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Debates: Vexed sighs and videotape
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8 p.m. Friday
• University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
• Focus on foreign policy
• Moderated by PBS' Jim Lehrer
Other debates planned
• Oct. 7, town-hall style
• Oct. 15, on domestic policy
Vice presidential debate
Oct. 2, structured format
More from Politically Connected
Weary and recovering from illness, Richard Nixon looked so bad in his TV debate with John Kennedy that his mom called afterward to see whether he was all right.
Thirty years later, Al Gore loudly sighed, shrugged in exasperation and got in George W. Bush's face in a display of pique and impatience.
In presidential campaign debates, a slip of the tongue, an awkward gesture, style points and the seemingly spontaneous one-liner have provided telling moments that shape elections and live on in history. The elder George Bush's words from 1992 may be forgotten. The fact that he looked at his watch remains a distinct memory.
More often than not, the debates have been standoffs, not turning points. Debates have done more to reinforce trends and reputations than to change them.
But when two candidates go head to head live, you just never know.
And when Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama meet Friday at the University of Mississippi for the first of their three debates, the pressure on them will be as intense as it gets in politics.
Both campaigns see the debates as pivotal moments in a presidential race that is not only extraordinarily close but is also drawing intense interest from voters, reflected in the enormous television audiences for the conventions.
The presidential debates will have an unusual free-flowing format. The vice presidential debate, planned for Oct. 2, is another matter.
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the vice-presidential debate will be much less freewheeling, aides to both camps said Saturday after a hard-fought agreement was reached.
Wrangling between the McCain camp and the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates had been pointed, with the commission insisting on a looser format that included time for open discussion. The McCain campaign was holding out for few or no unfettered exchanges.
McCain advisers said they were only slightly concerned about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's relative inexperience as a debater -- Joe Biden of Delaware has served six terms in the Senate -- or about Biden's chances of tripping up Palin. Instead, they say, they want Palin to have opportunities to present McCain's positions rather than spending time talking about her own experience or playing defense against Biden.
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