Lexical, Emotional, and Thematic Patterns in Presidential Debates: Cases from Mexico, the United States, and Ecuador

This article presents a comparative analysis of recent presidential debates in Ecuador, Mexico and the United States, identifying lexical emotional and thematic patterns through natural language processing techniques. Five official debates held between 2024 and 2025 were analyzed using lexical diversity, emotional polarity and thematic network mapping. The results reveal strong personalization of discourse around candidates with greater lexical richness in the United States, repetition in Mexico and focused vocabulary in Ecuador. Emotions such as trust and anticipation were the most frequent emotions followed by fear indicating restrained mobilization strategies. Readability scores were notably low in all three countries, raising concerns about linguistic accessibility in public communication. Thematically Ecuador emphasized security and institutional challenges, Mexico focused on social programs and gender, while the United States highlighted foreign policy and executive leadership. The study shows that, although each country articulates different political priorities, debates function as a strategic platform combining leadership, emotional management, and thematic construction under the media logic that characterizes contemporary democracies.