The next presidential debate will be held on October 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. It will be organized in a "town meeting" format and moderated by Candy Crowley (right-leaning CNN announcer). Undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization will ask questions on foreign and domestic policy. The President and the challenger will each have 2 minutes to answer and Crowley will have an additional minute to facilitate a discussion.
So, what can we, what should we do now?
We can look to President Obama's campaign theme and go forward. As much as we love to talk back, we can leave the fact checking and analysis of the first debate to the President's pros and media pundits. They can do a better and more effective job than we can given that virtually no undecided voters are readers of Daily Kos. There's not a lot of time, and none to be wasted.
For some other thoughts on what we can do, continue below the orange squiggle
When I was in school, I could almost always set the curve for the class by anticipating the most likely essay questions, writing, and memorizing a few responses in essay form. Apparently the President and his team didn't do that for last night and Romney's team did. (Sorry about bringing up the past, I couldn't help myself.)
Now, for the future, what will the questions be? Here are some I'd expect.
1. What spending cuts would you make to balance the budget against a 20% across-the-board tax cut?
2. Were did the $716 billion go?
3. What tax breaks do companies actually get when they ship jobs overseas?
4. What exactly would you do to create jobs?
5. What went wrong in Benghazi?
6. Are you willing to conduct a pre-emptive attack against Iraq?
What else? Please try to anticipate what undecided voters will ask, put those questions in your comments below, and call the Obama campaign at 312-698-3670 or write Obama for America, P.O. Box 803638, Chicago, IL, 60680. I will tabulate the replies here and call AND write the campaign, too.
Thanks. Foreward!