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2004 United States presidential debates

← 2000 September 30, 2004 October 8, 2004 October 13, 2004 2008 →

Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts

2004 United States vice presidential debate

October 5, 2004

Nominee Dick Cheney John Edwards Party Republican Democratic Home state Wyoming North Carolina

The2004 United States presidential debates were a series ofdebates held during the2004 presidential election.

TheCommission on Presidential Debates (CPD), abipartisan organization formed in 1987, organized four debates among the major party candidates, and sponsored three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. OnlyRepublican nomineeGeorge W. Bush andDemocratic nomineeJohn Kerry met the criteria for inclusion in the debates, and thus were the only two to appear in the debates sponsored by the CPD. The CPD-sponsored vice presidential debate took place between their respectivevice presidentialrunning mates,Dick Cheney andJohn Edwards.

An alternative was proposed by theCitizens' Debate Commission, but was not carried out. There were severalthird-party candidate debates also held independently from the CPD-sponsored debates. The debates were the latest in a series of presidential debates first held during the1960 presidential election and held every four years since the1976 election.

Post-debate polls generally suggested that the 2004 presidential debates were a positive factor for John Kerry's candidacy, as CNN/USA Today/Gallup immediate post-debate polls showed that Kerry clearly won the first and third debates in the eyes of the American television audience, and he tied with Bush in the second. In the follow-up polls taken days after the first two debates, Kerry's perceived positive performance in the debates increased, so that the public then saw Kerry, rather than Bush, as the winner of all three debates.^[1]

According to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the predetermined criteria for selecting candidates to participate in its 2004 presidential debates are based on evidence of eligibility as defined in Article Two of the United States Constitution), evidence ofballot access, and evidence of electoral support based on national publicopinion polls.

Participants must have appeared on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing theElectoral College majority needed to win the election. While several third-party candidates met the eligibility and ballot access criteria, none had the support of at least 15 percent of the national electorate based on the average of five selected national public opinionpolling organizations. The criteria also specified that invitations to the CPD's vice-presidential debate would be extended to the running mates of the candidates participating in the first presidential debate.

OnlyPresident George W. Bush andU.S. Senator John Kerry met the CPD selection criteria for any of the presidential debates. As a result, only Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards met the criteria for the vice presidential debate.

On October 1, 2004, theArizona Libertarian Party (AZLP) filed suit against the Commission on Presidential Debates andArizona State University in the Superior Court of Arizona forMaricopa County regarding the staging of the third presidential debate. They contested that the debate, to be held on the grounds of and partially funded by astate university, constituted an illegalin kindcampaign donation because it excludedMichael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate. (Only Bush, Kerry, and Badnarik had ballot access inArizona.) In the complaint the Arizona Libertarian Party alleged that ASU was "making a donation to two individual campaigns [Bush and Kerry] through the Commission on Presidential Debates as a conduit, in violation of theArizona Constitution's prohibition on making gifts or donations to individuals or corporations."

Superior Court Judge F. Pendleton Gaines III issued anorder to show cause for the president of ASU and for the director of the CPD to appear in court for a hearing on October 12, a day before the scheduled debate. Gaines denied arestraining order on the grounds oflaches and that there was a sufficientpublic purpose for the debate, but also ruled that the AZLP could continue to pursue damages for any violations to theirconstitutional rights.

The Arizona debate nonetheless proceeded on October 13.

On October 8, at the second debate atWashington University in St. Louis, Badnarik and another third-party nominee,Green candidateDavid Cobb, were arrested in acivil disobedience action after crossing a police line outside the debate venue to protest their exclusion from the debate. Badnarik said he was attempting to serve the order to show cause; both candidates were released after being ticketed fortrespassing and refusing a reasonable order from a policeman.^[2][3][4]

Amemorandum of understanding (MOU) between theBush 2004 campaign and theKerry 2004 campaign, covering in minute detail all aspects of the presidential candidate debates held between the two candidates was created. It was 32 pages long and dated September 20, 2004.

TheCitizens' Debate Commission (CDC) and others were instrumental in getting the campaigns to publish the MOU in advance of the debates. One of the commissioners of the CDC,George Farah, has written about the earlier debate MOUs in the 2004 tomeNo Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates.^[5]

Originally, the CPD specified that the first debate would be focused ondomestic policy and the third focused onforeign policy. Those terms were changed in an announcement by the CPD on September 24, after it had reviewed the terms of the MOU. The CPD agreed that foreign affairs andhomeland security would be the primary topic for the first debate and domestic andeconomic policy will be theprimary topic of the third debate. More broadly, it also agreed to make a "good faith effort" to accommodate the rest of the terms of the MOU.

