Party nominee debates vs Presidential debates

Today is a beautiful day. Weather is good and there is no precipitation. However, on the polical front there are much precipitation. I recently watched the latest Democratic Party debates on PBS with host Tavis Smiley. This was a very interesting and unconvention debate. The first presidential debates that I saw occurred in 1988 with Michael Dukakis and George Bush. Understanding the difference between Presidential candidates debates and party nominee debates, there are still many similarities in the topics discussed, and unfortunately in many of the generic answers given. For obvious reasons these debates tend to be comprised of more people and different attitudes. First of all, although nominees disparage each others' beliefs and prior actions/votes, it is nowhere close to the level of attacks between candidates of different parties, I would equate this to sparring as opposed to actual fighting. However the level of malice is in no way unobserveable. Each nominee is focused on captivating the base of their party. To accomplish this goal, they must present certain views that they may not have championed in the past. During the presidential debates, the candidates need not woo their own political base, they are more interested in wavering participants of the electoral process (i.e. independents or persons losely associated with thier parties) or those who would normally not show up to the polling stations due to a lack of a mobilizing issue or disenfranchisement with the political system. I currently must leave this post to attend to family matters, but will finish thoughts shortly