When Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated in 1858, each was allowed one hour to answer a question, followed by an hour and a half rebuttal period. The debate itself lasted approximately three hours.
This is a far cry from 2004, in which Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and President Bush are given two minutes to answer a question and 30 seconds to form a rebuttal.
The increasing brevity of candidates' campaign messages has led some experts to believe that the shortening attention span of the American public, coupled with the distractions of televised debates, has led candidates to turn their messages into \sound bites"" and ""one-liners.""
""I think the format of the debate ... certainly reduces the ability of either candidate to develop an extended message,"" said UW-Madison communication arts Professor Stephen Lucas. ""There are certainly questions about whether the American electorate has sufficient attention to a five or ten minute consecutive address anyway.""
Jack Mitchell, a UW-Madison journalism professor, agreed, saying television audiences are not prepared for lengthy answers. He said viewers are accustomed to 30-second commercials and eight minutes of programming in between.
""So I think they're accustomed to dealing with small bites. It is designed for the mass audience on a mass media,"" he said.
Lucas added although the candidates likely take the channel-flippers into consideration, he said most want ""snappy one-liners"" regardless because they get replayed on newscasts.
Yet UW-Madison communication arts Lecturer Elana Levine said she questions whether the idea of sound bites is a product of the viewing audience as much as it is a product of the media's idea of what makes good television.
""In some ways they kind of don't give the public a chance to hear things that are a little more complicated or long-winded,"" she said.
Levine added this frustrates voters because they do not feel the candidates fully explain how they plan to implement the policies they discuss.
Although televised debates have always featured quick question-and-answer sessions, Levine said pressure for brevity has increased over time.
""I do think that there's a sense that people have shorter attention spans and you need to deliver your message more quickly and simply than in the past,"" she said.
