Video Beat USA - US Presidential Debates TV Schedule and Issues

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Each debate will be broadcast on the major broadcast networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. They will also be aired on cable news channels such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN. All four debates will begin at 9pm ET, 6pm PT and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the CPD’s participation rules for third-party candidate participation. Third-party candidates will be included if they poll 15% or above in at least 5 national polls.

Thursday September 25, 2008

US Presidential Debates

It's no wonder the world question the intelligence of US politicians. The remark made by presidential candidate Barack Obama regarding putting lipstick on a pig comes down to a matter of interpretation. The John McClain campaign took a lot of time translating the statement as being derogatory remark about the Republican's Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. In the world of to some a glass is half EMPTY and to others HALF FULL our analysis is that Palin is the lipstick on the Republican Party pig.

On the surface the presidential choices represent more war or perhaps a chance of getting out of a war that the US shouldn't be in. Did someone mention Vietnam? But now there's a new twist to the presidential race story. Recent events disclosed the crash and burning of the US Economy which is another obstacle that needs to be addressed by the next administration. With the present government proposing a 700 billion dollar bailout of the failing US Economy which is to be paid for by the US taxpayer talk of lowering taxes is another matter that needs to be addressed.

All of these issues and questions were to be in answered in the presidential race debates scheduled to be televised on several networks. John McClain now wants to postpone the debate and return to Washington to deal with the AIG bailout issue that is intended to save the US economy. Obama prefers to go on with the debates. Should the debates go on as planned the following is the TV schedule in the USA for and the issues that were planned to be discussed.

All four debates will begin at 9pm ET, 6pm PT USA time and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the CPD’s participation rules for third-party candidate participation. Third-party candidates will be included if they poll 15% or above in at least 5 national polls. Each debate will be broadcast on the major broadcast networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. They will also be aired on cable news channels such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN.

Here is a break down of what each debate was to consist of:

1. First Presidential Debate: Date: September 26 – Site: University of Mississippi – Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security – Moderator: Jim Lehrer – Staging: Podium debate – Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

2. Vice Presidential Debate Date: October 2nd – Site: Washington University ( St. Louis ) – Moderator: Gwen Ifill – Staging/Answer Format: Debate will consist of both foreign and domestic policy questions asked by the moderator. Format will be similar to the presidential debates.

3. Second Presidential Debate Date: October 7 – Site: Belmont University – Moderator: Tom Brokaw – Staging: Town Hall debate – Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

4. Third Presidential Debate Date: October 15 – Site: Hofstra University – Topic: Domestic and Economic Issues – Moderator: Bob Schieffer – Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table – Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate – Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

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