Guide to Hosting a DebateWatch

Hosting a DebateWatch is easy!

Before the Debate:

• Invite neighbors, colleagues, and friends to your upcoming DebateWatch at least a week or two in advance.
• Ask participants to arrive 20-30 minutes prior to the debate to get acquainted and discuss the evening's events.
• If participants do not know each other, consider making nametags.

Night of the Debate:

• Arrange the room so everyone can see the television easily. Supply pens and paper for notes if you wish.
• Once everyone is settled, have people introduce themselves.
• Turn the TV on until shortly before the debate begins but leave the volume off until it actually starts.

After the Debate:

• Turn the TV off when the debate ends – before the post-debate commentators start talking – and take a short break.
• If there are more than 12 in your group, break into smaller groups for discussions.
• Remind everyone that this is a shared discussion and that there are no right or wrong opinions.
• Follow the suggested questions below or raise your own. Encourage group members to also ask questions.
• After about an hour – or when the discussion naturally ends – give everyone a chance to make any last comments and then wrap up.

DebateWatch Discussion Questions

These questions were developed for the 2004 general election. Similar questions could be used for other DebateWatches.

General Questions:

• Why did you decide to participate in DebateWatch?
• What did you learn about the candidates or issues that you did not know prior to the debate?
• What topics or issues discussed in the debates were most useful or informative?
• Were there any issues raised that you considered irrelevant or unimportant?
• What issues would you like to see discussed in subsequent debates?

Questions About the DebateWatch Experience:

• Will participating in this DebateWatch discussion affect the way you read, watch or discuss the presidential election?
• Will participating in DebateWatch influence or change the way you vote in this election?
  

Possible additional questions for the second, third or vice presidential debates:

• What did you learn from this debate that you did not learn from the previous debate(s)?
• Did the town hall style debate prove to be more valuable than the traditional format?
• How, if at all, did the press coverage of the previous debate(s) influence your attitudes about the candidates or the issues in this debate?
• What did you learn from the vice presidential debate that was different from the presidential debate?

© 2004 Commission on Presidential Debates. All rights reserved.