On stage together for the first time, President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney start their presidential debates in October.
Rhonda Hungerford is co-president of the Syracuse League of Women Voters. She says it’s crucial to see the candidates together on the same stage.
“It’s the best opportunity that voters have to see how their positions differ from each other — and to give them the chance to give the background on how they arrived at that position.”
(Rhonda Hungerford, co-president of the League of Women Voters in Syracuse)
The Commission on Presidential Debates has sponsored the debates in the last six elections. This election, as usual, the candidates will face each other three times. Syracuse-area viewers can watch the debates on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC as well as on cable news stations.
The first debate is on Oct. 3 in Denver, Colorado. It will be moderated by Jim Lehrer, anchor of the PBS “NewsHour.” This is the 12th presidential debate he has moderated. The debate will focus on domestic policy.
The second debate will be on October 16 in Long Island, New York. It will be moderated by CNN’s Candy Crowley. The debate will be in a town-meeting style, where undecided voters will question candidates about foreign and domestic issues.
The final debate will be on October 22 in Boca Raton, Florida. It will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. It will focus on foreign policy. All three of the debates will be from 9 to 10:30 p.m.
The first presidential debate was in 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Since then, it has become a tradition that draws millions of American viewers.
But it’s unclear how important the debates are to voters in making up their minds. Steven Keller is a former presidential debate commentator for MSNBC. Keller says the number of people swayed by debates is typically a fairly small number.
“I doubt that more than 10 or 15 percent of electorate is going to be swayed by what happens in the debate, the number might be as small as 5 percent.”
(Steven Keller, former presidential debate commentator for MSNBC)
The election is November 6.
For Democracywise, I’m Macy Jenkins.
(Macy Jenkins is a graduate student majoring in broadcast journalism.)
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