Will anyone else be watching the presidential debate tonight? I was thinking of live blogging it. I've never tried that before, but since Brooklynne will be out of town and Halleigh will be asleep, I'll have some time on my hands.

Which brings me to another question. Does anyone else find it hard to get information about the debates? You would think that all the networks and news services would publish the details over and over again, but it took some more-than-casual digging to find the schedule and coverage. The Commission on Presidential Debates (who is hosting the events) doesn't even have the schedule on its website. Very lame.

Anyway.... from www.youdecide2008.com:

1. First Presidential Debate:
Date: September 26 - Site: University of Mississippi - Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security - Moderator: Jim Lehrer - Staging: Podium debate - Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

2. Vice Presidential Debate
Date: October 2nd - Site: Washington University (St. Louis) - Moderator: Gwen Ifill - Staging/Answer Format: Debate will consist of both foreign and domestic policy questions asked by the moderator. Format will be similar to the presidential debates.

3. Second Presidential Debate
Date: October 7 - Site: Belmont University - Moderator: Tom Brokaw - Staging: Town Hall debate - Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

4. Third Presidential Debate
Date: October 15 - Site: Hofstra University - Topic: Domestic and Economic Issues - Moderator: Bob Schieffer - Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table - Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate - Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

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All four debates will begin at 9pm ET, 6pm PT and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the CPD's participation rules for third-party candidate participation. Third-party candidates will be included if they poll 15% or above in at least 5 national polls.

Each debate will be broadcast on the major broadcast networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. They will also be aired on cable news channels such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN.