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Saturday, January 05, 2008
(Updated) NH Debates Tonight for Dem and Repub Prez Candidates
UPDATE 1/6/08: Transcripts and video clips of the debate are now available at ABC News. I'm hearing the debates will be rebroadcast today at 5:00 PM MST in Albuquerque, but I can't find it in online TV listings so I'm not sure about that.
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ABC will air back-to-back, 90-minute debates with Democratic and Republican presidential candidates tonight at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH. They'll be moderated by Charles Gibson, chief news anchor of ABC News, and co-hosted by ABC, WMUR and Facebook.
Each debate will be divided into two parts. During the first 45 minutes, Gibson will select three prominent issues to promote a dialogue. The candidates will be seated and encouraged to talk to each other, not just to the cameras. The second half will be a more traditional format, with Gibson and WMUR-TV political director Scott Spradling asking questions on a variety of topics.
Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will participate in the Repub debate, which will be broadcast starting at 6:00 PM in New Mexico. Slated to begin at around 7:45 PM, the Dem debate will feature John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson. Both Joe Biden and Chris Dodd have withdrawn from the race.
ABC has Dems Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel and Repub Duncan Hunter from the debates based on criteria developed by the network. Candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria to participate: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
On Friday, Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC in response to his exclusion, arguing that ABC is violating equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate. He noted that ABC's parent, Walt Disney Co., had contributed to campaigns involving the four Democrats who were invited. "ABC should not be the first primary," the Ohio congressman said in papers filed at the Federal Communications Commission.
There will probably be a few minutes where both Republican and Democratic candidates are on the same stage. The auditorium will be emptied between debates and a new audience brought in. Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC's coverage, which runs from 6:00 to 10:00 PM in New Mexico.
The New Hampshire primary will be held next Tuesday, January 8, 2008.
January 5, 2008 at 12:09 PM in 2008 Presidential Primary | Permalink
Comments
You have to wonder how many people will be watching considering the debate is going up against playoff football on NBC.
Posted by: | Jan 5, 2008 2:05:15 PM
Bad timing, it's true. Personally, none of my favorite teams are in there anyway and I've gotten very lukewarm on football since the players started looking more like genetically engineered gladiators than athletes with even a pinch of grace.
Mary Ellen, however, is a fairly loyal Patriots fan so good thing they aren't playing yet.
But then again few watch the debates anyway, content to make their decisions on candidates based on "he looks like he'd be cool to have a beer with" LOL. That is, if they even bother to pay attention and vote at all. Then again, the so-called "debates" aren't really debates so they're often very boring.
So who are you rooting for in the playoffs?
Posted by: | Jan 5, 2008 4:11:56 PM
As a Chiefs fan, I have no real dog in the fight. But I am an avid Patriots-hater way back since they beat the Rams in the Super Bowl.
I'd really like to see the Packers win because Brett Favre is fun to watch, but I'd also like to see the Colts win (I know, Tony Dungy has his anti-gay sentiments, but I try to ignore anything but the sport itself when cheering for a team in sports. Maybe I'm a bad guy for that).
Posted by: | Jan 5, 2008 9:12:10 PM
LP-truth be told ...I really have to hold my nose watching brady knowing he loves bush.
honestly..it would be great to see brett win one at the end of his career.
Posted by: mary ellen | Jan 6, 2008 8:44:22 AM
The debates will be re-aired on CNN tonight. 5pm Albuquerque time for anyone who wants to watch.
Posted by: nancy | Jan 6, 2008 8:55:35 AM
I guess I'm rooting for the Packers and Brett too, though it's a little hard because I grew up as a Bears fan and Green Bay is their big rival. I got to go to a game at Lambeau Field once and it was very cool the way the whole town is into it and so many are "shareholders" of the team.
Now that I've lived out west so long, it's the Cowboys I don't like. I'm a Broncos fan. This year it felt just like being a Bears fan LOL.
Posted by: | Jan 6, 2008 10:08:21 AM
My sister lives in Green Bay, and I was up there and in Chicago over the summer. The renovated Lambeau Field is incredible, and there is something special about a community owned team, the only one in all of major league sports. The Soldier Field renovations are pretty spectacular also. It's a kind of hypocrisy, however, to appreciate such multimillion dollar renovations (what did Soldier Field cost? over $300 mil I think) while those same communities are in such dire need of revenue for other purposes. Pro-sports is so beyond the budget of most Americans. I've never been to a pro-game other than baseball, and even that is pricey for a family of four like my own. And yet I have gone through periods of time where I have been an avid, even rabid, fan of all of the four major league sports - and football is a perennial love.
What's a progressive sports fan to do???
Posted by: | Jan 6, 2008 10:40:21 PM
