Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Debates are Scheduled

The campaigns have announced a joint agreement on when and where the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates will occur.

"The Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns have agreed to hold three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate in September and October sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The campaigns have come to the earliest agreement on presidential debates reached in any general election in recent history. This announcement reflects the presidential campaigns' agreement on dates, locations, and the formats for the fall debates. Campaign-appointed debate negotiators House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said they were pleased to have reached an early agreement to provide the American people with the opportunity to see and hear the candidates debate the critical issues facing the country. The two campaigns have accepted sponsorship of the debates by the Commission on Presidential Debates, subject to the debates being conducted under the terms of their agreement."

There will be three Presidential debates, one Vice Presidential debate.

1. September 26 at University of Mississippi
Topic : Foreign Policy and National Security
Moderator: Jim Lehner
Staging: Podium debate

2. October 7 at Belmont University
Moderator: Tom Brokaw
Staging: Town Hall debate

3. October 15 at Hofstra University
Moderator: Bob Schieffer
Topic: Domestic and Economic Policy
Staging: Candidates seated at a table

Vice Presidential debate
1. October 2 at Washington University (St. Louis)
Moderator : Gwen Ifill
Staging: to be resolved after nominees chosen by candidates

Well, I'm happy to see Gwen Ifill will do the VP debate. She is an unabashed Obama supporter and it would not have been a pleasant debate to watch for those of us who are not.

All the other moderators are supporting Obama, of course, but they may be a little more balanced professionally. We can hope for that change.

4 comments:

Paul is a Hermit said...

Big day tomorrow, Karen. If you don't post, safe trip. I wish him the best.
Maybe when you get back the moderators will have changed. But to who?

Karen Townsend said...

Thanks, Paulie. So far, so good.

For moderators, Brit Hume is considered fair by left and right professional journalists. The others I have about zero respect for their professional objectivity.

Nikki said...

FINALLY! I am actually looking forward to the debates. The debates in the primary were sooooo long and over done. I think Obama knows McCain shines in debates and he is shaking...or probably not. I forgot who I was talking about. I am ready. thanks for the info. :)N

Rick Frea said...

I'm just nerdy enough to look forward to this.