Two presidents debate has been announced – without the involvement of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) – placing the CPD in a rare and potentially dangerous vacuum.
Co-chairman of the Commission Frank Fahrenkopf, veteran 33 clash between the president and the vice president, it is not certain that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will pass the debate announced on June 27 on CNN and September 10 on ABC. CBS News has proposed a vice presidential debate which Kamala Harris has accepted. Trump, who does not yet have a running mate, has yet to welcome this debate.
“There’s a lot of things to work on,” Fahrenkopf told CBS News on this week’s episode of “The Takeout.” “There are many questions … that are not resolved to my knowledge. That could prevent this from happening.”
Fahrenkopf, who, outside of the Biden and Trump campaigns, is perhaps the most interested observer of the debate schedule and manipulation, noted several unresolved issues: drug tests (Trump said he would “prosecute” one of the Bidens); whether the candidate will sit at the table or stand behind the podiums; opening statement; length of response time / rebuttal; and commercial breaks (commission-sponsored debates are 90 minutes without interruption).
Wanting to share the history of the debate commission, Fahrenkopf said that disputes over issues like this almost destroyed debate before the commission was formed in 1987.
“This is why we were created,” Fahrenkopf said. “The history of two campaigns sitting down and arguing and arguing and arguing. Remember – we went 16 years without a debate. Small things can get in the way. I don’t know what is right here, but there are many things. .”
At televised first presidential debate took place in 1960 in the Chicago studio of CBS News station WBBM and was moderated by CBS News anchor Howard K. Smith, along with a panel that included journalists from ABC and NBC News. It’s a ratings sensation and the lore of the campaign is the GOP nominee and then-Vice President Richard Nixon losing ground to the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy.
After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, Lyndon Johnson refused to debate in 1964. Stung by the experience of 1960, Nixon refused to debate in 1968 and 1972. In 1976, President Gerald Ford, who replaced Nixon after his resignation, agreed to debate the Democratic candidate, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. The League of Women Voters supported the debates that year and through 1984 when, after two academic studies recommended a non-partisan commission to oversee the debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates was formed.
Fahrenkopf, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was an original founder, along with Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk.
Although it has now landed in a new and uncomfortable political wilderness, Fahrenkopf says the commission isn’t dead — at least not yet.
“Absolutely not,” Fahrenkopf said. “Now we are organizing, finishing the planning and so on. We have to wait for what happens. My brain tells us that we can have a future.
Fahrenkopf knows the commission is viewed as an anachronism and has absorbed criticism from Trump – who accuses the commission of bias against Republicans – and close advisers to Mr Biden who see the commission’s procedures as outmoded and fussy.
But Fahrenkopf deflected his harshest criticism of White House communications adviser Anita Dunn, when she told Politico’s Deep Dive podcast that Dunn “hated” the commission and was the reason Mr. Biden’s team was surrounding her to negotiate with the Trump campaign.
“Yeah, maybe I spoke a little harshly,” Fahrenkopf told CBS News. “They don’t like us. Let’s just say I’m a little strong.”
He admits the commission’s days may be numbered.
“Hopefully we’ll know in the next few weeks whether things are going to happen or not,” Fahrenkopf said.
Asked if the July 4 weekend could be the deadline for the commission to know whether it has a future in this election, Fahrenkopf said yes.
“If there is no commitment to the commission by the 4th of July, this probably will not happen.”
Confronting that reality in a way he never did before, Fahrenkopf said something would be lost if the debate went to individual TV networks with smaller audiences. Commission debates are usually conducted by all networks without commercial breaks or flashy promotional overlays and constant haggling over formats, moderators, locations and many other issues. This year, the cable and broadcast networks that host the debate, CNN and ABC, have offered to allow all networks to host the debate.
“I’ve been part of the tradition of how we elect people who lead our country as president and vice president,” Fahrenkopf said of the commission’s debate. “I’d hate to see this go away, too.”
Fahrenkopf was asked if he was looking forward to the debate that he had announced would end.
“No, that’s not true. I can’t say that.”
Fahrenkopf added, “If they succeed with these two debates that are being planned, if they are done right (and) they educate the American people, I will congratulate them. make sure there is a debate.”
However, he added, “If they crash and burn, we’ll stay there and hopefully fill the void.”
Executive Producer: Arden Farhi
Producers: Jamie Benson, Jacob Rosen, Sara Cook and Eleanor Watson
CBSN production: Eric Soussanin
Show email: TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.com
Twitter: @TakeoutPodcast
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Major Garrett
