View source for Presidential debates 2016

''See [[Presidential Debates]] for a fascinating history''.

Because term limits prevent the incumbent from running, the open seat has drawn a very large number of announced candidates for President in 2016.  In part the participation by candidates have validated the legitimacy of the debates and the participation in the debates have validated individual candidates.   The [[Republican National Committee]] organized a series of televised debates in partnership with various news organizations.  Because 2012 resulted in an uncomfortable number of candidates remaining in the contest for the nomination longer than the RNC felt desirable, the RNC adopted a policy to reduce the number of participants based on their standings in national polls.  The candidates who did not make the poll performance cut-off were allowed to participate in an "undercard" debate prior to the main dabate.  When [[Carly Fiorina]] did not have sufficient support in the polls to make the main debate, the protests over excluding the only female candidate resulted in her being included in the main debate.

Debates are very costly to produce and televise.  Sponsors, rather than the candidates campaigns, finance these costs.  As a result, the rules and format are decided by the sponsors rather than the candidates.

The '''presidential debates 2016''' are as follows: