Turning the final presidential debate Monday into another dust-up may not be the best way for either President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, to win over undecided voters

President Obama and Mitt Romney head into their third and final debate with each man eager to project an aura of personal strength and leadership while raising doubts about the steadiness and foreign policy credentials of the other guy

Bob Schieffer says he's ready for the scrutiny that comes with his role as moderator of tonight's debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

The King of Beers has been busy behind the scenes during the presidential debates

It has been open season on the journalists who have moderated debates this election cycle

President Obama’s campaign has invited Scott Van Duzer, the bear-hugging Florida restaurant owner who gave Obama a lift last month, to be a guest at tonight’s presidential debate

CBS' Bob Schieffer has become a voice of the American Everyman

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/21/4351062/for-debate-bob-schieffer-has-the.html#storylink=cpy

Tonight's moderator Bob Schieffer has been keeping a very low profile

For three straight presidential cycles now, Jim Lehrer and Bob Schieffer have bookended the presidential debates

You can’t envy Bob Schieffer

Tonight's counter-punches will come only after President Obama has made more of a case for what he believes

Candy Crowley of CNN will be permitted to ask follow-up questions during tonight’s town hall-style debate, despite reservations from the Romney and Obama campaigns

Vice President Biden will appear on the early-morning TV shows on ABC, NBC and CBS the day after the second presidential debate

President Barack Obama's camp is promising that the American public will see a more energized and visionary incumbent on Tuesday night as Obama tries to keep Mitt Romney at bay

Even if President Obama loses a second debate, don’t count on it being the end for him

First lady Michelle Obama raised expectations for President Obama's performance in the second presidential debate, even while defending him from criticism over his poor performance in the first clash with Mitt Romney

The pressure will be on the incumbent to show he has a pulse (and probably a bit more) tonight

Another disastrous debate performance could put the proverbial nail in the President’s reelection coffin

Debate fever has come to Hofstra once again, this time sweeping up many students who first heard of the university when it played host to the 2008 debate

 President Obama faces the daunting task in the second debate of lifting the shadow left hanging over his campaign by his lackluster, momentum-stalling performance in the first face-off with Mitt Romney

For many voters, debates simply reinforce preconceived notions

The town hall presents a unique set of challenges that make the president’s ability to dramatically change the narrative difficult

It is unlikely voters will hear more details during Tuesday's second presidential debate tonight

Going on the attack during a town hall debate can have a negative effect

Candy Crowley reiterated that that, like past town-hall debate moderators, she intends to do more than just hold the microphone at tonight's debate- an intention that has caused concern for both campaigns

The Denver debate, plus polls that now reflect a dead-heat presidential race, put more pressure on President Obama as he practiced for Round Two

Investors are viewing the three presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney as a best-of-three series of verbal sparring that has the power not only to crown a White House winner, but also to affect the money-making game on Wall Street

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney face off in a “town hall” style debate that has the potential to finally break the race’s stubborn tie as their battle roars into its final, decisive three weeks

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/10/15/2333006/obama-vs-romney-round-two.html#storylink=cpy

Aides to Mitt Romney and Republican strategists fret that no matter how well Romney does in Tuesday’s town hall debate, the media will inevitably award victory to President Barack Obama

Everything is in place at Hofstra University except the candidates

Candy Crowley isn’t backing down

It is pretty easy for campaigns to anticipate questions from voters, but harder to guess what a moderator might ask

The role of the moderator has become a “thing” this season

The campaigns would rather Candy Crowley just hold the microphone for audience members to do the talking in what’s being billed as a town hall-style event more than a real debate

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/15/3599997/moderator-in-debate-hot-seat-with.html#storylink=cpy

Carole Simpson slammed the Commission on Presidential Debates this morning for never allowing a woman to moderate a presidential debate in which they actually get to choose the questions

The Commission on Presidential Debates does not want Candy Crowley to reinterpret audience members' questions

Much of the pressure in the coming debate will be on President Obama, who aides acknowledge showed up at the first face-off with less practice — and far less energy — than they had wanted

Candy Crowley, a veteran political reporter, has never been a doormat

The town hall style is the one debate that belongs to the people

Debates have long been associated with boxing, and it's easy to understand why

President Obama aides said the president was clear-eyed about the need to have a better showing in his second debate with Mitt Romney

Candy Crowley, who says she will prep right up to Tuesday morning, is clear about her goals and how she expects to be judged

