How have the debate topics changed? What can you expect tonight?

About six-in-ten decision makers in a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll say the economy is an “extremely important” issue for the election. Threats to American democracy, crime, racism, immigration and abortion round out the top six issues, with at least 40 percent of decision makers considering them “extremely important.” For each of the six topics, at least 1 in 5 decision makers does not trust any of the candidates.

CNN, the host of the first debate, has not revealed how many or what topics will be covered. Debates since 2012, led by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), have generally consisted of six major 15-minute parts, each covering a major topic. Each election year saw three debates between the final two candidates, except for 2020 when there were only two.

In both the 2008 and 2012 debates, the economy was mentioned more than a thousand times as the presidential candidates discussed solutions to the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020, there were only 350 mentions of the economy in the two Biden-Trump debates. Yet the economy remains voters’ top priority today, especially when it comes to inflation and the high cost of living.

Foreign policy has also been a major issue debated by presidential candidates since 2000. In a 2008 debate it peaked at around 500 mentions, but declined after 2012. There was considerable public interest in foreign policy after September 11, given the United States’ involvement in the war on terror in the Middle East. Today, both the Israel-Gaza war and the Russia-Ukraine war were in the top 10 of important issues for the Deciders.

Healthcare was central to the 2020 debates, as Covid-19 led to new questions about the healthcare system’s response to the pandemic. Since 2000, it has been the third most discussed topic among presidential candidates.

During the two 2020 debates, much time was spent on the issue of climate change. Biden pledged in both debates to rejoin the Paris Accords, which he promptly implemented shortly after his inauguration. Climate change was also a key topic in the 2008 Obama-McCain debates, when the candidates discussed similar issues such as global warming and energy.

Crime, a recurring topic of discussion in the presidential debates, was the fifth most mentioned issue, followed closely by immigration.

Debates over immigration, which 40 percent of decision makers ranked as extremely important, peaked during the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates but were noticeably less of a concern during the 2020 Biden-Trump showdown.

Abortion, which became a big problem after Dobbs vs. Jackson in 2022, was mentioned a few times in previous debates. In 2020, abortion was only briefly discussed during the September debate in the context of Amy Coney Barrett’s upcoming nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump said that during that debate Roe v. Wade was ‘not on the ballot’. Two years later, Barrett was a key voice in the election overturn Roo v.Wade. Now seventeen states have banned all or most abortions, with restrictions in the southern part of the country.

Racism, a major concern for today’s decision makers, has not historically been a major issue in the post-2000 debates, although the 2020 debates briefly addressed the Black Lives Matter protests. Historically, gun control has not been discussed extensively either, but the 2016 Trump-Clinton debates had a small part in it.

While threats to democracy are the second most important issue for today’s decision makers, it is a more recent addition to the mood given concerns about election interference and the aftermath of the January 6 uprising.

The 2016 Trump-Clinton debates marked the first time since 2000 that a debate moderator raised the issue of election interference and directly asked the candidates whether they would accept the election results. In the September 26 debate, both candidates said they would support the election results. A few weeks later, on October 19, Trump said he would keep voters “in suspense.”

Four years later, moderators in both 2020 debates asked Biden and Trump how they would ensure election security and reassure the public that there would be a legitimate winner. After the January 6 unrest, the same concerns remain for today’s decision makers.

The Post has obtained transcripts of presidential debates for the last two candidates since 2000 The Commission on Presidential Debates. The topics of analysis were determined by the categories identified by The Washington Post as “extremely important” to potential voters-Schar School Decider’s poll. Healthcare was added as a topic because of its relevance to American politics, despite not being a category of the poll. For each topic, The Post developed a list of keywords related to the category and counted how often each keyword appeared in the speeches.