Supporters and volunteers love them. But it’s difficult for political scientists to determine whether they even influence the outcome of elections, since no two campaigns or election cycles are alike.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney (L) and Democratic candidate, U.S. President Barack Obama (R) during the 2012 presidential debate in Denver on Oct. 3, moderated by Jim Lehrer.
Getty/Chip Somodevilla
Jim Lehrer moderated 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. His lessons on how to run a debate should be studied by today’s moderators, writes a former presidential speechwriter.
Twenty-two of the 24 Democratic 2020 presidential candidates.
Reuters
The number of candidates in presidential primaries has skyrocketed since the 2016 election. Divisions inside political parties and easy ways for candidates to raise money are among the reasons why.
Money in politics? Somebody’s got to pay for those signs.
AP/John Raoux
Is money the root of all evil in politics? It’s easy to see a correlation between winning and fundraising – money flows to likely winners and competitive races. But correlation is not causation.
‘Candidate’ has its roots in the word ‘candid’, to be frank. It’s hard not to believe that we’ve strayed a little from those noble aspirations.
Cesare Maccari/Wikimedia Commons