From an historical and practical perspective, President Obama can still rebound and let his loss at the October 3 debate join the list of first-debate fumbles by incumbents

CBS’s Bob Schieffer, the moderator of the third presidential debate, has selected the five topics he plans to discuss with President Obama and Mitt Romney on Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, FL

Hosting a presidential debate will shine an international spotlight on Lynn University

Both the Romney and the Obama campaigns have expressed concern to the Commission on Presidential Debates about how the moderator of the Tuesday town hall has publicly described her role

The president and his aides were clearly taking debate prep far more seriously this time around

President Barack Obama said on Sunday his debate preparation was "going great"

The Obama-Romney debate in Denver a week ago will influence what happens on stage at Centre College

An effective performance by Vice President Biden could help quell nervousness among some Democrats

A bumbling President Obama at last week’s debate has breathed new life into the Romney campaign and turned the Ryan-Biden debate into Slugfest, Part II

In one way or another, the whole town of Danville is hoping to benefit from the vice presidential debate

The heat is now on Joe Biden to help put a stop to the Romney roll

President Obama's poll slide has transformed Thursday's confrontation between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan from a sideshow into one of the most important vice-presidential debates ever

Tonight's debate will occur amid a “vulture phenomenon,” in which the news media and TV comics have seized on President Obama’s debate performance with a kind of car-wreck fascination

President Obama is looking to his infamously gaffe-prone deputy to put his campaign back on track this week

To those who know best, Paul Ryan is an agile debater, able to balance explaining the complex federal budget process while still looking like the youthful boy next door

If Vice President Biden can avoid his gift of gaffe, he has a chance do well on Centre's stage

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/11/3857649/commentary-all-eye-will-be-on.html#storylink=cpy

Vice presidential debates don't normally swing many swing voters

President Obama’s lackluster performance in the earlier encounter magnifies the importance of tonight’s 90-minute debate

Jennifer Granholm expects Vice-President Biden to be more emotional than he was four years ago, especially after President Obama's "painful" performance a week ago

Paul Ryan has held a whopping nine 90-minute debate prep sessions

Paul Ryan has never debated in the kind of forum he will be in against Joe Biden, but he's had election year debates as a candidate for Congress

Both sides say the stakes are raised for the undercard scheduled for Thursday night

For Paul Ryan and for Joe Biden, the stakes are much higher than they seemed just a week ago

The eight vice presidential debates held over the past 36 years have had minimal impact on the final election results

Vice presidential debates haven’t proven to be deciding factors when the whole race is taken into account

Vice presidential debates also can be important

After President Obama’s lackluster performance in the first presidential debate last week, the stakes for Joe Biden have heightened, and the campaign hopes the vice president can capitalize on his connection to the middle class

By tradition, the vice presidential debates have been like the vice presidency itself: well-publicized but largely inconsequential

A good performance by Joe Biden would be a tonic to the Obama campaign, and a strong showing by Paul Ryan in his first national debate would undoubtedly further energize Republicans and add to Mitt Romney’s momentum

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/10/10/4236484/in-vp-debate-gop-looks-to-boost.html#storylink=cpy

Recent poll shows Joe Biden may have his work cut out for him during the vice-presidential debate

Vice presidential encounters rarely make a significant difference in a White House campaign

The pressure is on Joe Biden to stop, or at least slow, the momentum that the Mitt Romney-Ryan ticket has enjoyed since last week's presidential debate

The chances that Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will have a major impact on the 2012 presidential race are small

Mitt Romney's tack to center could create some complications for his vice presidential nominee ahead of Thursday's debate

The stakes in Thursday's Ryan-Biden encounter are perhaps higher than in any other vice presidential debate in decades

Vice-presidential debates can leave lasting impressions

Vice presidential debates may not mean much in the long run, but they tend to produce the most memorable moments

So Democrats hope that, Thursday night, Joe Biden will bring Mitt Romney's momentum to a halt

This year’s vice presidential debate isn’t likely to draw as large an audience as four years ago

Mitt Romney doesn’t know much about his running mate’s debate history

On Thursday night, Joe Biden might seek to highlight Paul Ryan’s differences with Mitt Romney on at least on at least two significant issues- abortion and the 2009 GM/Chrysler bailout

The stakes are high for Vice President Biden, who is charged with righting a listing ship after President Barack Obama's disastrous first debate against Mitt Romney in Denver last week

Sparks are almost certain to fly on Thursday night

Any effort to inject the age gap into Paul Ryan’s thinking could backfire on Thursday night

A tied Biden-Ryan debate, boring Biden-Ryan debate, or bad Biden-Ryan debate would reinforce the suddenly pervasive perception of an incumbent campaign in a tailspin

Vice-Presidential moderator Martha Raddatz is ready for primetime

The U.S. vice-presidential debate slated for Thursday night promises to be more than just the usual sideshow where the understudies praise the stars and work to convince Americans that they themselves are worthy of being considered future presidential prospects

Democrats also probably don’t need to worry about Joe Biden’s penchant for gaffes on Thursday night

A convergence of factors is raising the stakes on this week's face-off between Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden

His reputation for mistakes notwithstanding, Joe Biden is a fierce competitor who will likely aggressively go after Paul Ryan's proposed budget cuts and attempts to redefine Medicare

Joe Biden’s main task is to repair some of the damage done by President Obama’s listless performance — which means he won’t be cutting Ryan any breaks

Vice President Joe Biden is lining up as the man to break Mitt Romney's rising tide

When the 2000 vice-presidential debate at Centre College received rave reviews for its civility, it was in no small part due to its moderator, CNN anchor Bernard Shaw

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/08/3857616/moderator-bernard-shaw-recalls.html#storylink=cpy

The reputations of the two men who will square off makes Thursday more significant than a typical vice presidential debate

An irony of the Obama era is that one of the great orators of American politics has turned out to be an uneven debater

Vice President Biden has a chance to undo some of the damage from President Obama's first debate

The first presidential debate served as a "wake-up call" for President Obama

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus expressed optimism that Paul Ryan would do well in Thursday night’s vice presidential debate, but sought to downplay expectations, describing Joe Biden as a gifted orator

This Thursday the eyes of the nation and world will be focused on Danville, Kentucky

Vice President Biden is expected to go after his Republican opponent's key arguments on taxes, entitlement reform and deficit reduction

With a perceived shift in momentum in the overall campaign and the universal conclusion that Mitt Romney prevailed last Wednesday, Joe Biden will feel considerable pressure to take up the cudgels and go after the GOP-ticket hammer and claw

Among debating experts, there's consensus that vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz needs to establish firmer control when Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan take the stage at Centre College next week

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/10/04/2360302/experts-martha-raddatz-must-establish.html#storylink=cpy

The Joe Biden-Paul Ryan clash will be entertaining, but isn't likely to change voters’ minds

Centre College in Danville had a history with vice presidents long before the 2000 and 2012 vice presidential debates

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/10/05/2361046/two-vice-presidents-educated-at.html#storylink=cpy

The town hall debate format in New York puts President Obama in a strong position to make gains against Mitt Romney, should he care enough to try

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tried to raise the bar for Vice President Joe Biden's debate against Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan expects Vice President Biden to come at him like a cannonball after the president's poor debate performance

Thursday's spotlight on Danville, KY is sure to be especially intense as the undercard debate of presidential running mates attracts heightened interest

So much has changed in the country since the last vice-presidential debate at Centre College

This year’s vice presidential debate is competing with Thursday NFL football and the baseball playoffs

The latest CNN/ORC International poll found that among likely voters, 55 percent think Paul Ryan is likely to do a better job in the debate than Joe Biden- only 39 percent gave the Vice President the advantage

Normally, vice-presidential debates are part of the campaign under-card

The stakes for Vice President Biden in his debate on Thursday are suddenly higher than ever

Mitt Romney has a tougher job in tonight’s debate than President Barack Obama

Just as the Super Bowl captures viewers who’d rather fold laundry than watch a regular season football game, presidential debates appeal reaches beyond political junkies to voters who haven’t been following the campaign

Mitt Romney heads into his first ever head-to-head debate with President Barack Obama tonight needing to score early and often

President Obama's team has been guarded about the mechanics of its preparation, mindful that their GOP counterparts have been mining every phrase for hints of strategy

A flat debate performance can be blown up into a gaffe from the social-media gossips on the sidelines

This is it for Mitt Romney

The Romney team has already had the first blunder of the debates, when it announced that Mitt Romney was working on his “zingers”

Presidential debates often produce the defining moments of a campaign

A presidential debate is probably the best moment in the whole election cycle to look for temperament

Mitt Romney heads into the first presidential debate Wednesday night facing higher stakes than President Obama

