周三，美国总统拜登与前总统特朗普宣布，将在即将到来的6月与9月举行两场备受瞩目的总统竞选辩论。

二 |     Ohio residents this week began voting on a constitutional amendment whose fate will ultimately determine abortion access in the state.Voters are considering two ballot initiatives; ballots began being accepted on Wednesday and go through Election Day on Nov. 7.The two measures are: Issue 1, the amendment that if approved would add abortion rights to the state constitution; and Issue 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana.The proposed abortion amendment would establish an "individual right to one's own reproductive medical treatment including but not limited to abortion" and then creates legal protections for those individuals, among other guarantees like for contraception and fertility treatment.The marijuana measure, if passed, would make Ohio the 24th state to legalize cannabis and would allow adults 21 years and older to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of flower and 15 grams of extract.In August, Ohio voters resoundingly rejected a contentious, Republican-backed ballot measure that would have raised the threshold for future changes to the state constitution -- an effort that would have specifically made it more difficult for the abortion amendment to pass.When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its previous Roe v. Wade ruling, in 2022, the justices returned the question of abortion access to individual states. Since then, while some states have largely ceased abortion access, others have taken up ballot measures that put the question before voters. In those cases -- in both red and blue states so far -- voters have rejected the potential for abortion restrictions and bans or elected to expand access.On Sept. 27, the Ohio Supreme Court started hearing arguments about the state's six-week abortion ban, which was previously put on hold by a lower court.The success or failure of the abortion ballot measure could render that case moot, if state voters add abortion access to their constitution.Both sides have built up mobilization efforts over the past few weeks -- knocking on doors, canvassing and hosting rallies across the state."Whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, Issue 1 just goes too far," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said at a recent event at the Ohio GOP's headquarters.Ohio Democrats claimed last week to have been inching toward 100,000 doors knocked and more than 100,000 calls made in the time since their win in the August special election."We're not leaving anything behind as we work to protect women's rights to choose and prevent Ohio's extreme abortion ban from taking effect," Ohio Democratic Chairwoman Elizabeth Walters said during a recent press briefing.There's also been significant financial investment in the race. According to numbers from AdImpact released last week, $12.3 million had been spent or reserved in advertising around the abortion ballot measure, with anti-amendment groups outspending amendment supporters by about $1.6 million.

The two sides make their arguments

Both Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, a coalition of groups supporting abortion rights, and allied Ohio Democrats have sounded the alarm on what they claim to be foul play by opponents of the abortion amendment.Last month, the state Supreme Court allowed the Republican-controlled Ohio Ballot Board -- which is overseen by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is also running for the U.S. Senate -- to use amendment language that includes the phrase "unborn child."Democrats on the board had asked for measure's language to remain what was on the petition that voters originally signed, which did not include that term.Amendment supporters have argued it was rewritten to confuse voters and is misleading about what the measure would actually do."They're running scared because they know their extreme abortion ban is wildly unpopular, and Ohio voters support a woman's right to make medical decisions for themselves without interference from politicians," Walters, with the state Democrats, said during a recent press call.Abortion opponents have also attempted to broaden the stakes of the proposal, arguing that it "goes far beyond" codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade to potentially affect parents' rights and "threaten the freedom of conscience of Ohio's healthcare professionals and preclude ... the enactment and enforcement of commonsense, protective laws," as Protect Women Ohio, one of the leading organizations fighting against the amendment, wrote in a memo."The Abortion Amendment victimizes rather than protects and empowers women and girls," they continued.LaRose, a leading voice against the measure, said in a statement to ABC News that "as a father and someone who's always stood up to protect life, I'll be working to defeat this radical measure."。首场辩论定于6月27日，由CNN主办；次场辩论则定于9月10日，由ABC承办。这两场辩论的确定，为即将到来的总统竞选对峙奠定了重要基础，并预示着两位候选人在短短数周内就将首次正面交锋。

在民主党宣布退出由历史悠久的无党派委员会主办的秋季总统辩论后，双方迅速就辩论时间达成了一致。

三 | 拜登的竞选团队建议媒体直接组织辩论，与民主党和共和党候选人直接对话。第一场辩论安排在6月下旬，而第二场辩论则计划在9月提前投票开始前进行。特朗普在其真相社交网站上积极回应，表示他已准备好并愿意在拜登提议的时间辩论。

四 |

不久后，拜登接受了CNN的邀请，确认参加6月27日的辩论，并公开向特朗普发起挑战：“交给你了，唐纳德。正如你所说：随时随地。”特朗普也在《Truth Social》上确认了他的出席，并激动地写道：“让我们准备好隆隆作响吧！！！”

紧接着，双方又敲定了在ABC上的第二场辩论。

五 | 特朗普在《真相社会》上表示，接受此次辩论是他的“莫大荣幸”。拜登也随即回应，表示他已收到并接受了邀请，并幽默地表示：“特朗普说他会自己安排交通工具，那我也带上我的飞机。我计划再保留四年。”

