In US's big presidential fields, who gets how much debate time?

Attention on 'top tier' candidates in this week's debates prompts calls for a more evenhanded format.

from the June 7, 2007 edition

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Goffstown, N.H. - The presidential debates televised this week from New Hampshire are generating, well, a lot of debate.

Specifically, the amount of time the camera and the microphone went to so-called "top tier" candidates, versus lesser time for lesser-known aspirants, is prompting calls for a more equal-opportunity format at this early stage in the 2008 campaign.

The complaints might be shrugged off merely as sour grapes by less-than-leading candidates in two very crowded fields – except that political analysts, voter-turnout advocates, and voters themselves seem inclined to take their side.

"The debates were reasonable, though a disproportionate share of the attention was on the top-tier candidates," says John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., who watched them on TV. "Initially, it's of value to always give a chance to all the candidates."

Many who attended the debates, jamming into a glammed-up hockey rink at Saint Anselm College here, already have a favorite horse in the race. But for millions of Americans who tuned in on CNN, the forums may well help to form their impressions of the candidates, and the amount of camera time a candidate gets can work to subtly shape notions of who's a contender and who's not, some analysts say.

True, the sheer size of the field, eight Democrats and 10 Republicans so far, makes it hard to find a format that is both fair to candidates and relevant for voters. This week's debates allowed most candidates the opportunity to give only a bare-bones explanation of their proposals or positions on issues – even though each debate ran, without commercial interruption, for two hours.

"A minute or 30 seconds on foreign policy is a parody of what it ought to be," says Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, who senses that viewers are feeling short-changed. "It's been more about the [CNN} anchors and reporters, and that's the problem."

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