A bit of history on the U.S. electoral process (which may prove unnecessary for our more historically-inclined readers): The first televised debate in America took place in Chicago in 1960. The two involved parties, Democratic candidate John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon, had both run tireless campaigns, and to this point, had remained incredibly close in the polls. The result of the election which was to take place that year was beyond the prowess of the era’s political prognosticators.

Ninety minutes, a cadre of queries, and innumerable beads of sweat later, Sen. Kennedy had risen above the stalemate. He would become the thirty-fifth president of the United States of America, a position he would serve until his assassination two years later.

Nobody was really ready for the effect the televised debate would have on the 1960 election – though Kennedy’s campaign staff was arguably more prepared than Nixon’s. This was evident from the first moment the cameras began to roll. Kennedy, dressed to the nines in a sharp blue suit, somewhat cosmetically enhanced, looking very presidential – Nixon, covered in gray fabric which was swallowed up by the backdrop, sporting a five o’ clock shadow and nursing a knee injury, and sweating, always sweating, as though he was nervous about the questions being posed to him, or perhaps nervous in the light of his miraculously tan opponent, or perhaps nervous that the lights above him would lose their riggings and plummet to the stage.

Political historians refer to this, and future televised debates of that year, as the Great Debates – largely because of their undeniable effect on the minds of TV-owning viewers, but also because they introduced an unprecedented visual element to the democratic process. A very different kind of debate has been waged since then on whether or not this was a good thing – after all, those who tuned in via radio to that first debate had thought that Nixon had won. Was Kennedy named champion of the Great Debates for his classy apparel and boyish good looks – and was that the new bellwether for the factors that make a great leader for our country?

Flash-forward, forty-eight years and twelve presidential elections. Do televised debates still play as important a role in our nation’s endorsement for a new Commander in Chief? After all, the broadcast medium isn’t exactly new, nor are the debates as one-sided as the fateful political discourse that took place in 1960. The answer to this question – at least in my home state of West Virginia, appears to be an overwhelming yes.

West Virginia has undergone a major affiliation shift since the 2004 election. Both Republicans and Democrats have witnessed a somewhat extreme drop in their registration numbers, while the ranks of independents have increased by more than 27,000. This middleward movement isn’t a trend exclusive to West Virginia – it seems the entire nation grows weary with straddling party lines. However, this non-affiliated force could play a somewhat unexpected role in West Virginia come Election Day.

At its very core, the debate process is meant to be geared for this burgeoning demographic. Ideally, it’s meant to facilitate the difficult decision that unaffiliated voters are faced with. Following the second presidential debate to happen this election season, the debates seem to be fulfilling this task with profound proficiency.

Most news outlets and post-debate polls agreed that Democratic candidate Barack Obama had won both the second debate and the allegiance of registered independents. While this may seem like a difficult claim to back up, West Virginia seems to be the pudding in which the proof is embedded – traditionally, the state has sided with John McCain in electoral polling, usually to the tune of four or five points. Shortly after the second debate, a poll held by the American Research Group showed that Sen. Obama was leading by a margin of eight points – moreover, the poll showed that a majority of his supporters were not Democrats or ship-jumping Republicans, but registered Independents.

While the ARG is apparently infamous for gleaning somewhat wacky results from their polls, a momentum shift in West Virginia’s support in this election is somewhat undeniable. Also undeniable is the thrall that televised debates still hold over our country – what other factor could explain this sea change? Sen. Obama’s recent radio appearance on Rocky n’ Rod’s Radio Ranch, a morning show on a local radio station? Were we perhaps swayed by his discussion with the show’s enthusiastic hosts about his daughters’ Halloween costumes, or his recently acquired expertise on our nation’s various ways of preparing baby back ribs?

With twenty-five days and one more debate standing between West Virginia and the presidential election, it should be interesting to see how even more political discourse (and, no doubt, more fervent campaigning) further affects the malleable minds of West Virginia’s unaffiliated voters.