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The "Turning Point"

Viewers' Reactions to the Second 1988 Presidential Debate

University of California, Riverside

Scholars and journalists have long disagreed about the importance of presidential debates for influencing election results and public opinion. This article considers viewers' reactions to the second debate between George Bush and Michael Dukakis in October 1988, which was widely hailed as a turning point in the 1988 presidential campaign. Two major conclusions are drawn in this article. First, this supposedly critical debate had no more effect on actual vote choices than debates studied previously. Second, while the debate did not satisfy needs for guidance and reinforcement, it did lead to a short-term increase in viewers' information levels. That effect, however, dissipated in the two weeks after the conclusion of the debate. These findings cast serious doubts about some of the benefits of televised presidential debates, even under these "favorable" conditions.

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