Don't expect huge stumbles from either Mitt Romney or President Obama, who are experienced debaters

If past is prologue, Mitt Romney will reaffirm tonight that having a superior command of the facts is a temptation and a blessing

Hopefully the presidential debates will fill in the gray areas on economic and tax policy the candidates have been able to gloss over so far in the campaign

The presidential debate format has changed little since the mid-20th century

While there may be some freewheeling conversation between President Obama and Mitt Romney– the debate itself is tightly scripted, with fairly strict rules

The wives of each candidate have played the role of political spouse perfectly, declining to offer the mildest critiques of their husbands’ debating skills and speaking of their nerves as they watch their husbands in their first face-to-face contest

Some of the most memorable "debate" moments come not from the actual debates but the caricature comedy bits that stemmed from them

Presidential debates are a unique form of performance art, and grading them on substance is like looking for spelling accuracy in ballet

Social media has been a wild card in presidential politics since at least 2003

It's probably a mistake to hope for President Obama or Mitt Romney to say something at Wednesday's debate that will shed new light on the race

With Mitt Romney behind in most polls, all eyes are on the Republican nominee in tonight's first presidential debate

As political actors, President Obama and Mitt Romney will be judged as much — if not more so — on their body language and demeanor as on the quality of their arguments

For all the lore and media buildup, the presidential debates haven’t had much impact on election outcomes

Let the debates begin!

President Obama and Mitt Romney square off in Denver tonight in a debate over domestic issues where the auto bailout is almost certain to get key billing

The waiting is nearly over for the start of the first presidential debate

Mitt Romney's biggest weakness is that he often comes across as fake

The things the candidates will be talking about during the debate tonight will likely have very little direct or immediate impact on most Americans

If Mitt Romney does not do well tonight, then his campaign will be over in all but name

Debates can be a tipping point in close elections

While President Obama is used to dictating the flow of discussion in the Oval Office and Mitt Romney touts his executive savvy from his years in the board room, neither will be the one in charge tonight as the reins have been handed over to Jim Lehrer

President Obama and Mitt Romney have a two-track mission with debate viewers: Motivate core supporters to turn out and vote and try to lock in some new supporters from among the small subset of viewers who haven't settled on a candidate or whose support for one man or the other is squishy

The key tonight for President Obama is to sit on his narrow lead without mishap, while Mitt Romney's challenge is to shake up the race and connect with voters

More than 60 million people are expected to watch tonight's debate

There are opportunities and pitfalls awaiting President Obama and Mitt Romney, as well as their running mates, in the debate tonight and the three others to follow this month

President Obama is favored to win the first presidential debate, undercutting his own attempt to paint himself as an underdog

While the stakes are high for the politicians seeking the nation’s highest office, the techniques used in the presidential debates have practical applications at home, school and work

The jury is still out on whether the debates will significantly move the needle for either of the candidates

While each side has tried to lower the bar for its candidate, President Obama will take the stage with considerably higher expectations

If Mitt Romney is going to change the trajectory of a close race that is bending in President Obama's direction, his best opportunity will be during 90 minutes on a Denver stage Wednesday night

The world of TV debates is antiquated

The men and women who moderate the major debates have to be part inquisitor, part referee, part timekeeper and part wallpaper

President Obama and Mitt Romney are both deep into last minute practice sessions

President Obama's principal mission Wednesday night is to have an error-free performance and protect his lead in the polls

Substance is the goal in presidential debates, but form sometimes gets in the way

On Wednesday, expect both presidential candidates to be pushed on some uncomfortable issues

Huffington Post's "everything you need to know" about Wednesday's opening salvo in televised presidential forensics

Debate mistakes can also take a toll

In order to get Mitt Romney to slip up during the debates, President Obama may need to try to land a few zingers of his own

The effects on debates on eventual votes are likely mild, and, in most cases, effectively nil

The first presidential debate is an occasion for the entire country to take the measure of the men who hope to lead the free world

President Obama and Mitt Romney are getting in some last minute debate prep today while their wives and running mates pick up the slack on the campaign trail

President Obama says debate preparation is a drag

While both candidates might be lowering expectations, the stakes of the first presidential debate could not be higher

Memorable one-liners in presidential debates are few and far between

Mitt Romney's current deficit suggests the need for a shining debate performance if he is to ward off pessimism about his candidacy and continue raising money