The September 24 announcement, which was released in the format of a copy of a letter sent to the two campaigns, also noted CPD's pleasure at the willingness of the two campaigns to participate in the second, "town meeting"-style debate, yet was ambiguous about just what had been agreed to.

Originally, the CPD had announced that questions for the second debate would come from undecided voters selected by theGallup Organization from thestandard metropolitan statistical area surrounding the host city. This had been the policy followed for the1992,1996, and2000 debates. But the September 24 letter to the two candidates did not comment on this; instead, it noted that campaign representatives can discuss participant selection methodology with Dr.Frank Newport of Gallup in order to resolve any open issues. One such issue was that the MOU specified that half the questions be asked by "soft Kerry supporters" and half by "soft Bush supporters," though what was meant by those terms was not made clear.

For 2004, each debate lasted ninety minutes, included a live audience, had no opening statements, could have included follow-up questions from the moderator, and ended with closing statements of two minutes.

The first presidential debate between PresidentGeorge W. Bush and SenatorJohn Kerry, took place on Thursday, September 30, 2004, in theConvocation Center of theUniversity of Miami inCoral Gables,Florida.

The debate was moderated byJim Lehrer ofPBS'The NewsHour posed nine questions for each candidate.

• RealPlayer video stream of the debate from theBBC website
• Video and stream of the debate from theInternet Archive

62.5 million people tuned in to the debates, an increase of just over 35 percent from 2000.

A bulge in the back of Bush's suit jacket during this debate triggered rumors that he was "wired" with a radio receiver, presumably to receive instructions from his strategists.^[7] Contributing to the rumors was the perception that, at one point, Bush stated "Let me finish" in response to no apparent interruption and when he still had time on the clock, and some long pauses by Bush before he began answering a question. Others dismissed these accusations, saying that the "Let me finish" was a response to a gesture that Lehrer made, and the pauses were a result of Bush gathering his thoughts before responding.

White House officials initially claimed that the bulge was a "wrinkle in the fabric," and that Bush was not wearing abullet-proof vest, as many conjectured. Bush's tailor later said that the bulge was nothing more than a pucker along the jacket's back seam, according toThe Seattle Times. After the election, unidentified sources in theSecret Service toldThe Hill that Bush was wearing a bullet-proof vest and that campaign handlers had not admitted it earlier for security reasons.^[8]

In 2020,NBC News referred to the 2004 microphone earpiece allegations as a "conspiracy theory" and likened the allegations to unfounded right-wing claims thatHillary Clinton wore a microphone in a2016 debate, or thatJoe Biden wore an earpiece in a2020 debate.^[9]

During the debate John Kerry accused Bush of having failed to gain international support for the2003 invasion of Iraq, saying "... when we went in, there were three countries:Great Britain,Australia and the United States. That's not a grand coalition. We can do better." Bush, who had usedPoland earlier in the debate as an example of the international presence in Iraq, replied by saying "Well, actually, he forgot Poland. And now there's 30 nations involved, standing side by side with our American troops."^[10] Paraphrased as "You forgot Poland", the term became a popularcatchphrase among Bush detractors, who saw it as a humorously petty rebuttal of Kerry's original point.^{[citation needed]}

The only vice presidential debate between Vice PresidentDick Cheney and SenatorJohn Edwards took place on Tuesday, October 5, 2004, at the Veale Center atCase Western Reserve University inCleveland,Ohio. The debate attracted a large audience; 43.6 million people tuned in, nearly as many as had watched the presidential debates in2000.

The debate was moderated byGwen Ifill ofPBS, who posed a total of 20 questions to the candidates.

• RealPlayer video stream of the debate from the BBC website
• Video and stream of the debate from theInternet Archive

Though the debate largely focused on the2003 invasion of Iraq, theeconomy andgay marriage,^[11] media coverage focused on a few key exchanges between the two candidates.^[12] Cheney told Edwards, referring to his absenteeism, that "the first time I met you was tonight." Edwards pointedly referred to Cheney'slesbian daughterMary, asking whether Cheney was "...willing to talk about the fact that [Cheney and his wifeLynne] have a gay daughter?"^[13]

CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of 178 uncommitted debate-watchers. The sample was of voters who are either undecided about whom to vote for or who have a weak preference that could be changed. Of the group 41 percent said Edwards won the debate, 28 said Cheney won, and 31 percent thought it was a tie. Both uncommitted men and uncommitted women preferred Edwards.^[14] A separate poll of 1000 likely voters found that 43 percent believed Cheney won while 37 percent felt Edwards did better. Moreover, after the debate 47 percent said that Cheney was "very qualified" to assume the responsibilities of president (a seven percent rise), while only 25 percent said the same of Edwards (no change).^[15]

The second presidential debate between PresidentGeorge W. Bush and SenatorJohn Kerry took place on Friday, October 8, 2004, atWashington University inSt. Louis,Missouri.

The town hall style debate was moderated byCharles Gibson ofABC, which consisted of prospective voters reading questions preselected by Gibson to the candidates.

• RealPlayer video stream of the debate from the BBC website
• Video and stream of the debate from theInternet Archive

Bush attempted to deflect criticism of what was described as his scowling demeanor during the first debate, joking at one point about one of Kerry's remarks, "That answer almost made me want to scowl".^[16]

When asked about possible appointments to theSupreme Court, Bush replied he would not pick the type of judge who would support theDred Scott decision. Because that case dealt withslavery, abolished in the United States almost 150 years earlier, commentators such as Timothy Noah thought Bush's comment was aimed atanti-abortion voters who see "Dred Scott" as code forRoe v. Wade. Noah believed Bush was saying he would appoint Justices who opposed legal abortion.^[17]

The third and final presidential debate between PresidentGeorge W. Bush and SenatorJohn Kerry took place on Wednesday, October 13, 2004, in theGrady Gammage Memorial Auditorium atArizona State University inTempe,Arizona.^[18]

The debate was moderated byBob Schieffer ofCBS, who posed 20 total questions to the candidates.

• January 29 — FormerGreen Party presidential nomination candidate and independent vice-presidential candidatePeter Camejo debated Normon Solomon at theCrest Theatre in downtownSacramento, regarding what direction the Green Party should take in 2004. Camejo supportedRalph Nader, even as an independent candidate, and hoped that Nader could be persuaded to run with the Green Party. Solomon said that Nader should not run, and that the Greens should work to defeat George W. Bush. The debate was a benefit for listener-sponsoredKVMR.
• August 31 —Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) andDavid Cobb (Green) debated inNew York City.George W. Bush (Republican),John Kerry (Democrat), andRalph Nader (independent) were invited to debate, but none of them accepted. The debate was moderated by Rob Richie, executive director of theCenter for Voting and Democracy, and Walter Kane, a reporter for Channel 12 News.C-SPAN televised the debate on September 6.
• September 30 —Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) andDavid Cobb (Green) debated at 5 p.m. in Miami, across the street from the Bush-Kerry debate, which began at 9 p.m. Unlike Bush and Kerry, Badnarik and Cobb took unscripted questions from the audience and from correspondents. The event was carried live byPacifica Radio, and broadcast later by PBS Television.
• October 6 —Michael Badnarik (Libertarian),Walt Brown (Socialist),David Cobb (Green), andMichael Peroutka (Constitution) debated at 8 p.m. atCornell University in Ithaca, New York. The format of this event was similar to that of the September 30 debate: opening statements, questions from the audience, and closing statements. However, the debate was slightly shorter than the prior two third-party debates, at about 80 minutes total. Time was split between four candidates rather than two, and most of the questions came from Cornell undergraduate and graduate students.
• October 7 — Vice-Presidential debate conducted byDemocracy Now! featuringPat LaMarche (Green),Peter Camejo (IndependentRalph Nader's running mate), andRichard Campagna (Libertarian).
• October 7 —Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) andDavid Cobb (Green) at theUniversity of Texas at Austin at 11:30 a.m.
• October 15 —Walt Brown (Socialist),David Cobb (Green),Charles Jay (Personal Choice Party),Gary Nolan (radio host) standing in forMichael Badnarik (Libertarian), former presidential candidateDeirdre Griswold standing in for John Parker (Workers World Party), former presidential candidateJerry White^{[clarification needed]} standing in forBill Van Auken (Socialist Equality Party) atEast Tennessee State University. The debate was released on DVD.

• George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign
• John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign
• 2004 United States presidential election

• Commission on Presidential Debates
• Citizens' Debate Commission
• Open Debates
• The Appleseed Citizens' Task Force on Fair Debates
• C-SPAN page on presidential debates
• Copy of the 2004 MOU, inPDF format from theOpen Debates website
• List of documents from Open Debates website, with links to MOUs for the1988,1992, and1996 debates
• Factcheck:first debatesecond debatethird debate
• Debate on the state of elections betweenHoward Dean andRalph Nader, sponsored byJustice Talking

• United States presidential debates
• 2004 in American television
• 2004 United States presidential election
• University of Miami
• Arizona State University
• Case Western Reserve University
• Washington University in St. Louis

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