There's no question that many factors contribute to voters' perceptions about debates and who wins and who loses.
Defining the terms of the debate generally dictates who's gonna' win it.
… adjudged not to him who had the truth on his side, but by the last word in the dispute.
If immigration is simply seen as a numbers game, nobody will ever win that debate. The question should be: what is it we want to achieve? What do we expect of those who are arriving? What is the basic deal?
Every candidate goes into every debate hoping that they can own a particular moment.
John Kerry says that he wants to debate President Bush once a month until the election. This could be a risky move for Senator Kerry. If Bush doesn't show up for the debates, John Kerry may end up debating an empty chair. And that could be pretty much a toss up as to which one has the better personality.
In a body [like Congress] where there are more than one hundred talking lawyers, you can make no calculation upon the termination of any debate.
When you look at that debate stage, Mitt Romney could have dominated it maybe.
Anything can go wrong in a debate, and Obama is not a perfect debater.
We debated long over the situation for it is a very difficult question and all of us recognize its difficulty.
John Kennedy won the first televised presidential debate among those watching it, while Richard Nixon won among those listening on the radio.
You can only have one aim per debate.
One of the most surreal moments in this election was after the third debate, when I heard a talking head say, Al Gore won on substance, on the issues. But you have to give the victory to Bush because he seems presidential.
See that's a goal that I think it's very good in the debate to find out who the person is.
He who writes the Resolved Clause, wins the debate.
To have diversity of opinion in the debate strengthens the outcome and you get a better result.
I want there to be an open and positive debate about the path the country will now take. Whatever the verdict of that debate I will respect it.
