The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) organizes, sponsors, oversees and produces Presidential and Vice Presidential debates during the national election cycle. This private, nonprofit group arose in 1987 to assume the role from the nonpartisan League of Women Voters. The Commission on Presidential Debates also conducts research, takes polls, and holds conferences to educate voters and empower them to make informed decisions about major candidates.

The Commission on Presidential Debates seeks to ensure that these debates are fair, informed, and reach a wide audience. While not a government agency, it must comply with the regulations of the Federal Election Commission that state there should be clear, consistent guidelines on national debates. Thus, the Commission on Presidential Debates has established a selection process to narrow the field of candidates to those realistically in the running. They've interpreted this to mean the invited candidate must be constitutionally eligible to be legally elected, will appear on enough states' ballots that he or she could win a majority of Electoral votes, and has garnered at least 15% of the popular vote in the months leading up to the election.

Other concerns of the Commission on Presidential Debates are finding appropriate locations to host the debates, appointing moderators who will ask questions reflecting the nation's concerns, and partnering with community organizations to sponsor the event. These are evolving goals as citizens' needs change. For instance, 2004 was the first year that the Commission on Presidential Debates selected more than one journalist moderator to pose questions, after people criticized the single-moderator format.

Many critics are hostile to the bipartisan leanings of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The organization was established when the Democratic and Republican parties took issue with the League of Women Voters, and is led by major Democrat and Republican organizers as its chairpersons. Also, the Commission on Presidential Debates's criteria for a "realistic" candidate eliminates strong third party candidates from participating in the debate, even when they have garnered more than 15% of popular support. The rules of the debates themselves, limited as they are from rebuttals, follow-up questions, or spontaneous audience questions, cause some to question the authenticity of the exchanges. Several groups of united voters have proposed changes to the Commission on Presidential Debates's criteria to encourage an open dialogue, unrehearsed candidate responses, and viable third party candidate participation.