Sept. 30, 1999
By
Patrick Thornton
CyberCaucus 2000 News Service
Drake
University
DES MOINES, Iowa--Iowa established itself as a major political player in the 1976 presidential election by hosting the first-in-the-nation caucuses in both major parties that year. The Des Moines Register realized the significance of these events on a national scale and sponsored its first Register debates.
"The first debate was a learning process for all of us," Dennis Ryerson, now editor in chief of the paper, remembers. "We had some bumps in the road along the way, but we learned from our mistakes and have turned the debates into a huge success."
The Register debates for the 2000 presidential race will be held at the Iowa Public Television Studios next year on Jan. 15 for the Republicans and Jan. 8 for the Democrats. All of the contending candidates in both parties are scheduled to attend.
Because the IPT Studios can hold 250 people, they provide an "ideal setting for such a major event," Ryerson said. That group is made up of members of the invited candidates' campaign, various department heads at the Register, local and national media and selected members of the Register's Readers Advisory Board.
"We found that the IPT Studios could accommodate the huge amounts of media and their equipment best," Ryerson said. "There are always going to be people that complain because they couldn't get enough tickets, but our hands are tied. Eventually we would like to open the event up to the general public, but that won't be for a while."
The media are playing a larger role than ever in presidential elections. The voting public is flooded with expensive television commercials, 30-second radio spots and full-page newspaper ads proclaiming one candidate's qualifications over the rest. Ryerson said he feels events like The Register debates are just what the voting public needs to be able to cut through the glossy wrapping of a candidate and see what he or she really stands for. "Rarely do voters get a chance to see all of the candidates gathered together in one place answering pertinent questions," he said. "A debate or presidential forum provides an excellent opportunity for the voters to immediately compare and contrast the candidates. It is voter education in its best possible setting."
In a debate, the candidate does not have a chance to dictate the flow or the focus of the discussion. He or she must at least attempt to answer the question that is being asked, Ryerson pointed out.
In addition to voter education, Ryerson likes the national media exposure that the debates and the caucuses bring to Iowa. "The caucuses are one of the few times that the state of Iowa establishes itself as a leader on a national level," Ryerson said. "The Register realizes this, and we try to put our best foot forward."
But maybe the most significant thing the caucuses and the debates do is create interest, immediacy and relevance to the campaign. "Everyone benefits from the Register debates nationally and on down to Iowa," Ryerson said. "A buzz surrounds the campaign around election time, which leads to more awareness and a better voter turnout."
Sponsoring a presidential debate is a "helluva lot of work," Ryerson warned anyone who might be interested in undertaking a similar task. "In a lot of ways dealing with candidates and their campaigns is a lot like babysitting kindergartners; they can and will quibble over every possible detail." The debate must appear to be controlled but not scripted at the same time. It is a thin line to walk as the event draws closer. Ryerson said the paper is concerned with maintaining the credibility of the event and also providing a comfortable atmosphere for the candidates, the news media covering the event and the people in the audience.
One of the biggest tasks that faces Ryerson and his team is deciding on appropriate questions to ask the candidates. At the last debate, Ryerson met with members of the paper's Readers Advisory Board and editors to pour over the hundreds of suggestions he got from people all over the state. "We got some damn good questions that focused on the significant issues in the election," he said. "Everyone assumes that because Iowa is an agricultural state, people will only want to ask questions about farming, but we found that just wasn't true. The readers wanted to know about trade, education and foreign policy questions."
The presidential campaign has changed a lot from the first Register debate, most notably the media's coverage. Television is the most popular way for a candidate to sell himself or herself to the voting constituents, but Ryerson isn't ready to pronounce good, solid newspaper reporting as extinct. "Newspapers can penetrate into a campaign much deeper than television," he said. "Television is just image campaigns and mass market advertising. We can provide a written record of the issues, the candidates and what is really going on."
"A presidential election can be a confusing and sometimes
scary thing," Ryerson said. "We are trying to help people sort everything
out so they can participate in our country's democratic process, and if we bring
a little national exposure to Iowa along the way, well, so be it."