so much so meaningful discussion between the candidates was also interrupted. There seems to be an need to figure out a better format. Dan what do the debates tell you about this data debates . I would first like to say that debates do matter. It is the movie version of the book that people do not read. Dan [laughter] it is our countrys way of saying here are the candidates that want to vy for your vote to represent you in this living, breathing democracy. And i do the air quotes with some trepidation, quite honestly. But i think they give us and people watching an opportunity who sayso believes or watch. And sometimes what they say and what they believe are not but atrily the same least it gives us their perception of what they want us to hear about what they believe and who they are. With as many people as we have seen in the last debates, it is difficult to give them a voice. Find important for us to every way we possibly can to make sure that everyone that wants to Say Something is hurt. And let the people decide. For theit is a forum people and if we can do that, find a comfortable way to do that and effective come i think america will be better off. Dan richard davis, these comments point to the fact that in terms of the state of debates, we dont know what format is best. These debates we have seen so far have been widely critiqued for being a mess. That is a technical term, by the way. That debates can get out of hand. When you have 10 or more candidates on the stage, it is any of themr really to be able to Say Something of substance for any length of time and that is the sort of thing that should give us pause when we talk about debates. We should talk about how we can arecture a debate so they meaningful to the candidates and the voters. I think what the debates we have seen so far have shown is that the debates that take place a year and a half before an election takes place may not be as meaningful because there is a process that has not happened yet. And it should happen. And also, what we have seen from this is Many Organizations have created and organized these debates and statewide debate thanssions are really more just media organizations. And perhaps what we need is to have an association of state debate commissions or an entity to organize primary debates so they are done differently. Not done just to increase an audience. Not done just to increase ratings for a particular broadcaster. Other purposes as well. They serve the voters and the candidates and the media as well. I am not sure what entity that is no one has stepped forward. Happens and the debates changed way for make that will help everyone. What does this tell us about them making a difference . The debates do matter in different ways but the biggest impact of debates for those that watch debates which is sometimes millions of voters and sometimes less is that they have a higher level of information about the candidate and the issues being debated. You have to remember that for a lot of voters, information comes from visual cues as well as spoken cues. There is an element of the which in these debates matters to a lot of people and influences opinions. Many voters say their preferred source of information is a debate. But we cannot ignore what comes after the debates. The News Coverage and the narrative that develops. That will affect many more people than those that actually watch the debate. How much do debates matter in terms of Election Outcomes . Unclear. Just because people get information does not mean they will be persuaded one way or another. Fact, partisans on both sides get different information so it is a draw. ,ut there is some evidence particularly in races where there is not a strong incumbent, that debates do matter, they matter to percent or three Percentage Points in the process. They can build momentum or stop momentum as we go through the primary process. , there is of course the interpretation about how people look or what they may have said or not said which plays into that factor as well. I really do think debates matter but we have to remember they are not the only factors that influence public opinion. Of the important things is that many people have strong partisan views. The primary debates may be particularly influential compared to general election debates. L in a highly polarized electorate, with close races, it could matter. And the idea that it is not just how it is not just what al gore and nick sim. Al gore sighing, which may have him against george bush. It can matter at the margins but it can also give a candidate more funding or media attention. Debates often times it will give a candidate and opportunity to get their soundbite on tv. They will get a message out so it will be played and people hear the same message over and over again. It is sort of like political theater where people will do what they feel will get the most bang for their buck because they dont have a lot of time to get deep into the weeds. And im not sure many people would want them to get into the weeds but they need to find a way to have an immediate impact. And because of that, they may end up truncating their message. It may not be the message they want to tell but given the state of debate and democracy, that may be their only choice. I think it would be important for us to find a way to give those truly dedicated to the proposition of wanting to represent the people, and opportunity to voice their opinions more freely and for a longer period of time so they could get more in depth about what they really mean so we can have a better sense of who they are and what they stand for. Examples ofll seen where a candidate is asked a question about education and they dont answer it but talk about health care. Is for them to get that message out on that. In the context of the debate, it is kind of strange. I have seen that happen too many times. Were one ofs, you the cofounders of the utah debate commission. I wanted to give you an opportunity to tell a little about that story because in this moment, it seems when we are talking about these nationally primary debates, it is an important reminder that they matter at every level. And the statewide debates may have more impact than the national debates. That is very true and that is why we formed at utah debate commission. To provide attention to those races that seem to be lost when you are talking about a president ial race. Our Gubernatorial Race happens in a president ial Election Year so it is easy for the president ial campaign to basically wipe away all of the interest in anything else. We felt we had to put that back on center stage. We have a governors race. Races. Senate we have congressional races. All