然而，尽管在辩论的时间上达成了共识，但双方在如何组织辩论的关键问题上仍存在分歧。这包括主持人的选择、辩论规则的制定等——正是这些问题促使了1987年总统辩论委员会的成立。

拜登的竞选团队提议将包括小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪在内的第三方候选人彻底排除在辩论之外。根据辩论委员会的规则，如果肯尼迪或其他第三方候选人能够获得足够的选票以获取270张选举人票，并在一系列全国民意调查中获得15%或更高的支持率，他们将被允许参加辩论。

CNN方面表示，辩论将在亚特兰大的演播室举行，并且“不会有观众到场”。至于主持人的选择和其他细节，该公司表示将在稍后公布。如果肯尼迪或任何其他候选人满足了与辩论委员会类似的投票和准入要求，CNN将为他们的参与敞开大门。

就在周三早上，特朗普还表达了他希望有大量现场观众的愿望。他坚定地说：“我强烈建议举行两场以上的辩论，并且需要一个非常大的场地，尽管据说拜登害怕人群，那只是因为他不喜欢人群。”他进一步表示：“告诉我什么时候，我就到。”

特朗普一直积极推动更多的辩论和更早的辩论，他坚信选民应该在9月份提前投票开始之前看到两位候选人的直接对峙。他多次表示，他将“随时随地”与拜登辩论，甚至提议两人在曼哈顿法院外对峙，这恰好是他目前因封口费案而接受刑事审判的地方。此外，他还在一些集会上用空讲台来嘲笑拜登。

拜登的竞选团队长期以来对无党派辩论委员会持批评态度，他们认为该委员会在2020年的总统辩论中未能公正地执行规则。其中最引人关注的是，该委员会对特朗普及其随行人员未能严格执行新冠检测规则，这令拜登团队深感不满。因此，拜登团队与电视网络和一些共和党人进行了多轮会谈，共同探讨如何摆脱辩论委员会对总统辩论的垄断控制。

周三，拜登竞选团队主席珍·奥马利·狄龙向总统辩论委员会发出一封公开信，明确表达了对委员会所选秋季辩论日期的反对。她指出，这一日期安排与部分美国人的投票时间重叠，重复了特朗普竞选团队的抱怨。

六 | 同时，她对委员会在规则执行上的疏忽，以及坚持在现场观众面前举行辩论的决定表示了深深的失望。

狄龙在信中强调：“辩论的本质应是为了美国选民的利益，让他们能在电视或家中观看，而不是作为现场观众与喧闹或破坏性的党派和捐助者一起娱乐。我们呼吁回归1960年最初的电视辩论形式，即只有候选人和主持人的电视演播室，这是一种更好、更具成本效益的方式，能够真正聚焦选民的利益。

七 | ”

特朗普对辩论委员会的态度同样冷淡。他曾在2016年与希拉里·克林顿的首次辩论中因技术问题表达不满，并在2020年因共和党人感染新冠后取消与拜登的辩论而感到不安。因此，共和党全国委员会已明确表示，在2024年的总统竞选中将不再与该委员会合作。

八 |

面对外界的质疑和批评，辩论委员会周三并未立即作出回应。

特朗普竞选团队在5月1日发表声明，强烈反对委员会安排的辩论时间，认为辩论“在提前投票后开始”是“不可接受的”。

九 | 他们强调，选民应在投票前听取候选人的意见。

狄龙再次强调，辩论应该是候选人之间一对一的对决，让选民能够直接比较两位在选举团中具有获胜机会的候选人，而不是将时间浪费在那些没有成为总统前景的候选人身上。

肯尼迪在一份声明中直言不讳地指出，特朗普和拜登“联手将美国推入了一场70%的人表示不希望发生的正面对决”。他指责两位候选人试图将他排除在辩论之外，是因为他们担心自己会赢得选民的支持。

十 | 他强调：“将可行的候选人排除在辩论舞台之外，无疑是对民主制度的严重破坏。

十一 | ”

在辩论准备阶段，拜登和特朗普在社交媒体上展开了激烈的口水战。双方都声称自己在2020年的最后一次辩论中取得了胜利。

十二 | 拜登在X上发帖称：“唐纳德·特朗普在2020年输给了我两场辩论，从那之后他就再也没有勇气面对我。现在他却表现得好像很想再次与我辩论。好吧，那就让我开心点吧，朋友。”特朗普则回应称拜登是“我遇到过的最糟糕的辩手，他连两个句子都说不清楚！”

民主党总统拜登在上个月接受电台主持人霍华德·斯特恩采访时首次表示愿意与特朗普进行辩论，并告诉他：“我已经做好了准备，虽然我不知道具体的时间。但我很乐意与他进行一场公平的对决。”上周，他再次表示自己正在积极准备辩论，并在离开白宫活动时对记者说：“请尽快安排吧。

十三 | ”