Any perceived victor or loser of the presidential debates could find their gain or loss exaggerated by the sheer volume of media hype

You can sense the excitement building for the Wednesday's presidential debate

There's been no let-up in the pressure and criticism directed at the Commission on Presidential Debates

The presidential debate spin room as we know it appears to have been born on Oct. 7, 1984, but now may be obsolete

Given the stakes, all the moderators have their own special preparation techniques

History suggests that the debates aren’t likely to turn on whether Mitt Romney remembers his zingers

Officials and pundits on both sides are falling all over themselves to compliment the other side on their debating skills

A presidential debate is more than just the 90 minutes onstage- for the campaigns, it's a three-part performance

Wednesday's presidential debate should make for some lively TV viewing

Paul Ryan says he hasn't asked Sarah Palin for advice on his upcoming debate against Vice President Biden

Mitt Romney will undoubtedly be prepared on Wednesday night- the question is whether he will execute

No-drama Obama precisely fits the candidate who comes through on a debate stage

Accuracy hardly figures in the expectations of the impact of the debate

Mitt Romney needs to deliver a strong debate performance on Wednesday, but will be hard-pressed to completely alter the trajectory of the campaign in one appearance

If Mitt Romney stumbles during Wednesday’s presidential debate, it won’t be for a lack of preparation

Presidential debates do not necessarily make or break a candidate, but they can sway undecided, independent voters who are still unsure if they want four more years of President Obama or a new direction with Mitt Romney

The three debates next month will provide plenty of fodder for analysts and satirists, while having virtually no impact on the outcome

Wednesday's debate is must-see viewing

While both sides are already working to set expectations for the debate, it's unclear how much influence it can really have on the state of the race

Mitt Romney enters Wednesday’s debate in Denver under acute pressure to turn around a campaign that has lost ground in states — particularly Florida and Ohio

As the incumbent, President Obama faces the same sky-high expectations that dogged all his recent predecessors

Historically, how a candidate fares in a presidential debate depends not only on what he or she says but also how he or she says it

The presidential debates provide teachers with one of the best opportunities to engage students with this year’s election

The presidential debates will be digital thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube

President Obama's debate preparations in Nevada are expected to mirror his approach from 2008

Certain moments in presidential debates have certainly emerged as game-changers

Like boxers going a few more rounds with sparring partners, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are each spending the hours before Wednesday night's debate going toe-to-toe with a stand-in for their opponent

President Obama is an experienced debater but an inconsistent performer

Mitt Romney is trying to rebound from a difficult September, and the three October debates offer a chance to help show that the race is winnable

Debate fever is starting to spread through the media

Some pundits have said that if Mitt Romney delivers a mediocre or poor performance during his rhetorical one-on-one with President Obama Wednesday, it could lead donations to dry up and, in general, cast a pall over the campaign

President Obama's advantages over Mitt Romney create the president's biggest debate challenge

Whatever former Governor Mitt Romney does during the debates, he must not seem desperate

Both candidates are hunkered down and practicing for their first face-off

Presidential candidates and their running mates often find that campaign debates turn on unplanned zingers, gaffes or gestures that speak volumes

There will likely be near total silence about religious issues during the presidential debates

The candidates, campaigns, and pundits have dropped any pretense that the first presidential debate will be anything more than a reality show in which President Obama and Mitt Romney are competing to see who can avoid looking stupid -- not saying something stupid -- on TV

Nine environmental organizations Friday delivered more than 160,000 petitions to Jim Lehrer urging him to ask a question about climate change during Wednesday's first presidential debate

Ponderoo, a new mobile app, gives users the power to express their opinions, and understand how thousands of others are reacting, during live events like Wednesday's debate, all in real-time

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/01/4869875/new-social-app-makes-it-easier.html#storylink=cpy

It’s hard to find anyone who isn’t “thrilled” by the prospect of the Oct. 11th vice-presidential debate

The campaigns of both candidates acknowledge that the debates could make a huge difference in determining the winner

One of the most important subjects facing the next president, the Supreme Court, might finally get an airing in the second presidential debate

Mitt Romney will probably want to come out swinging on Wednesday night in Denver

At least two of the original sponsors of the 2012 presidential debates have pulled their support over the exclusion of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson

The first presidential debate is on Wednesday in Denver and activists hope energy and the environment are central themes

Mitt Romney needs to be nimble, and go on offense in order to win his first debate on Wednesday night with President Barack Obama