【单选题】

Debates among candidates are rare in most countries.But they have become a staple ofAmerican politics.Americans like debates because the candidates can be compared in an unscripted, live performance. History indicates that a bad performance, particularly a telling gaffe, can badly damage a candidate in the polls. The debates are a "key test" of the strength and abilities of the candidates.

The unforgettable debate quip that can deflate a candidacy is the worst nightmare of any presidential hopeful. "There you go again", Ronald Reagan’s memorable retort to President JimmyCarter, was a line that stuck with both viewers and commentators in the 1980 presidential campaign.Carter went on to lose the election, polls showed mostly because of the economy.ButCarter’s debate performance didn’t help.
The potential of debates to damage a vulnerable presidential hopeful is one reason why some candidates, particularly frontrunners, are reluctant to risk their chances in such an uncontrolled environment,But broadcast presidential debates, both in the primaries and in the general election, are now routine and expected by theAmerican people.
It was not always so. Face-to-face presidential debates began their broadcast history in 1948 when Republicans ThomasDewey and Harold Stassen faced each other in a radio debate during the Oregon Republican presidential primary. The first broadcast television debates between the two major party nominees were in 1960 when Senator John F. Kennedy faced Vice President Richard Nixon. The debates were considered crucial to Kennedy’s narrow victory. Interestingly,Americans who heard the debate on radio thought Nixon had won.But the far larger television audience applauded Kennedy’s performance, testimony to the importance—in the television age—of image as well as substance. The point isAmericans are concerned not just with a leader’s policies and ideology, but also with his character and temperament. In the contentious atmosphere of a debate, such personal attributes are easier for voters to judge than in pre-packaged campaign commercials or formal speeches.
Since 1987, the presidential debates have been organized by the bipartisan organization, theCommission on PresidentialDebatesCPD、. Its purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the two major parties. InElection 2000, the commission set a threshold for the participation of third party candidates in the debates. They must show they have the support—as evidenced in a number of opinion polls—of at least 15 percent of the population.
Whatever the quality of the debates inElection 2000, they are unlikely to equal the most famous political debates inAmerican history which occurred long before the invention of radio and television. In 1858, StephenDouglas debatedAbraham Lincoln for a U.S. Senate seat.Douglas, a pro-slaveryDemocrat, was the incumbent. Lincoln was anti-slavery. "HonestAbe," as he was endearingly called, lost the Senate race, but two years later was elected the first Republican president of the United States. The Lincoln-Douglas debates are still heralded for the quality of the discourse at a crucial time in the nation’s history.
In the Kennedy-Nixon debate, Nixon might have ______ than Kennedy.
A、more impressive policies
B．more support on TV
C．a nicer temperament
D．a more pleasant image