Tonight's Debate Moderator: The Undecided Voter
In case you haven't read these elsewhere today, here are the rules for tonight's debate.
Tom Brokaw's role as the moderator will take a backseat to the true hosts of this debate: The audience, made up of undecided voters. Brokaw will select an audience member, and then that person will get to pitch his or her pre-submitted question.
The candidates will then have two minutes each to answer the voter's question, followed by Brokaw moderating a one-minute free-form discussion between Obama and McCain, and possibly asking follow-up questions.
The candidates aren't dealing primarily with some well-known TV personality in a suit, but instead with real-live voters, whose own reactions and presentations can have just as much of effect on the race as the candidates' own answers.
We'll be live-blogging the debate here at Election Central.
So MSNBC is doing a stupid voter graph thing as well it seems, WITH PA VOTERS WOOT!!! Cause its a swing state, last 4 polls were 13,15,10,15 for Obama.... hey thats = swing state right? Ugh I guess i gotta look up what channel c-span is again.
October 7, 2008 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
As this FOX News attempt to show PA as a "battle ground" state demostrates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkqosRiyYo
October 7, 2008 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brokaw will read all questions before hand and choose which questions he wants asked THEN he'll be told which audience member asked it and go to their question.
Make no mistake Brokaw is asking the questions.
October 7, 2008 8:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also, audience members won't be allowed to ask follow-ups or even show their reaction on camera- they will not be shown after asking their question and their microphone will be shut off immediately.
October 7, 2008 8:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does this post run counter to Greg's post just below?
LOL!
October 7, 2008 8:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I know I am confused. Up is down, damnit.
October 7, 2008 8:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, plus Josh has a very sort of downer post on the front page about Brokaw.
I'm just waiting - I can't process this many different takes on the thing.
October 7, 2008 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
If only we were Republicans, and everything was black and white, good and bad. Grey is such an evil color.
October 7, 2008 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
What a good comment.
October 7, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we just had 1 real debate, is that so much to ask for. Make the debate last longer and give time for them to go back and forth until they say what they want to say, this nonsense where one side can say bullshit then the other side cant correct him because the time is up and they have to move on to another question is such BS.
October 7, 2008 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Put them at a table. Start with the queastion "Where do we need to go as a country?" Each gets five minute segments.
October 7, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Give them 5 mins each then let them respond to each other until they want to stop responding to each other. If they stop going back and forth before the 3 hours are up then ask another question and let them have their 5 mins again then go back at it. Have a real debate, iam tired of this bullshit.
October 7, 2008 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen, Brother.
And when is the media going to force Palin to give an unscripted press conference with a variety of different reporters?
October 7, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
When the Palin supporters with their Thunder Sticks back down.
October 7, 2008 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
A voice crying out in the wilderness...
October 7, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Communist!"
October 7, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know I thought the "thunder sticks" thing was some sort of sarcasm -- like a weird inversion of an old Western: savages with guns shouting at the heroic-but-somehow-helpless cavalry -- when I read it in the WaPo. Shows how out of touch I am. Hey, my latte's getting cold!
October 7, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
They should ask her bogus questions!
October 7, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Brokaw shows bias everyone send his a thank you note at the Meet the Press email.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/
Here is the Fair Media Contact list to contact the networks directly.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111
October 7, 2008 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
OT, but go AP!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_el_pr/palin;_ylt=AhJ_b86LSDXO4wyC6B03amVsnwcF
I wouldn't see this a month ago...
October 7, 2008 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, it's a takedown of the whole enterprise.
October 7, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not gonna watch tonight's debate. I get high blood pressure every time somebody disses my man.
October 7, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I feel for you, but I'd suffer my BP to the point of stroke for the debate.
October 7, 2008 8:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Already took a double dose of meds from the VA and plugged in the TV. BTW my mute button is worn down.
October 7, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/Zofryer/CandidateEquals/1223304787842.jpg
October 7, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too funny!
October 7, 2008 8:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sully had one of these for trains but I can't get his page to load...
October 7, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you have it bookmarked? If so, go to his site through google. He had a redesign and for some reason my bookmark kept timing out.
October 7, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
DailyKos has it too.
October 7, 2008 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. I give it the ol' Harvard educated/elitist college try...
October 7, 2008 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heh. Nice.
October 7, 2008 8:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Al Gore is in the house!
October 7, 2008 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I expect McCain will preemptively accuse Obama of running a dirty campaign. His wife pretty much gave that away.
Not sure how Obama will respond, but I'm sure he's prepared.
October 7, 2008 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is MSNBC having the debate live on the computer, and does anyone know the link? Thanks!
October 7, 2008 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
C-Span always streams.
I avoid the talking heads myself.
October 7, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I appreciate that, I was just there but those annoying callers made me leave. I can watch the debate there though. Thanks.
October 7, 2008 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.hulu.com/spotlight/election08
October 7, 2008 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks!!
October 7, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hulu.com is doing its first livestream. They should have a great bandwidth delivery. Just an alternative for you.
October 7, 2008 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you :)
October 7, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't have the sound on yet.
LOL
October 7, 2008 8:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smart! I heard "I support John McCain......" immediate switched website :)
October 7, 2008 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's been prepping how to smile and be friendly and appear to be a normal, well-balanced, even-tempered fellow. He's gonna smile if it kills him.
October 7, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great, so we McCreepy tonight, not McGrumpy.
October 7, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope, we're gonna get McHappy. Or is it McDopey? Either way, his charm will shine through.
October 7, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Say what?
October 7, 2008 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
That thing McCain has so much of. I mean, besides bile.
October 7, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, Obama just gets past 70 in Intrade (70.5 now).
October 7, 2008 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/vote-count-erro.html
October 7, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
as in the first debate, if Obama keeps his cool, he's going to win
October 7, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama should pound him Honnny)on Social Security...If we did the Bush/McCain plan of tieing Social Sec to Market, they would have lost 2 TRILLION in the last week and $ TRILLION since January!
October 7, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
meant to say Horny Johnny!
October 7, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't worry. The Obama team isn't looking at this debate through a national lens, but an electoral vote lens. And the biggest target Florida. Social Security in the stock market? Yup. McCain's 1.3 billion cut in medicare? Yup.
October 7, 2008 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bingo! Obama mentions social security and the fact that retiremnts just lost 2 TRILLION over the last couple weeks and McCain is toast.
October 7, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
hurry Up 25 minutes!
October 7, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, now I'm nervous; my stomach is tightening up.
October 7, 2008 8:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's about time !!!!!! I took xanax, no kidding.
October 7, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't blame you. Just listened to Mrs. Alan Greenspan explain that "SOME (her emphasis) of the voters will be undecided, the rest of the questions will come from Tom, many from emails."
This is why I don't like town hall debates. There's too much room for ringers based on the moderator's biases. Remember when Charlie Gibson moderated the second Kerry-Bush debate and bush got all those "values voter" questions?
I'm thinking sandbag.
October 7, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was Kerry and Bush in 2004.
Obama is not Kerry.
this is 2008.
October 7, 2008 8:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wasn't nervous until a few moments ago. Now I'm really tensing up. It helped watching King on CNN put NH and WI in Obama's column, making it Obama 264 to McCain's 174. And watching him turn NC from leaning McCain to toss up.
October 7, 2008 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Weeeeee!
:)
October 7, 2008 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm breathing into a brown paper bag right now. I have a really bad feeling about tonight. McCain is a cornered animal with nothing to lose given the polls and the momentum.
October 7, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
relax, jonze. a cocktail, perhaps?
October 7, 2008 8:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
but you're right about the cornered animal thing. tweety compared magoo and O to a bull and a matador.