When you let Joe be Joe.... he always delivers!

And may I be the first to congratulate President Obama for being one of the most intelligent men in the world. I knew when he picked Joe Biden for his Vice President that the "perfect team" had been formed!  You Rocked Joe and the President will Rock next week!-Mem

What They’re Saying: A Clash Between Conviction and Empty Promises

October 11, 2012

Tonight, Americans saw a clash between facts and conviction on one side and glib lines and empty promises on the other. This debate showed that facts and details matter – and it’s clear tonight that with their total disregard for either, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan know they can’t defend their indefensible plans. It exposed the extreme risk Romney-Ryan economics pose for American middle-class and to our leadership in the world.

Presidential Debate Moderators Set

PBS will host two of the four debates this presidential cycle, with Jim Lehrer hosting the first Presidential debate and Gwen Ifill hosting the only Vice Presidential debate, it was announced Tuesday. NBC's Tom Brokaw and CBS' Bob Schieffer will host the remaining two Presidential debates.

ABC News is noticeably left without a debate, perhaps a response to what many perceived as a "Gotcha!"-style debate hosted by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos (read HuffPost bloggers' reaction to that debate). *I really was disappointed in Charlie Gibson on that debate because I really do like him but I suppose he did what he was told.-Mem*

Schedule:

Presidential Debates
Jim Lehrer, Sept. 26, at Ole Miss.
Tom Brokaw, Oct. 7, in Nashville
Bob Schieffer, Oct. 15, at Hofstra.

Vice Presidential Debate
Gwen Ifill, Oct. 2, at Wash. U in St. Louis

Full press release below (via):

Paul G. Kirk, Jr. and Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., co-chairmen of the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), today announced the moderators for the 2008 general election presidential and vice presidential debates. The moderators, and the schedule and locations for the debates (as announced on November 21, 2007), are as follows:

First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS

Vice presidential debate
Thursday, October 2
Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Gwen Ifill
Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour, and Moderator and Managing Editor, Washington Week, PBS

Second presidential debate (town meeting)
Tuesday, October 7
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
Tom Brokaw
Special Correspondent, NBC News

Third presidential debate
Wednesday, October 15
Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Bob Schieffer
CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, and Host, Face the Nation

Each debate will begin at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

Format
The format for the debates, announced on November 21, 2007, will be:

-- Each debate will have a single moderator and last for 90 minutes.
-- In the first and third presidential debates and the vice presidential debate, the candidates will be seated with the moderator at a table.
-- One presidential debate will focus primarily on domestic policy and one presidential debate will focus primarily on foreign policy. The second presidential debate will be held as a town meeting in which citizens will pose questions to the candidates. The vice presidential debate will cover both foreign and domestic topics.
-- During the first and third presidential debates, and the vice presidential debate, the time will be divided into eight, ten-minute segments. The moderator will introduce each segment with an issue on which each candidate will comment, after which the moderator will facilitate further discussion of the issue, including direct exchange between the candidates for the balance of that segment.
-- The participants in the town meeting will pose their questions to the candidates after reviewing their questions with the moderator for the sole purpose of avoiding duplication. The participants will be chosen by the Gallup Organization and will be undecided voters from the Nashville, Tenn. standard metropolitan statistical area. During the town meeting, the moderator has discretion to use questions submitted by Internet.
-- Time at the end of the final presidential debate will be reserved for closing statements.

Participants The CPD 2008 Candidate Selection Criteria, announced on November 21, 2007, will be the exclusive means of determining the candidates to be invited to participate in the debates.

For more information, please visit http://www.debates.org/.