of those are actually more important in the sense that these are the people that directly represent you. Glad to see the statewide debate commissions happen because what they are doing is putting into the limelight these races that, unfortunately in the nationalization of politics, will get lost. The commissions also change the balance of power between the people and the campaign. The general public does not truly understand, when they see a debate in a place that is not a state that has a debate commission, i dont think they truly understand how the debate came to be. Can you pull back the curtain . Candidates that refuse Live Audience debates is is it a debate at all often with extreme media and public pressure come it will go to individual stations and the incumbent will negotiate the terms of the debate. Or will specify all of the terms. And what we see is very weak iferators with no followup they dont answer the question. And little opportunity for a todidate the candidates question one another. And that is where debate commissions are key. The commission can post all of those gubernatorial and senate races and they set the standards. They set the rules of the debate. Take it or leave it. In the case of the indiana debate commission, everyone has decided they could not leave it because that is the debate that will be carried on all of these commercial networks as well as the public broadcasting systems. If you can get all of the media together to broadcast the debate, you take away the power from one station that wants to cover it to capitulate to whatever the strongest candidate, all often the incumbent, what they say. The other thing we know from a study by kim from political bush st from the spiny debate is that the can matter. People watching the debate on won, andht kerry had those that watched another station thought bush when they. I having it broadcast on a lot of different broadcasts and on , you get a more generalized sense and you dont have just one commentators controlling the narrative. Of the the plaintiff political process itself, one of the things that we learned through creating the Ohio Debate Commission was that there was a real service to campaigns in providing this because part of the reason they would stipulate all of those things and comment to tv stations with certain terms is they did not have faith that the debate would be high quality or fair. You are right. You have to realize that a Campaign Looks at a debate differently than voters or journalists. For a campaign, it is an opportunity to persuade people. Politics, they may prefer all things being equal rather than something biased in their favor but there is the danger that it could be biased against them. And and stood to to have an institution with wellestablished roles would make sure the messages get out to a broad population. That is very attractive. Whole lot of work they do not have to do. That is why i applaud these debate commissions, that institutionalizes debates so candidates will immediately think we have to go to the debate, how do we get ready . Rulesosed to what are the and who gets to invent them . , in utah, that was my fear particularly incumbents would say i dont want to be a part of it. They did decide they wanted to be a part of the debate because they perceived it was fair, neutral, outside of a party, he and therefore it would be fair to them to participate in. Is theyhe drawbacks began to turn down other debates and some people criticized us for basically monopolizing the debates. We dont want to do that. But it was good they were saying you, however, are an organization we do want to be a part of. Utah is the only one of these four efforts that have state funding. Yes. Congratulations. [laughter] can you talk about that . The big issue was will the state impose some sort of string that and that has not happened. Can it happen in the future . It is possible but then i think we have to reassess. So far they have not placed in strings and i think it is because we do more than just debates. We actually educate. We have an Education Program where we try to integrate the debates into high school curriculum. And universities are involved in our debates. They serve a purpose that the state wants to promote. I have a question for you. You have been involved with the debates but also covered them as a journalist. As a journalist, how do you see the debate process . In progress. I am not the mildmannered reporter from the daily planet. I as an individual that considers himself fairly well informed and involved whose tax dollars go to pay the salaries of the representatives, i want to see them talk to me and explain to me who they are and what they believe. Toont want the incumbent hide behind his or her income been and not speak to the people. Affront tot is an the democracy. If you cannot persuade me and give me your position come you should not be in office. You should not hide behind your title, your office, or your money. There is a mechanism that says come and let me hear what you had to say and if you dont show up, you dont show up. And if you do not show up coming you should not be voted for in my humble opinion. We should continue to impress upon candidates from those that are wellknown to those that are less wellknown, that it is important to have your voices heard. I am all about inclusion. And i think debates give people an opportunity to have their voices heard and sometimes, because they do not perform well the theatrics of television or radio, some people win on the radio but lose on tv. That shows the perception that people have based on what they see or hear. It is important for everyone that want to represent the people to be heard. That is where i come down. You just said you were all about inclusion. I have a broader question. When we are talking about statewide offices are congressional offices about third parties. Libertarian or green party candidates. Sometimes, they are depending on access to the debate to give oxygen to their campaign. And sometimes, thirdparty candidates are more serious than others. Nation, there have been thirdparty candidate that became the governor of minnesota, for example but it does not happen often. How do you feel about Third Party Candidates . Systemink the twoparty is not a very representative system. I think the voices shall be heard and let the people decide who they want to believe and who they want to follow. The thirdparty candidates may not often have the money or the name recognition but that should not preclude them from at least having their voice heard or their faces seemed and the message considered. , in america, the idea of democracy is that everyone counts. Everyone matte