Carlett Spike and Pete Vernon, Columbia Journalism Review: “This year’s first presidential debate focused more on personality than any other in US history—befitting a match-up featuring two of the least popular candidates ever. And if the next two debates shape up like the first, the debate season as a whole would set a new high-water mark for the proportion of debate questions involving personality traits. Moderator Lester Holt used the first debate to challenge Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to defend their character and assure the public they possess the qualities needed to sit in the Oval Office. Of Holt’s 13 questions to the candidates, five concerned personal characteristics. According to a CJR analysis of all 547 questions asked in presidential debates* since 1960, Monday’s showdown featured a far higher percentage of these type of questions than any other year…”