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Debating over debates: Campaign tradition faces skepticism

FILE - The debate stage is set ahead of the start of the second and final presidential debate Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. With the fall campaign rapidly approaching, the time-honored tradition of debates as a forum for voters to evaluate candidates may be the latest casualty of the nation’s polarized political climate. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) FILE - Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker campaigns Sept. 7, 2021, in Emerson, Ga. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker are still working through the details of what a debate might look like, though they appear to be inching closer to a deal. (AP Photos/Bill Barrow, File) FILE - Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, July 26, 2022. Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker are still working through the details of what a debate might look like, though they appear to be inching closer to a deal. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs speaks to the media before dropping off her primary election ballot, July 21, 2022, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hobbs has declined a televised debate with Republican Kari Lake. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) FILE - Kari Lake, Republican candidate for Arizona governor, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Katie Hobbs has declined a televised debate with Lake. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) FILE - Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, speaks in Springfield, Pa., Sept. 8, 2022. Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman’s campaign said he will participate in a televised debate in October but gave no other details, including why he would agree to just one debate. Oz’s campaign immediately dubbed it a “secret debate,” with no details on when or where. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd, File) FILE - Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state's U.S. Senate seat, speaks during a rally in Erie, Pa., on Aug. 12, 2022. Under pressure from his Republican rival, Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman said this week he would participate in one debate before the November election. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)