The New Campaign Strategy: Don’t Debate

An empty debate stage in Cleveland, on Sept.

28, 2020, where a presidential debate was set to commence. —Saul Loeb—AFP via Getty Images On a tense debate stage in Georgia on Thursday, Democratic Sen.

Jon Ossoff branded his opponent a bigot: "You've hired half the Third Reich.” In Michigan, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed dismissed former Rep.

Mike Rogers as a yes-man for the Trump agenda who is “weak, cowardly, won’t stand up until his poll numbers drop.” And in Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson denounced Sen.

Susan Collins as a war profiteer: “Senator Collins and her husband are making money—more—off this war, and so are a whole bunch of other people.” The trio of Republicans in those marquee Senate races had their own rejoinders—attempting to paint Ossoff as a trust-fund kid, El-Sayed as having family ties to terrorist networks, and Jackson as being inconsistent on abortion rights.

But it was the Democrats’ jabs that were ricocheting across social media like the viral moments that they were intended to be.

It’s that dynamic that reveals why the Thursday night trifecta of high-profile debates was an anomaly this election season.

In dozens of races up and down the ballot, candidates are forgoing the hallowed tradition of facing their opponent in person to debate actual policy.

In more than half of the races for Governor and Senate, the two major-party candidates are not expected to participate in any debates before Election Day.

The trend holds even in races viewed as competitive.

The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates five races for Governor as true toss-ups.

Three—Georgia, Nevada, and Ohio—are not likely to hold a debate.

The same is true so far for two of the hardest-fought Senate races— Texas and Ohio .

Strategists explain the evolution as a response to how voters are consuming information.