How have debate topics changed? What to expect tonight.
2024-06-19T13:10:06.029ZAmong the top issues for uncommitted and sporadic voters from battleground states who will likely pick the next president — or the “Deciders” — are economy and foreign policy, two topics that have dominated the U.S. presidential debates for nearly 25 years. Tonight’s debate between President Biden and former president Donald Trump provides an avenue for the candidates to appeal to Deciders on these key issues.About 6 in 10 Deciders in a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll say that the economy is an “extremely important” issue for the election. Threats to U.S. democracy, crime, racism, immigration and abortion round out the top six issues, each with at least 40 percent of Deciders considering it as “extremely important.” For each of the six topics, at least 1 in 5 Deciders do not trust either of the candidates.CNN, the host for the first debate, has not revealed how many or which topics will be covered. Debates since 2012, which were run by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), generally featured six major 15-minute segments that each covered an important issue. Each election year has featured three debates between the final two candidates, except for in 2020 when there were just two.In both the 2008 and 2012 debates, the economy was mentioned over 1,000 times as presidential candidates discussed solutions to the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020 there were only 350 mentions of the economy in the two Biden-Trump debates. Still, the economy remains top of mind for voters today, particularly regarding inflation and high cost of living.Foreign policy has also been a major topic debated by presidential candidates since 2000, spiking in a 2008 debate at about 500 mentions before dropping after 2012. There was a lot of public interest in foreign policy after 9/11 given the United States’ involvement in the War on Terror in the Middle East. Today, both the Israel-Gaza war and the Russia-Ukraine war appeared among the top 10 important issues for Deciders.Health care was central in the 2020 debates as covid-19 led to new questions about the health care system’s response to the pandemic. Since 2000, it’s been the third most-talked about topic by presidential candidates.The two 2020 debates spent a good amount of time looking at the issue of climate change. Biden promised in both debates to reenter the Paris Accords, which he promptly carried through on shortly after his inauguration. Climate change was also a main topic in the Obama-McCain debates of 2008 as candidates discussed similar issues of global warming and energy.Crime, a recurring subject of discussion in the presidential debates, was the fifth most-mentioned topic, followed closely by immigration.President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate on the campus of Belmont University on Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Debates surrounding immigration, which 40 percent of the Deciders marked as extremely important, spiked in the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates, but notably weren’t as big of a concern in Biden and Trump’s 2020 face off.Abortion, which became a large issue following Dobbs v. Jackson in 2022, was mentioned a couple of times in past debates. In 2020, abortion was only brought up briefly in the September debate in the context of Amy Coney Barrett’s impending appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.During that debate, Trump said that Roe v. Wade was “not on the ballot.” Two years later, Barrett was a key vote in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Now, 17 states have ban on all or most abortions, with restrictions across the southern part of the country.Racism, a strong concern to the Deciders of today, hasn’t historically been a major topic in the post-2000s debates, though the 2020 debates briefly covered Black Lives Matter protests. Gun control also hasn’t been historically talked about at-length, but the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates had a small portion on it.While threats to democracy is the second-most important issue for today’s Deciders, it’s a more recent addition to the ballot given worries of election interference and the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection.Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton answers a question from the audience during their presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 2016. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)The 2016 Trump-Clinton debates were the first time since 2000 that a debate moderator raised the question of election interference and directly asked candidates if they’d accept the election results. In the Sept. 26 debate, both candidates said they’d support the election outcomes. A few weeks later on Oct. 19, Trump said he’d keep voters “in suspense.”Four years later, moderators in both of the 2020 debates asked Biden and Trump how they would ensure election security and reassure the public that the
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Among the top issues for uncommitted and sporadic voters from battleground states who will likely pick the next president — or the “Deciders” — are economy and foreign policy, two topics that have dominated the U.S. presidential debates for nearly 25 years. Tonight’s debate between President Biden and former president Donald Trump provides an avenue for the candidates to appeal to Deciders on these key issues.
About 6 in 10 Deciders in a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll say that the economy is an “extremely important” issue for the election. Threats to U.S. democracy, crime, racism, immigration and abortion round out the top six issues, each with at least 40 percent of Deciders considering it as “extremely important.” For each of the six topics, at least 1 in 5 Deciders do not trust either of the candidates.
CNN, the host for the first debate, has not revealed how many or which topics will be covered. Debates since 2012, which were run by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), generally featured six major 15-minute segments that each covered an important issue. Each election year has featured three debates between the final two candidates, except for in 2020 when there were just two.
In both the 2008 and 2012 debates, the economy was mentioned over 1,000 times as presidential candidates discussed solutions to the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020 there were only 350 mentions of the economy in the two Biden-Trump debates. Still, the economy remains top of mind for voters today, particularly regarding inflation and high cost of living.
Foreign policy has also been a major topic debated by presidential candidates since 2000, spiking in a 2008 debate at about 500 mentions before dropping after 2012. There was a lot of public interest in foreign policy after 9/11 given the United States’ involvement in the War on Terror in the Middle East. Today, both the Israel-Gaza war and the Russia-Ukraine war appeared among the top 10 important issues for Deciders.
Health care was central in the 2020 debates as covid-19 led to new questions about the health care system’s response to the pandemic. Since 2000, it’s been the third most-talked about topic by presidential candidates.
The two 2020 debates spent a good amount of time looking at the issue of climate change. Biden promised in both debates to reenter the Paris Accords, which he promptly carried through on shortly after his inauguration. Climate change was also a main topic in the Obama-McCain debates of 2008 as candidates discussed similar issues of global warming and energy.
Crime, a recurring subject of discussion in the presidential debates, was the fifth most-mentioned topic, followed closely by immigration.
Debates surrounding immigration, which 40 percent of the Deciders marked as extremely important, spiked in the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates, but notably weren’t as big of a concern in Biden and Trump’s 2020 face off.
Abortion, which became a large issue following Dobbs v. Jackson in 2022, was mentioned a couple of times in past debates. In 2020, abortion was only brought up briefly in the September debate in the context of Amy Coney Barrett’s impending appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During that debate, Trump said that Roe v. Wade was “not on the ballot.” Two years later, Barrett was a key vote in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Now, 17 states have ban on all or most abortions, with restrictions across the southern part of the country.
Racism, a strong concern to the Deciders of today, hasn’t historically been a major topic in the post-2000s debates, though the 2020 debates briefly covered Black Lives Matter protests. Gun control also hasn’t been historically talked about at-length, but the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates had a small portion on it.
While threats to democracy is the second-most important issue for today’s Deciders, it’s a more recent addition to the ballot given worries of election interference and the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The 2016 Trump-Clinton debates were the first time since 2000 that a debate moderator raised the question of election interference and directly asked candidates if they’d accept the election results. In the Sept. 26 debate, both candidates said they’d support the election outcomes. A few weeks later on Oct. 19, Trump said he’d keep voters “in suspense.”
Four years later, moderators in both of the 2020 debates asked Biden and Trump how they would ensure election security and reassure the public that there would be a legitimate winner. Following the unrest of Jan. 6, those same concerns remain to the Deciders of today.
About this story
The Post obtained transcripts of presidential debates for the final two candidates since 2000 from The Commission on Presidential Debates. The topics of analysis were determined using the categories cited as “extremely important” for potential voters from The Washington Post-Schar School Decider’s poll. Health care was added as a topic given its relevance to U.S. politics, despite it not being a category of the poll. For each topic, The Post developed a list of keywords related to the category and counted how many times each keyword appeared in the speeches.
