Results tagged “presidentialdebate”

A little afternoon debate humor: Late Night with Conan O'Brien's canine correspondent, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog went to Hofstra to revel in Wednesday night's debate excitement. He also brought Mr. Met for surprise appearance in "Spin Alley" and chatted up Fox News personalities, like that girl Alan Colmes.

After the second presidential debate was called the worst debate ever, Politico's Ben Smith wondered if the third debate was the last for the Commission on Presidential Debates. He writes the commission has been "criticized for caving to cautious candidate demands and for -- amid an astonishing media revolution -- using virtually no technology that wasn't available when the television networks created the commission 22 years ago to wrest control of presidential debates from the League of Women Voters." He also reports Grover Norquist is joining a "bi-partisan group of online activists" (the Open Debate Coalition) to dismantle or reform the Commission. The ODC supporters include Lawrence Lessig, Craig Newmark, Jimmy Wales, Arianna Huffington and many others.

      

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama met at Long Island's Hofstra University for their third and finale debate. The two men sparred more energetically than the previous two debates in Oxford and Nashville.

The school is "agog" over hosting the debate, according to the NY Times. One student said there's a lot of enthusiasm among classmates, “I’ve noticed a level of engagement in classes I haven’t seen before this semester. The debate has really caused people to take a new look at things and think more deeply about these issues.” Which would make the millions spent on having the debate there worth it! Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz said, "It is amazing. I mean there are going to be 3,100 journalists here, live telecast back to Ireland, Japan, Singapore."

      

The economy took center stage during tonight's town hall-style presidential debate at Nashville's Belmont University. Republican candidate John McCain offered a $300 billion plan to buy bad residential mortgages "and renegotiate at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes and let people make those, be able to make those payments and stay in their homes. Is it expensive? Yes.” Democratic candidate Barack Obama, who blamed President Bush and McCain for the economic problems, called his plan to cut taxes for households making less $250,000 a "rescue package."