… Political science tends to be skeptical of general election debates. The people who are most likely to tune into debates tend to be highly informed and already engaged in politics — and thus already likely to have formed an opinion. This has become especially true in recent years as partisanship has grown stronger.
Nevertheless, there is evidence that debates can still affect voters’ impressions of candidates, especially in primaries. It’s all about the context in which a debate is taking place. And we happen to be at a point in the 2020 cycle when debates tend to be most effective. CONT.
Julia Azari (Marquette), FiveThirtyEight