Debate schedule: 1st Presidential Debate is NEXT WEEK, Wed Oct 3 at 9 Eastern

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Essential details:

October 3, 2012
Topic: Domestic policy
Moderator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHour on PBS)

October 11, 2012 (Vice Presidential Candidates)
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Moderator: Martha Raddatz (ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent)

October 16, 2012
Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent)

October 22, 2012
Topic: Foreign policy
Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)

All 4 debates are sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates and will air at 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Except for the Oct 11th VP debate, the participants will be President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

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From http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/

October 3, 2012
Topic: Domestic policy
Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colorado
Participants: President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Moderator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHour on PBS)

The debate will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.

October 11, 2012 (Vice Presidential)
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Location: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky (Tickets)
Participants: Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan
Moderator: Martha Raddatz (ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent)

The debate will cover both foreign and domestic topics and be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the question.

October 16, 2012
Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Location: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (Tickets)
Participants: President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent)

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond, and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

October 22, 2012
Topic: Foreign policy
Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida (Tickets)
Participants: President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)

The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate and will focus on foreign policy.

[WI_DEM]

1. If Obama can get thru the first debate (really the critical debate) with a solid and assured

job then I believe he will be unbeatable. This is Mitt's last chance and I'm hoping the pressure will make him crack.

(BTW, that second debate with undecided voters selected by Gallup--my guess is that undecided voters are not as undecided as they state. I'm sure a lot of them have bias and probably GOP bias).

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. Agreed. That debate will be limited to 4 topics: the economy,

which will be allotted 45 minutes, and three 15-minute segments on health care, the role of government, and governing. Of course this schedule from moderator Jim Lehrer came with a disclaimer, that the topics could change 'because of news developments.

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From http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/19/topics-for-first-presidential-debate-announced/

Topics for first presidential debate announced

Posted by CNN Political Unit September 19th, 2012

(CNN) - Half of the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will be focused on the economy, the debate's moderator announced Wednesday.

The first three of the October 3 debate's six segments will focus on the economy, moderator Jim Lehrer said in a statement provided by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The other three segments will focus on health care, the role of government, and governing, according to the release.

Each segment is to be a 15 minute portion of the 90 minute program.

The statement also acknowledged that the topics could change 'because of news developments.' ...

– CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger contributed to this report

[hlthe2b]

2. I don't know that I can watch the Candy Crowley debacle.

The rest will likely make SOME pretense of being unbiased, but I have little doubt she will try to play Frank Lutz with the Town Hall.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. I think you're right--Romney "ringers" may abound and Candy

may just amplify their talking points.

Also, I doubt she'd screen out irrelevant questions about birth certificates, death panels, Kenyan anticolonial ideology, etc.

[maxsolomon]

5. Romney's drinking word is "Bush"

You'll be as sober as a Mormon Bishop at the end of 90 minutes.

[bigdarryl]

6. I want to see if any of these SO-CALLED moderators bring up voter suppression

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. Whoop, there it is!

We all shouldn't hold our collective breath on that!!!